Aspire Email Delivery and the Mail Relay Service

Aspire Email Delivery and the Mail Relay Service

Info
See attached document for complete details. 


Audience: Customer Care / Support, Internal IT, and hosted clients
Applies to: All LTi-hosted, client-facing Aspire instances 

Overview

Aspire sends outbound email (invoices, notifications, and other system-generated messages) through a managed mail relay service. For LTi-hosted clients in both the US and UK, this relay is the standard component that handles deliverability, sender authentication, and bounce reporting for all mail leaving Aspire.

The relay is operated through a third-party email delivery provider — hosted in the United States for US clients and in the EU for UK clients. LTi manages the service end to end; from the client's perspective it is part of the standard Aspire hosting offering, not a separate product or engagement.


Why Aspire Uses a Managed Relay

Major Email Service Providers (Microsoft/Outlook, Google/Gmail, Yahoo, AOL) have made sender-authentication and reputation checks steadily more aggressive. Mail that isn't properly authenticated is increasingly delayed, filtered to spam, or rejected outright. The relay service addresses this by providing:
  1. DKIM authentication on every message Aspire sends, so receiving servers can verify the mail is legitimately authorized to use the client's sending domain.
  2. Improved bounce reporting — detailed visibility into failed deliveries (see Bounce reporting below).
  3. Deliverability protection — if a sending domain or IP is ever flagged on a major provider's blocklist, the service gives us options to respond and restore delivery.
The goal is to keep client email flowing reliably and to future-proof deliverability as provider requirements continue to tighten.


What's Included and Cost
  1. The relay service — including DKIM certification — is part of the standard hosted Aspire offering at no additional cost to the client.
  2. It replaces the prior relay service. There is no contract addendum or separate agreement required; it is an upgrade to the existing standard offering.
  3. Optional enhancements may be offered in the future for an additional fee (for example, enhanced reporting or a dedicated sending IP). These are not part of the standard service.

How it works

Sending Domain and Address
Aspire sends from a no-reply address on the client's sending domain — for example, noreply@<sending-domain> (e.g., a subdomain such as invoice.<clientdomain>.com). Each sending domain has one DKIM key (you can only publish one DKIM key per domain).

      Important — From address: The Aspire From address must use the client's own sending domain, never an LTi email address or domain. SPF       and DKIM authorization is published on the client's domain, so a From address on an LTi domain will fail authentication and harm       deliverability.

Why DNS Changes are Required
Because Aspires mail is not sent directly from a mail server inside the client's own domain, the receiving world needs a way to confirm LTi is authorized to send on the client's behalf. We accomplish this with DNS records the client publishes:
  1. An SPF update authorizing the relay to send for the domain.
  2. A DKIM record (public key) so receivers can validate the message signature.
  3. MX records (highly recommended) on the sending subdomain, giving the domain a valid mail exchanger for return-path/bounce handling and strengthening overall deliverability.
These records do two things: they let us route mail through the relay using the client's domain in the From address, and they validate our authority to send those messages as the client's representative.

Client FAQs

Is the mail relay a separate vendor relationship for the client? No. The client's use of the relay comes as part of the Aspire hosting relationship, not a separate engagement. From the client's perspective the provider is a "material fourth party" (LTi being the direct third-party relationship); LTi manages the integration.

Does this cost the client anything? No — it's included in standard hosting. Possible future add-ons (enhanced reporting, dedicated IP) could carry a fee, but the standard service, including DKIM, does not.

Is there a contract or addendum to sign? No. It replaces the existing relay service; no separate agreement is required.
Is mail routed offshore? No. Mail is routed through a third-party service hosted in the client's own region — the US for US clients and the EU for UK clients — not to any other offshore location.

Why can't the client just use their own existing DKIM key / mail server? A DKIM key tied to the client's own mail server only works when mail is sent directly from that server. Because Aspire sends through the relay, we provide a different set of records for the client to publish so the relay is authorized to send using the client's domain.

Info
View the attached document for complete details including Responsibilities, records to publish, Implementation Process steps, and more. 

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