SMTP

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is an Internet standard for electronic mail (e-mail) transmission across Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is used for the email to SMS solution where a text message can be sent using an email client and converted into a text message by the FastSMS system.

Most email software is designed to use SMTP for communication purposes when sending email. SMTP provides a set of codes that simplify the communication of email messages between servers. It allows a server to break up different parts of a message into categories the other server can understand.

Any email message has a sender, a recipient – or sometimes multiple recipients – a message body, and usually a title heading. When people set up their email programmes, they will typically have to give the address of their Internet service provider’s SMTP server for outgoing mail.

There are two other protocols – POP3 (post office protocol) and IMAP (internet mail access protocol) – that are used for retrieving and storing email. Proprietary systems (such as Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes/Domino) and webmail systems (such as Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo! Mail) use their own non-standard protocols to access mail box accounts on their own mail servers, all use SMTP when sending or receiving email from outside their own systems.

Full detail on our email-to-SMS solution is available in our Knowledge Base. Email to SMS is useful for enabling legacy software systems that are capable of sending emails to add SMS messaging capabilities merely by formatting emails appropriately. This removes the need for software development for old systems which could be problematic.