Configure SMTP So You Can Send Email

SMTP stands for "Simple Mail Transfer Protocol", and is the API (application program interface, a computer-to-computer communication protocol) by which programs such as IntelliPract® / InSched can connect to an email distribution server, which can then actually send email.

In order to send emails, you will need to use an email sending service. Likely your IT already has that in place for your practice, but if not, you can use a service like Mailgun, which will allow you to send up to 100 emails per day on their free plan.

Once you have your SMTP server, including the computer name, username, and password, you can enter that information into IntelliPract® / InSched so it can be used.

Start from the Setup menu, and select Email Export. You will see a warning about protecting confidential patient information. You are fully responsible for protecting all patient information.

Then, in the Setup Email Export dialog, look for the SMTP Setup section. Click the SMTP Setup button, and a dialog will open with specific instructions about setting this up.

The SMTP Setup dialog explains that the SMTP info, including your SMTP username and password, can either be stored in Inform (in which case it will be stored in the database without encryption, where every computer in the office can use it) or the SMPT info can be installed in InSched, in which case it will be stored just on that one computer, it will be encrypted, and it can optionally be stored in a double-encrypted Vault.

The Vault and the Vault Password

For personal information and passwords that should not necessarily be shared throughout the office, IntelliPract® / InSched can use an encrypted and password-protected vault. Information stored in the Vault can include Google Calendar configuration as well as SMTP configuration.

The information is stored only on a single computer, in the Registry. It is encrypted with the user's Windows login password in any case, but it can additionall be encrypted by a different password. If you do use the Vault Password, that Vault Password will need to be entered anytime InSched starts in order for InSched to be able to use either SMTP information or Google Calendar information. That Vault Password will also need to be entered whenever you want to edit either the SMTP information or the Google Calendar information.

Entering SMTP Configuration

Once you have your SMTP setup information (including the DNS address of the server that will be accepting the email, and your username and password for SMTP), and have decided whether to use a Vault Password, you can begin.

Open the SMPT Setup dialog (Setup / Email Export to open the Setup Email Export dialog, then click the SMTP Setup button in the SMTP Setup section of the Setup Email Export dialog).

Read the notices, which tell you how about your choices for saving the SMTP setup information.

Then, enter the SMTP information. Under SMTP Server:

Enter the DNS address for the SMTP server you will be using (that would be smtp.mailgun.org if you are using Mailgun).

The next two fields set the default for the "From" address of emails. SMTP From Name is your own name, and SMTP From Address is the email address you want the emails to be "From". For most emails, you can change that if you want.

Next is an SMTP Authentication checkbox. Check that if you are using username and password for SMTP. You will always want to do that unless your IT has setup a local SMTP relay for use within the office. If you reach the SMTP server over the Internet, you should definitely use SMTP Authentication.

Next is the SMTP Username and SMTP Password. Enter your information here.

Next is the SMTP SSL combo box. Set this to allow or require SSL encryption for the connection to your SMTP server. This should generally be Require SSL when you are connecting over the Internet.

Next is the SMTP Port. Port 25 is generally unencrypted. If you are using SSL, such as with Mailgun, you should generally use port 465.

Testing SMTP Configuration

Once that information is provided, click the "Test" button to test your setup and connection with your SMTP server. If you see Authentication Succeeded, that means you have the right DNS address, username and password. However, to be certain that you can send an email, you have to actually send an email. Enter your own email address in the box that appears and click OK to send yourself a test email.

If the test email connects properly, you will see a message, and when you check your email, you should see the test email with the subject "InSched Email Test"

Saving SMTP Configuration

Once your test email succeeds, you still have to save the configuration so it will be available when you want to send emails.

Click the "Save Configuration" button to save the encrypted information to the local computer's registry. Here you can also click "Set Vault Password" if you want to set the additional Vault Password for additional encryption. You can also leave the Vault Password blank to remove the Vault Password encryption.