SMTP Relay

SMTP Relay allows invitation emails to be sent using an organization's existing email service rather than IdeaScale's default outbound servers. Routing outbound mail through the organization's own corporate SMTP server settings provides sender authenticity and helps prevent emails from being flagged as spam or junk mail.

How SMTP Relay Works

When SMTP Relay is used, the organization's own mail servers act as the initial receiver for every email IdeaScale sends, even when a given email is not destined for the organization's own domain. This ensures the organization's servers remain the first point of contact as messages travel out to recipients across the wider web.

Because all outbound email is routed through the organization's own servers first — including invitation emails sent to third-party providers such as Gmail or Hotmail — SMTP Relay supports corporate accountability, adherence to internal communication standards, and complete archiving of outbound messages.

Help Article for Guaranteed Mail Delivery

Outbound Mail Server IP Addresses

The organization's IT staff must whitelist IdeaScale's outbound mail server IP addresses so that the organization's corporate SMTP server permits IdeaScale to relay email through it. The addresses that must be whitelisted depend on the IdeaScale instance the community is hosted on:

1. US (ideascale.com): 204.246.148.80, 2600:3000:2400:109f::8, 204.246.148.100, fe80::9842:84ff:fe4d:9afb
2. EU (ideascaleapp.eu): 52.58.29.52, 52.28.223.228
3. AU (ideascale.com.au): 52.63.51.25, 13.211.106.51
4. AE (ideascale.ae): 40.123.214.115, 20.46.47.48
5. PE (ideascaleapp.com): 52.8.35.85, 184.169.132.117
6. CA (ideascale.ca): 35.182.189.189, 15.223.56.95
7. ISG (ideascalegov.com): 52.222.113.150, 52.222.1.71

Whitelisting Outbound IP Addresses

The organization's IT staff whitelists the outbound server IP addresses listed above for the instance the community is hosted on, which permits IdeaScale to relay outbound email through the organization's corporate SMTP server.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of SMTP Relay?

SMTP Relay allows invitation and notification emails to be sent using an organization's own existing email service rather than IdeaScale's default outbound servers, providing sender authenticity and reducing the likelihood that messages are flagged as spam or junk mail.

Why does IdeaScale need the organization's outbound mail server IP addresses whitelisted?

IdeaScale needs its outbound mail server IP addresses whitelisted so that the organization's corporate SMTP server permits IdeaScale to relay email through it. Without whitelisting, the organization's mail server may reject or block the relayed messages.

Do the IP addresses that need to be whitelisted differ by instance?

Yes. The IP addresses that must be whitelisted are specific to the IdeaScale instance the community is hosted on — US, EU, AU, AE, PE, CA, or ISG.

Who should be contacted if an additional outbound IP address is needed?

Support, or the organization's IA (TO BE VERIFIED), should be contacted if an outbound IP address is needed for a purpose beyond the standard SMTP Relay whitelisting listed above.

Related Articles

• Help Article for Guaranteed Mail Delivery
• Help Article for Community Settings - Email Settings
• Help Article for Workspace Email Settings
• Help Article for Steps to Avoid Emails Going to Spam

IdeaScale SMTP Relay allows sending invitation emails using customers' existing email service. SMTP relay uses the corporate SMTP server settings to send emails and provide authenticity, thereby avoiding being caught as SPAM/Junk mail.

The way the SMTP Relay system works is that, your servers will be the initial receivers of the email - even if the email is not destined to your domain. This makes sure that your servers are the initial point of contact as they email out to the wider world.

Your IT staff may want to know the IP address from which we'll be sending emails (to be allowed to relay.) - Please see the references section below to get a list of our outbound mail servers. https://help.ideascale.com/mail-marked-spam-guaranteed-delivery
 
Please reach out to Support or your IA if an ip address is required for your purposes.
 
By using the SMTP Relay, all emails that you send are routed through your servers. For example, if you are sending email invitations to gmail, hotmail etc. - and you would want to route all the emails through your servers - for corporate accountability, standards, archiving etc. - the SMTP Relay functionality will make sure this happens.

Your IT staff will have to whitelist our outbound server's IP addresses for the instance their community is on. Following are the IPs that need to be whitelisted for our various instances: 

US (ideascale.com): (204.246.148.80, 2600:3000:2400:109f::8, 204.246.148.100, fe80::9842:84ff:fe4d:9afb)
EU (ideascaleapp.eu): (52.58.29.52, 52.28.223.228)
AU (ideascale.com.au): (52.63.51.25, 13.211.106.51)
AE (ideascale.ae): (40.123.214.115, 20.46.47.48)
PE (ideascaleapp.com): (52.8.35.85, 184.169.132.117)
CA (ideascale.ca): (35.182.189.189, 15.223.56.95)
ISG (ideascalegov.com): (52.222.113.150, 52.222.1.71)