Smart Alerts - Outgoing Email Alerts
With Outgoing Email Alerts, administrators can configure disclaimers or custom headers that will be added for emails being sent from within the organization. Outgoing alerts can be associated with a user, multiple users, or the entire organization, providing an added layer of security and awareness. These alerts can be configured to trigger alerts for various conditions, such as emails containing sensitive information, adherence to company policies, or the inclusion of specific keywords to the email. All the enabled alerts will be processed in sequence and trigger specified actions for emails with the matching conditions.
Note:
- It is mandatory to enable Organization Rules from the Spam Processing section in the Admin Console.
- The Outgoing Alerts feature will be rolled out in a phased manner and be available only for organizations that use one of our paid plans.
- If you want the option enabled for your organization, please reach out to us at support@zohomail.com.
Create New Alert
Follow these steps to create a new outgoing Alert:
- Log in to Zoho Mail Admin Console and select Security & Compliance on the left pane.
- Navigate to Smart Alerts and select Outgoing Alerts.
- Click Create Now or select the Create button from the top menu, if there are any existing alerts.
- Provide an Alert Name and an optional Alert Description.
- Specify an Expiry date if needed.
- Select the Condition Type as per your requirement:
- Apply for matching conditions - Preferred action will be performed only if the incoming emails satisfy the conditions provided by you.
- No Conditions. Apply to all emails. - When chosen, all the emails you receive will go through the preferred action.
- Select one or more Conditions, the Operating parameter and the corresponding Action.
- Select the users, to whom you want to apply the alert from the Apply To drop-down:
- All Users - The alert will be applied to all the users in your organization.
- All users except selected users - The alert will be applied to all the users except the ones added to the list.
- Selected Users - The alert will be applied to the specific set of users you add.
- Select the respective option and click the Select users button to include or exclude users.
- Select the users you want to add to the list and click Submit. You can also remove a user from the list by clicking the Delete icon next to the user.
- If needed, fill in the Remarks column. These remarks will be linked to the relevant operational details within the Admin Report’s Audit Log for future reference.
- Click the Reset to default button to clear all the selections you have made in the Create Outgoing Alert page and start fresh.
- Review your alert and do one of the following:
- Create and enable alert- Your alert will not only be created but also be activated automatically to start processing emails with respect to its conditions and actions.
- Create alert - Your alert will only be created and not activated. That means if you want the alert to be applied to the emails you receive, you will have to manually activate it.
Available Conditions
Zoho Mail provides multiple conditions based on which you can add alerts to the outgoing emails. You can set up more than one condition in a single alert depending on your requirement. The various conditions are listed in the tables that follow:
| Parameter | Description | Value |
| From email address | The sender email address of the outgoing mail | Click Add email addresses, enter the desired email address and click Add. |
| Display name | The display name of the sender | Click Add values, enter the user's display name and click Add. |
| Original sender's email address | Email address of the actual sender of the outgoing mail | Click Add email addresses, enter the preferred email address and click Add. |
| Sender's email policy | The email policy applied to the sender | Select the email policy from the drop-down. |
| Reply-to email address | The reverse-path/ bounce address of an outgoing email | Click Add email addresses, enter the preferred email address and click Add. |
| Sender IP address | The IP address of the email sender | Enter the sender's IP address that you wish to validate. |
| Sender's group | Checks if the sender belongs to an organisation group | Select the preferred group from the drop-down. |
| Parameter | Description | Value |
| To/CC email address | The email address in the To/CC field | Click Add email addresses, enter the desired email address and click Add. |
| Recipient domain | Validates the domain address of the recipient | Click Add domains, enter one or more domain names and click Add. |
| Has external recipient | Validates the presence of external users in the recipient list | Select Yes or No from the drop-down. |
| Recipient count | The number of recipients in the outgoing email | Provide a value between 1 to 100. |
| Internal recipient count | Validates the number of internal recipients in the email | Provide a value between 1 to 100. |
| External recipient count | Validates the number of external recipients in the email | Provide a value between 1 to 100. |
| Recipient* | Validates the domain and email address in the email | Click Add email addresses or domains, enter the desired domain name or email address and click Add. If required, select the Skip validation for internal recipients option. |
Note:
*Recipient- The outgoing alert will be processed only for those emails that "does not match" the email address or domain added to this alert.
| Parameter | Description | Value |
| Email language | The language in which the email was composed | Click Select languages, add the desired languages and click Add. |
| URL domain | The domain names of the URLs available in email content | Click Add domains, enter one or more domain names and click Add. |
| MIME Message ID* | The ID that can be gathered from a MIME email's header | Click Add values, enter the desired MIME value and click Add. |
| MIME size (in MB) | The size of the non-text attachment specified in MB | Enter a value between 1 to 40. |
Note:
*MIME message - Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions supports non-text email attachments. A MIME header is added to the original email header from where you can gather the unique content ID/message ID used to identify the message.
