Australian Gmail users who send emails to multiple recipients at the same time (aka “a mail-shot”) may not be aware that their emails are NOT reaching Telstra @bigpond email recipients

Some gmail users may have received an “bounce” email such as the following, others may not have seen it as it could have gone straight to junk or been ignored.

Bigpond (Telstra) email servers often reject emails from @gmail.com users when they see multiple recipients. Emails to single recipents will usually get through.

Error 558 5.7.1 is a SPAM detection error

Here is a recent story from someone representing a well-known Australian charity sending out their monthly fund-raising newsletter

” Hi John, I am the secretary of XXXXXXX, a small fundraising group for the XXXX  We have a database of approx 600 people whom we regularly contact regarding fundraising functions such as the below.

Over the last 12 months I have increasingly received return emails (Non deliverable) mostly from bigpond email addresses.

I send the original email in batches of 50-60.   Of the 300 I have sent to date, I have received 90 Message not delivered responses.

All bigpond email addresses.”

The days of being able to use free email addresses (ie @gmail, @yahoo, @hotmail) for business or NFP (Non-for-profit) organisations and being confident that the emails are being received in the end-users inbox, are well and truly over.

See: 11 reasons you must STOP using FREE, generic or ISP based domain names for business emails.

Bulk email messages should only be sent from a specialist bulk-email or email marketing service, such as Mailchimp

Mailchimp offer a FREE service (Free includes up to 2,000 contacts, with 10,000 sends per month and a daily limit of 2,000) but you need to use your own “domain” to use the service. A domain brands your organisation and makes you identifiable from others.

A domain such as “yourcompanyname.com.au” is only $35 per year

a “.com” domain is only $20 per year and if you are a NFP organisation you can qualify for a “.org” ($20 per year) or “.org.au” ($15 per year) domain

To setup Mailchimp sucessfully you need to configure the SPF and DKIM records correctly in DNS to allow Mailchimp to correctly send emails on your domains behalf.

Each individual mailbox requires an email hosting platform. Do not be fooled into using a cheap hosting-platform offering free or cheap IMAP or POP accounts.

Only “Microsoft Exchange” mailboxes offer the security and reliability to safely and securely deliver your emails with a guarantee of sucessful receipt.

Microsoft Exchange mailbox can be purchased as stand-alone

Microsoft 365 Business Basic -AU$8.20 user/month + GST (includes Web and mobile versions of Office apps, 1 TB of cloud storage, Business-class email)

or as part of your Microsoft Office license

Microsoft 365 Business Standard -AU$17.20 user/month + GST (includes mailbox and desktop version of Microsoft Office for up to 5 users, 1 TB of cloud storage, Business-class email, Easily host webinars, Attendee registration and reporting tools, Manage customer appointments)

A custom domain, DNS, MFA and Microsoft Exchange can be setup yourself by following the Microsoft tutorials and instructions or you could choose to have it setup by a Microsoft Specialist such as The Apple Guy.

If you would like to take your organisation to the next level, please let us know.