Now you see it… now you don’t

Now and then I find it’s a good idea to review the mysteries of email… where it sometimes goes…. where it sometimes comes from. What’s especially puzzling to so many is the peek-a-boo operations of RBLs.

RBL: remote block list, realtime black hole list

They are lists of mail servers that get caught up in the spam chaos, administered by various list providers (like Spam Cop) and used by ISPs (your internet service provider). Some on the list are innocent but infected victims, some are notorious perpetrators. Fed by consumer complaints, bot reports and other automated systems… mail servers get on them and then your email gets the cease and desist before delivery.

There’s an interesting corollary to this… when someone sending TO YOU has their email blocked. Now who’s responsible?

Well, sometimes it’s whoever is easiest to get hold of and complain to. :-)

OK, not playing the blues here… but we do get our fair share of “it can’t be their fault.” Oh, the discomfort of telling a client or cohort that THEIR email has an issue. Most of us just don’t know how to broach the matter with them. After all…. all their other mail gets to everyone else, just fine…. right?

And my goodness… it just couldn’t be Microsoft Outlook or Gmail... right?

We even had an anxious fellow move out recently because, despite the error messages to the contrary (that Microsoft had mail servers on a black list), it just had to be COOLCOM’s mail system causing the grief.

Facts be damned [sound of feet stamping].

So… what to do?

In the email world, everything is a registered letter… so there’s very little mystery left when you know how to read the hidden records… and we do know how.

Come to COOLCOM in the Support desk. If possible, ask your sender to forward you any error message they received back. We’ll help figure it out… we always do. And we’ll work to help get things fixed up, or at least understood. Even when it is their mail server on the RBL, we can usually help.

We’re in this together… let’s just solve problems… one at a time.