Scanning with Microsoft 365 on copier devices.

The following guides will give you a run through the options on scanning from your device to an email address. However most email system nowadays require the use of MFA (Multi Factor Authentication) to be able to validate their credentials to send emails.

Devices such as copiers, scanner and other application may not support this method. To be able to use scanning services on these you will need to configure one of the following services in addition to your normal email sending for your users.

There are 3 methods which we talk about in the following guides:

·         Direct Send (Microsoft365)

·         SMTP Relay (Microsoft365)

·         SMTP2GO (External Provider)

These all work slightly differently but as a leading provider of these devices we tend to configure “Direct Send” as the default as this is pretty simple to complete and only allows non-authenticated devices and application to send to internal network/users only.

In all methods you will need to have the relevant permissions in Microsft365 admin centres to access to required settings. 

How to use Direct Send in Microsoft 365

When it comes to sending emails from a scanner or application, we have a couple of options when using Microsoft 365. One of those options is the Direct Send method, which is the easiest to set up, but also has the most limitations.

Besides sending emails through Microsoft 365, we can also use third-party options. These tools are often easier to configure and also allow you to track the emails.

In this article

• Direct Send vs SMTP Relay in Microsoft 365 vs SMTP2GO
• Using Direct Send
• Step 1 – Get the SMTP Server Address
• Step 2 – Update the SPF Record
• Step 3 – Enter the details in the Device
• Using SMTP2GO
• Getting Started
• Wrapping Up

In this article, I will explain how to set up your device with Direct Send and also show you a good alternative.

Direct Send vs SMTP Relay in Microsoft 365

Before we are going to look at how to use direct send, let’s first briefly look at the differences between SMTP Relay and Direct Send, because it’s quite important to understand.

With Direct Send, you don’t need any form of authentication, but you can only send emails to internal recipients. If you need to send emails to external recipients as well, then you will need to look at SMTP Relay or even SMTP AUTH client submission. The latter however requires modern authentication which is often not supported on scanners for example:

Direct Send vs SMTP Relay

If you can’t use port 25 and modern authentication, then you really need to take a look at SMTP2GO. I will tell you more about that tool later in the article.

Using Direct Send

With Direct Send we can only send emails internally. To do this we will be using our Exchange Online server as SMTP server, and use an internal non-existing email address to send from like scanner@yourdomain.com. So you will not need to use a Microsoft licence to use this.

It’s also recommended to update your SPF record, to prevent the emails from being flagged as spam, but we shall run through that as well.

Step 1 – Get the SMTP Server Address

We are first going to get the Exchange Online address that we will be using for the SMTP server:

1. Open the Microsoft 365 Admin Center
2. Expand Settings and click on Domains
3. Select your default Domain

4. Open the MX record
5. Copy the Points to address or Value record, we will be using this as SMTP Server.

Step 2 – Update the SPF Record

It’s recommended to add the public IP Address of the network where the scanner is located to your SPF record. This way, the mail server knows that the email is coming from a trusted source, and won’t flag it as spam.

To find your public IP address, simply open myip.com and take note of the address. Next, go to your DNS registrar (who host you DNS) and update the SPF record accordingly, you may need to speak to your webmaster for this. See example below:

# If you public IP Address is 182.84.12.01

# then add it like this:

v=spf1 ip4:182.84.12.01 include:spf.protection.outlook.com ~all

Step 3 – Enter the details in the Device/Scanner

We now have all the information to configure the SMTP settings on the device. Enter the following details:

• SMTP Server: yourdomain-com.mail.protection.outlook.com (The address you copied in Step 1)
• From address: scanner@yourdomain.com (You can use any address here, it doesn’t need to be a valid email user account.)
• To address: internal.address@yourdomain.com
• Port: 25
• Use TLS: True

To test it out you can try sending an email or also use PowerShell. Use the following script to send an email to yourself using the direct send method:

$mailMessageParams = @{

SmtpServer = 'pixelsupply-nl.mail.protection.outlook.com'

Port = '25'

UseSSL = $true

From = 'sender@pixelsupply.nl'

To = 'ruud@pixelsupply.nl'

Subject = 'Test email'

Body = 'Test email using Direct Send'

}

Send-MailMessage @mailMessageParams

 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 

How to Setup SMTP Relay in Office 365

This next method is a little more involved and you would need to think about the security implementations with sending scans externally from the network.

