Zajoni - FAQ

FAQ

SMTP 101 - What is SMTP? What is an SMTP server? How does a message make its way to the recipient after it leaves my outbox? What are SMTP log records?
SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transport Protocol. To put it simply, it's the language that mail servers and mail clients (e.g. Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird) use to communicate with each other to deliver an email message from the sender through the internet to the recipient. To see how the process works, refer to this SMTP diagram.

After you compose an email message, hit 'send', and the message leaves your mail client's outbox, its first stop is your outgoing SMTP server. This is the mail server that you have configured to use for sending all of your outgoing mail.

Your outgoing SMTP mail server then attempts to deliver the message to the recipient's incoming mail server. If everything goes well, the recipient's incoming mail server accepts delivery of the message, then the recipient's mail client picks up the message from their incoming mail server.

Most outgoing SMTP servers and incoming mail servers typically log information about the delivery of each message that passes through. These logs are called SMTP logs, and they serve as a 'paper trail' for tracking the delivery of every message. The SMTP logs at the outgoing SMTP server can be used to determine whether or not a message was in fact accepted for delivery by the recipient's incoming mail server. If there was a delivery problem, these logs can be used to troubleshoot the problem. Mail server administrators routinely use these logs to troubleshoot delivery problems, confirm delivery of messages, track down missing messages, etc.

I sent a message, and I received a confirmation from Zajoni that the message was accepted by the recipient's mail server. Does this mean that the recipient received the message?
No. The confirmation can be used to prove that you sent the message, and that the recipient's mail server received the message on behalf of the recipient, but it does not prove the recipient actually received the message.

To understand why, please refer to this SMTP diagram. The confirmation that the message was received by the recipient's incoming mail server confirms that the message made it three-quarters of the way through its journey - i.e. from the sender's mail client, through the sender's outgoing SMTP server, and to the recipient's incoming mail server. However, the message still needs to make its way through the home stretch of the journey - from the recipient's incoming mail server to the recipient's mail client - before the recipient receives the message. If the recipient's mail server drops the message, or a spam filter somewhere in the recipient's network erroneously filters the message, or something else goes wrong during this last leg of the message's journey, then the recipient may not receive the message. (see related question below).

I sent a message, and I received a confirmation from Zajoni that the message was received by the recipient's incoming mail server. However, the recipient reports that they never received the message. Now what???
To put it bluntly - the problem is somewhere between the recipient's mail server and the recipient. In our experience, we've found that over-aggressive spam filters are often the culprit in the vast majority of these cases. The recipient may want to check their spam filter to see if the message was erroneously filtered as spam.

If the recipient has ruled out their spam filter as the cause of the problem, then they may want to raise the issue with their mail server administrator or mail service provider. In this case, you can help the recipient by forwarding the confirmation that you received from Zajoni for the missing message. The SMTP log record attached to this confirmation will contain an acknowledgement from the recipient's mail server, usually with a unique stamp from the recipient's mail server. The recipient's mail server administrator should be able to track down the missing message with the help of this log record, and (hopefully) correct the problem to prevent it from recurring.

Why do legitimate (non-spam) email messages sometimes not reach their recipients?
A 2005 study by researchers at MIT concluded that as many as 1 in 100 legitimate email messages may not reach their recipients, and the problem is widely believed to have gotten worse since then. There are a number of reasons why legitimate email messages sometimes do not reach their recipients, including network or server malfunctions, user error, etc. However, spam filter 'false-positives' are widely cited as the leading cause of dropped or missing messages.

Why is it free?
We made the decision to launch Zajoni as a free public service after building it and using it internally, as a way of testing market acceptance and demand for such a service. We may decide to monetize the service at some point by charging a nominal monthly fee for the service, but for the foreseeable future we intend to continue to offer the service at no charge.

How many messages per day can I send?
The number of messages sent per day through any one Zajoni account is limited to 50. This restriction is put in place as a measure to prevent the system from being used to send bulk mailings and spam. Please note that the system is intended to be used for individual use by users sending mail from their personal mail clients, and is not intended to be used for sending mass or automated mailings.