Use your .nhs.uk Domain Name for SMTP email

Introduction

When you register your .nhs.uk Domain Name, or subsequently, you may also ask the NHSIA to enable routing, to your MTA, of SMTP email addressed to anyname@yoursurgery.nhs.uk. They say that it is their policy not to allow GP's to use names other than the cumbersome anyone@gp-a12345.nhs.uk style of email address, but some practices have applied and their applications have been processed successfully. If you wish to pursue this then this page shows you some of the steps required.

Important Notice for X400 practices. If you currently receive email by X400, ensure that you understand this paragraph before proceeding.

• When you apply to receive smtp mail to anyname@yoursurgery.nhs.uk this will likely lead to the discontinuation of "mapping" of your smtp mail to X400 which is what you probably have now (i.e. currently mail addressed to anyone@gp-a12345.nhs.uk is delivered to you by X400 even though it is addressed as smtp). This can lead to some difficulty in corresponding with other X400 practices, unless you are aware of the pitfalls. Specifically, if an X400 practice which is not setup for smtp sends an email to your smtp address, and then you try to reply, your reply will be sent to the smtp version of their address and may be lost. In these circumstances you must not just hit reply but instead should send your reply to their X400 address. This difficulty will be resolved once all practices are converted to smtp (late 2003).
• You must ensure that your smtp mail receiving capabilities are set up properly before submitting your application to register your new address. Since in setting up the new address the existing mapping of smtp to X400 will be removed, you will find that email to your "old" anyone@gp-a12345.nhs.uk style address will now arrive by smtp whereas previously you have received it by X400. If your smtp configuration is invalid then emails to both everyone@yoursurgery.nhs.uk and everyone@gp-a12345.nhs.uk will bounce and be lost.

How to Proceed

If you wish to proceed, consult the guidelines below. The principles are generally applicable, but the specific instructions are for those using an Exchange MTA. Each server may be setup differently - follow these instructions at your own risk and taking account of any differences in your setup.

1. Configure your MTA to be able to receive smtp, if it does not do so already.
2. Configure your MTA to accept smtp mail addressed to the domain yoursurgery.nhs.uk
3. Configure your MTA to accept email addressed to named individuals anyname@yoursurgery.nhs.uk and place in the correct mailboxes.
4. Apply to NHSIA for mail addressed to anyname@yoursurgery.nhs.uk to be routed to your MTA.

For general advice on smtp email for GP's see an article by Dr Adrian Midgley.

Detailed Instructions with the Emphasis on MS Exchange

This section shows you how to make these adjustments if you are using MS Exchange for your MTA. The screenshots are from Exchange 5.5 SP3.

Run "Exchange Administrator" program which is found on the server which runs Exchange - look on your desktop or on Start Menu under Exchange.

Configure Exchange to be able to receive smtp

Ensure that the connector for "Internet Mail Services" is installed. (If not then you will need to install it). Check by looking at, in Exchange Administrator, Domain / Configuration / Connection and see if there is an item called "Internet Mail Services".

Configure Exchange to be able to receive smtp mail addressed to your domain

Open the "Internet Mail Services" connector by double-clicking it, then select the tab labelled "Routing".

Select the radio button "Reroute Incoming SMTP mail"

Click "Add" and add the name of your domain to be registered yoursurgery.nhs.uk and indicate that this should be accepted as "inbound".

Click OK, then Apply, then OK.

For these changes to take effect you will need to stop and then start the "Internet Mail Service". Go to Start / Settings / Control Panel / Services. Scroll down to locate "Internet Mail Service", select it, then click Stop. When it has stopped (which may take 10 - 30 seconds or more) select it again and click Start. When it has started again you may close the Services and Control Panel.

Configure your MTA to accept email addressed to named individuals anyname@yoursurgery.nhs.uk

Again in Exchange Administrator, go to your Recipients folder and select an individual name, such as your own. Open it by double clicking, and select the "Email Addresses" tab. Add the new address for which you want to accept mail into your mailbox e.g. My.Name@oursurgery.nhs.uk.

Do not yet set this to be the default reply address (since you have not yet registered for email to be routed to this address by the NHS mail service). Once everything is working (a few days from now) you may return to this point and set My.Name@oursurgery.nhs.uk as your reply address.

Repeat for each of your users, though perhaps you may defer this until you have satsified yourself that your new address is working for yourself.

Apply to NHSIA for SMTP registration

• If you are already registered for SMTP then you are asking NHSIA to add an additional name - their policy is to refuse to do so, but you could still submit an application and it may be processed.
• If you are currently registered for X400, then in effect you are asking to be migrated to SMTP (and it is policy that all practices must do so by late in 2003) and so your application perhaps has a better chance of success. You fill in the application for migration to SMTP, giving smtp.yoursurgery.nhs.uk as the server name, and stating the ip address of your server.

Fill in the DNS application form, including the section on page 2 for SMTP, or if you have already registered your domain name and are applying for SMTP only you may use the SMTP only form. These may be found in various formats including online application forms at the NHSIA name registration pages. (Refer to the advice on completing this form on the domain registration page).

It may take 5 - 10 days after applying before the changes are completed, or it may be quicker than that.

...A few days later... Test it. Send an email to My.Name@oursurgery.nhs.uk from your home email account. Get a friend at a local practice to send an email to My.Name@oursurgery.nhs.uk. If messages fail then read the failure notices to identify the problem. When you are confident that all is well then return to Exchange Administrator to set your new address to be your reply address, and do likewise for the rest of your users.

Phew!