Sending emails from a scanner or web application can always be challenging. You don’t want to use a mailbox (with username and password) for this, but preferable an SMTP server that sends the mail for you. This is where we can use SMTP Relay in Office 365.

The problem with SMTP Authentication these days is that we want to use MFA on all our Office 365 accounts. When we create a dedicated mailbox for sending emails, we still can’t authenticate (and secure) it properly. This is also the reason that Microsoft doesn’t support SMTH AUTH anymore for new tenants created after 2020.

SMTP Relay, on the other hand, allows applications and devices to send email through your Exchange Online mail server. Protection is done based on your public IP Address(es), allowing only applications and devices from your network to use the SMTP Relay connection.

In this article, I will explain how you can set up an SMTP Relay in Office 365 and the difference between Direct Send and SMTP Relay.

SMTP Relay vs Direct Send in Office 365

Before we take a look at how to set up SMTP Relay in Office 365, I first want to explain to you the difference between SMTP Relay and Direct Send. Because both use the MX endpoint as an SMTP server address, but they both have their own use case.

Direct Send in Office 365 is used to deliver email to only your internal mailboxes. This means that you can’t scan a document and email it directly from the scanner to an external email address. You will need to scan it to your own mailbox, and in Outlook forward it to the external contact if needed.

But the advantage is Direct Send is that you can use it also for third-party applications and it doesn’t require a static IP address for authentication.

SMTP Relay on the other hand can be used to send emails directly to external contacts, but only from networks (public IP addresses) that you have defined.

Direct Send vs SMTP Relay

If you can’t use port 25, then your only other options are SMTP Auth client submission, which uses OAuth for authentication, or a third-party tool like SMTP2GO. The advantage of this tool is that you can use different port numbers, like for example port 2525, or even port 80, and simply authenticate with a username and password.

Set up SMTP Relay in Office 365

To set up an SMTP Relay we first need to know the public IP Address of the network where the device is located. If you want to use SMTP Relay for your local multifunctional (scanner), then just open the browser and visit myip.com. Note the IP Address, we will need that later.

1. Open the Exchange Admin Center

Log in add your Exchange Admin Center and navigate to:
Mail flow > Connectors

2. Create a new Connector

Click on Add a connector to create a new connector
and choose Your organization’s email server

3. Connector name

Give the connector a recognizable name and leave the selected options on.

4. Configure authentication

The next step is to configure the authentication that we want to use. It’s possible to use a certificate for authentication, but more common is to do the verification based on the public IP Address of the device.

You can define multiple IP Addresses for the connection (useful if you have different offices)

5. Review and create the connector

The last step is to review your settings and create the connector. Double-check the IP Addresses and click on Create connector.

To use the connector we will need to look up the MX record for your Office 365 tenant. The value of the MX record is used as SMTP Server Address in your device.

1. Open the Microsoft 365 Admin Center
2. Expand Settings and click on Domains
3. Select your domain
4. Click on DNS records
5. Open the MX record (by clicking on it)
6. Note to Points to address or value field

The format of the value is pretty standard:

# MX Record structure

<your-domain>-<domain-extension>.mail.protection.outlook.com

# For example:

# lazyadmin-nl.mail.protection.outlook.com

Use this address in your scanner or application as SMTP Address.

Update your SPF Record

To prevent the mail from ending up in the spam folder, we will need to edit the SPF record. The SPF record identifies which endpoints (servers) are allowed to send emails on behalf of the domain.

By default your SPF Record looks like this:

v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com ~all

We are going to add our Public Ip Address to it:

v=spf1 ip4:10.11.12.13 include:spf.protection.outlook.com ~all

# or for mutliple IP Addresses:

v=spf1 ip4:10.11.12.13 ip4:20.21.22.23 include:spf.protection.outlook.com ~all

Keep in mind that DNS changes can take a couple of hours to apply. But after that, you should be able to send emails using your newly created SMTP Relay Connection.

