The Email Server tab allows you to configure which email server will be used to send the messages.
The default option is the AppArmor SMTP Server. We recommend that you use this option. We actively monitor the sending reputation of our systems to ensure high delivery rates.
We also recommend that you whitelist the AppArmor SMTP Server with your email provider to ensure optimal performance, and add our SMTP server to your DNS SPF entry.
Alternatively, you can provide your own STMP server details. Our system will authenticate with your server and send the messages. You can provide multiple SMTP account to increase the delivery rate and potentially overcome your SMTP server account sending limits.
Important Note: Generally speaking, we discourage using your own SMTP server because:
Normal SMTP accounts do not allow the volume necessary for a mass notification system
Throughput is often much slower than the AppArmor SMTP server, and
Password policies mean that SMTP accounts need to be updated frequently with new credentials
If you have concerns, please consult with the AppArmor Support Team to determine the best configuration for your environment.
Steps for Configuration
The following fields can be modified in the Dashboard under Communications -> Alerting Mechanisms -> Email (View Details) -> Email Server.
Below are the steps required for configuring the AppArmor SMTP Server.
AppArmor Dashboard Configuration
The required fields are:
"From Name" (i.e. University College)
"From Email Address Type" (Default or Custom)
"From Email Address" - based on "From Email Address Type"
If Default, no entry required. Auto-populates to "[dashboardURL]@alert.apparmor.com" (i.e. universitycollege@alert.apparmor.com)
If Custom, enter desired from address.
"Reply-To Email Address" (i.e. emergencymanagement@universitycollege.edu)
Configuration in Client Email Provider
Whitelisting
Adding a whitelist entry for the AppArmor SMTP server will tell your server that mail inbound from AppArmor should be allowed to bypass any spam or content filter rules. You can whitelist either our SMTP Server Host Name "alert.apparmor.com" or our SMTP Server IP Address "168.245.110.178". Please note that our SMTP server IP address will resolve to "o1.alert.apparmor.com" when checked through a reverse DNS lookup.
Microsoft Email System - Receive Connector
If you use a Microsoft email system, you might want to consider setting up a Receive Connector for best email performance. Microsoft tends to be very strict on sending limits, but we've had great success with this configuration.
Microsoft has documentation on this here. You can use the information above to identify our server. The connector should be configured to force TLS 1.2 connection.
NOTE: We've received comments from our clients' email teams about the Microsoft receive connector. As we understand it, there's no reason to think that setting up a receive connector would make any difference in the performance of email sending.
However, in practice those same clients have noticed a drastic increase in performance from setting up the receive connector. This is why we suggest this approach, because we've seen so much success with it. We discovered this solution through many painstaking projects of trying to get good email performance with Microsoft systems, and this has been the only solution we've seen work so far.
We absolutely defer to you on the best way forward with your email configuration, but want to make sure we provide you with this information to make the process as smooth as possible
The reason we recommend this strategy is because we've seen our clients on Microsoft Email providers struggle with getting good performance. We've even had clients who, with previous vendors, had abandoned the email mechanism entirely because they were unable to get reasonably good performance.
However, in reality, you're the expert on your email system. If you're confident about the configuration without setting up the receive connector, we absolutely defer to you on the best setup. Our clients have given us overwhelmingly positive feedback on completing this task - it seems it only takes about 5 minutes or so to set up on most systems.
In summary, it's completely up to you if you think this is necessary or not. The reason we mention it is based on our experience with our clients having a great deal of trouble getting acceptable delivery rates in their Microsoft email systems, and that this solution seems to have solved all of those problems. We've even had clients tell us "we have no idea why this worked, but it worked extremely well". It seems that sometimes there are many different layers of email security on these systems, so it might be that there are additional limits that exist on top of the one that you outlined. Certainly we won't be sending any individual users more than 3600 messages in an hour!
SPF DNS Entry
This is only required if the "From Email Address" is an organizational email. Not required if you use @alert.apparmor.com email address.
AppArmor maintains a DNS TXT entry formatted to the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) specifications. The entry is listed within our DNS as "spf.apparmor.com". You can add this entry to your existing SPF entry as shown in bold within the sample below:
v=spf1 ip4:111.111.111.111 include:spf.apparmor.com ~all
Please note that DNS entries typically take 48 hours to fully propagate.
Gmail Whitelisting (Optional)
In order to use Google schemas, each "from" address must be whitelisted.
Register with Google
Once the client's email settings have ben fully configured, and their From address has been decided. Follow these steps (from Google) to get whitelisted!
Send an email to schema.whitelisting+sample@gmail.com from the AppArmor Alert Dashboard (must be able to monitor Google’s reply to the replyto address)
Fill out the registration form and Google will get back to you.
NOTE: This needs to be done for every AppArmor Alert email client in order to ensure that schemas will work.