Understanding From addresses and email authentication

When sending standard emails in iMIS, you can specify the From address that appears to recipients. However, successful delivery depends on more than what is entered in iMIS.

Understanding how From addresses work

In standard emails, the From address defines who the email appears to be sent from. While you can enter most valid email addresses, iMIS does not validate whether that address is authorized to send emails.

Whether an email is successfully delivered depends on how the sending domain is configured and how the receiving mail server evaluates the message.

Understanding what iMIS controls

iMIS allows you to do the following:

• Enter a From address when creating or configuring an email
• Send emails using the configured email service

iMIS does not do the following:

• Restrict which From addresses can be used
• Maintain a list of approved or whitelisted addresses or domains
• Validate whether a From address is authorized to send from your domain

Because of this, entering a From address in iMIS does not guarantee that the email will be delivered successfully.

Understanding what must be configured outside of iMIS

Email delivery is primarily controlled by your organization’s email provider and DNS configuration.

To send emails from a specific From address or domain, the following must typically be configured:

Configuring domain authentication

Your domain should include authentication records that verify emails sent from your organization:

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework) – Identifies which servers are allowed to send email on behalf of your domain
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) – Signs emails to verify that the message has not been altered
• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) – Defines how receiving servers handle authentication failures

Without these records, emails may be flagged as spam, rejected, or fail to send.

For more information:

• Checking authentication for SPF records
• Maximizing deliverability

Configuring “send as” permissions

Some email providers require explicit permission to send from a specific address, for example:

• Sending from a shared mailbox
• Sending from a group or alias
• Sending from another user’s address

These permissions are configured in your email provider, not in iMIS.

Understanding domain-level vs address-level setup

In most cases, authentication is configured at the domain level, not per individual email address.

This means the following:

• Once your domain is properly configured, you can typically send from multiple addresses within that domain
• There is no need to whitelist each individual address in iMIS

Understanding common delivery issues

If emails are not being delivered as expected, the issue is usually related to authentication or provider restrictions rather than iMIS configuration.

Common issues include the following:

• Emails sent from a domain without SPF or DKIM configured
• Sending from an address without proper “send as” permissions
• Using a From address that does not match the authenticated domain
• Messages being flagged as spam due to poor domain reputation