Edit SMTP Relay Connection

You can use one SMTP Relay connection to send emails from multiple IP Addresses. So you don’t need to create a connection for each branch office that you have for example.

To add an IP Address to an existing connection, we can simply open an existing one:

1. Click on the connection
2. Click on Edit send email identity
3. Add or remove IP Addresses from the connection

Using PowerShell to create SMTP Relay Connection

You can also use PowerShell to create an SMTP Relay connection in Office 365. This is especially useful when you need to create the same SMTP Relay connection in multiple tenants or if you just love to use PowerShell.

Make sure that you are connected to Exchange Online. You can read more about connecting to Exchange Online in this article.

There are a couple of parameters that we need to set:

You can find all parameters with their description in these Microsoft docs.

So to create the SMTP Relay connector in Office 365 with PowerShell we can use the following code:

New-InboundConnector -Name "SMTP Relay POSH" -ConnectorType = 'OnPremises' -SenderDomains * -SenderIPAddresses 10.11.12.13 -RestrictDomainsToIPAddresses $true

Or a bit more readable:

# Set the parameters

$parameters = @{

Name = 'SMTP Relay POSH'

ConnectorType = 'OnPremises'

SenderDomains = '*'

SenderIPAddresses = '10.11.12.13','20.21.22.23'

RestrictDomainsToIPAddresses = $true

}

# Create the SMTP Relay connector

New-InboundConnector @parameters

Wrapping Up

Keep in mind that you can’t SMTP Relay or Direct send for bulk emails. Microsoft applies reasonable limits to the connection and throttling to protect Microsoft 365 services. If you need to send bulk emails, then make sure to checkout SMTP2GO.

Using SMTP2GO

Direct Send, SMTP Relay, and SMTP Auth all have their own limitations. One of the most common issues is that port 25 is blocked by your internet service provider, and modern authentication (oAuth) isn’t supported on your device.

This is where SMTP2GO steps in, it allows you to easily send emails from any device or program, using only a username and password. The big advantage is that it uses port 2525 by default, but also works with ports 80, 25, 8025, or 587. So that are more then enough options.

The free account allows you to send 1000 emails monthly with a maximum of 200 emails per day, which is often more than enough for small businesses. If you need more, then you can easily increase your plan based on the number of emails you need to send per month.

Getting Started

You can start with the free account to test out the service before you buy a subscription. After you have registered your account, you will need to add a verified sender. Here you have two options, you can verify your domain (recommended) or use a single sender email address.

The latter is the easiest option and perfect for a small business where you only have a single scanner. For a large environment, I recommend verifying the domain by creating the necessary DNS records.

After you have added a verified sender, the next step is to create an SMTP username. We will be using this username and password for the authentication.

1. Go to Sending > SMTP Users
2. Click on Continue (first time only) and on Add SMTP user in the top right corner
3. Enter a username and password.

Make sure that you also check out the options under Tracking & Status. Here you can enable the option to track the click and open rate of the emails, which can be really useful in some cases. When done click Add SMTP User

With the user created, you can now send a test email, which you can do with PowerShell for example:

$username = "landall"

$password = ConvertTo-SecureString "mdashd1j23msa" -AsPlainText -Force

$credential = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential($username, $password)

$mailMessageParams = @{

SmtpServer = 'mail.smtp2go.com'

Port = '2525'

From = 'helpdesk@landall.co.uk'

To = 'lab01@lazyadmin.nl'

Subject = 'Test email'

Body = 'Test email using Direct Send'

Credential = $credential

}

Send-MailMessage @mailMessageParams

Wrapping Up

Sending emails from a scanner or program can always be a bit challenging to get right. Especially since most ISPs block port 25, and Microsoft now forcing OAuth authentication for SMTP Auth.

SMTP2GO may cost you a few pounds per month if you exceed the 1000 emails per month, but it works flawlessly every time, so make sure you give it a try as well.

Hope you liked this article, if you have any questions, just drop a comment below.

If you continue to have any issues after trying to above please do reach out to us at helpdesk@landall.co.uk

Regards

Landall Support team

https://landall.co.uk