Important Information – Planned SMTP Change – 16th March

Announcements Aftab Alam

As part of the move to Exchange Online a high-sending SMTP solution is being introduced on the platform, to ensure applications that need to send in high volumes (above the standard Microsoft limits) can do so.

This work has been scheduled over two evenings to minimise potential disruption and is expected to be seamless. Internet traffic will be cutover to use the new solution on 16th March 2021 followed by HSCN traffic on 18th March 2021. There is no change to the SMTP hostname, please continue to use the address you do today i.e. send.nhs.net or smtp.office365.com.

Please note, there is no change to the POP/IMAP protocols – these will continue to function as-is today on the platform.

It is recommended that organisations validate that SMTP traffic is flowing successfully after the work. Should you experience any issues, please raise a ticket with the NHSmail helpdesk referencing “SMTP High-Send” and include the below information:

Accounts Impacted
Hostname & Port being used
Error Message (screenshot if possible)

Update – Please be aware the Internet change did not take place last night. We will be in touch again shortly with revised dates for the changes.