| Parameter | Description | Value |
| Originating country | The country from which the email was sent | Click Select countries, add the desired countries and click Add. |
| X Mailer* | The desktop client from which the email was sent | Click Add values, enter the X-Mailer you wish to validate and click Add. |
| Sender involved in suspicious login activity | Checks for any suspicious login activity of the sender | Select Yes or No from the drop-down. |
Note:
*X-Mailer - Specifies which desktop client (For example, Apple client, Thunderbird, etc) was used to draft or send the email. Can be found in the email header.
| Parameter | Description | Value |
| User agent | The software/ Client used to send the emails | Click Add values, enter the user agent you wish to validate and click Add. |
| Subject | The subject of the email | Click Add values, enter the desired subject and click Add. |
| Parameter | Description | Value |
| Attachment type | The type of attached file | Click Select attachments, add the attachment types and click Add. |
| Has attachment | Checks if any file is attached | Select Yes or No from the drop-down. |
| Attachment size (in MB) | The size of the attached file in MB | Enter a value between 1 to 40. |
| Parameter | Description | Value |
| Has macros | The existence of macros in the email content | Select Yes or No from the drop-down. |
| Has suspicious macros | The existence of suspicious macros in the email content | Select Yes or No from the drop-down. |
| Operators | Description |
| is | The respective parameter in the outgoing email should exactly match the given criteria value. |
| is not | The respective parameter in the outgoing email should not match the given criteria value. |
| contains | The respective parameter in the outgoing email doesn't have to be an exact match but will pass even if it contains the given criteria value. |
| does not contain | The respective parameter in the outgoing email doesn't have to be an exact match but will pass if it does not contain the given criteria value. |
| begins with | The respective parameter in the outgoing email should begin with the given criteria value. |
| ends with | The respective parameter in the outgoing email should end with the given criteria value. |
| is empty | The respective parameter in the outgoing email should be empty. |
| is not empty | The respective parameter in the outgoing email should not be empty. |
| is group member in | The recipient is a part of the selected group. |
| is not group member in | The recipient is not a part of the selected group. |
| matches | The respective parameter in the outgoing email should match the regular expression pattern. |
| Does not match | The respective parameter in the outgoing email should not match the regular expression pattern. |
| true | The given condition should be true. |
| false | The given condition should be false. |
| is greater than | The respective parameter in the outgoing email should only be greater than the given criteria value. |
| is lesser than | The respective parameter in the outgoing email should only be lesser than the given criteria value. |
| is greater than or equal to | The respective parameter in the outgoing email can be greater than or equal to the given criteria value. |
| is lesser than or equal to | The respective parameter in the outgoing email can be lesser than or equal to the given criteria value. |
After selecting the Conditions and the Operating parameters, provide the values with respect to the chosen conditions that need to be verified against. Upon providing these proceed to select the Actions that need to be performed for the emails with the chosen conditions.
The emails that match the specified conditions will be processed as per the actions defined in the alert. Select the necessary action and, if required, provide a value as given in the table that follows:
| Action | Description | Value |
| Append custom X-Header | A custom header with a name and value will be added to the emails. | Click Add header details, provide the header name and value and click Add. |
| Append text to subject | The prefix text that you configure will be included in the email subject. | Click Add subject, enter the text which you want to be appended to the subject and click Add. |
| Add domain disclaimer in the footer for outbound emails | A disclaimer text will be added at the footer of all the emails that satisfy the alert conditions. | Click Add disclaimer content, enter the text which you want to be added as disclaimer and click Add. |
| Add domain disclaimer at the top for outbound emails | A disclaimer text will be added at the top of the email content that satisfies the alert conditions. | Click Add disclaimer content, enter the text which you want to be added as disclaimer and click Add. |
Alert processing and priority
You can add any number of outgoing alerts to process different types of outgoing emails. In the case of multiple alerts, the sequence of processing is determined by the sequence in which they are listed. The alert with the highest priority(1), i.e., the one listed first, will take precedence over alerts with lower priorities listed subsequently. Once an email matches the conditions of a particular alert, the actions specified in the alert will be applied to the email. The same email will not be scrutinized against the subsequent alerts in the list.
Modify Incoming Alert
Follow the below steps to edit an alert:
- Log in to Zoho Mail Admin Console and select Security & Compliance on the left pane.
- Navigate to Smart Alerts and select Outgoing Alerts.
- Select the alert that requires modification from the list and click Edit in the top right corner.
- Make the necessary changes and click Update.
Additionally, you can search and edit the outgoing email alerts based on the associated users. Navigate to the search bar and select the applicable to or not applicable to parameters from the listing as per your requirements. Choose a specific user from the list and press enter. All the outgoing alerts associated with or not associated with that particular user will be displayed. You can then select the alerts from the list and make the required changes.
Enable or Disable an Alert
Follow the below steps to enable or disable an Alert:
- Log in to Zoho Mail Admin Console and select Security & Compliance on the left pane.
- Navigate to Smart Alerts and select Outgoing Alerts.
- Toggle the status button to ON or OFF in order to enable or disable an alert.
Remove Alerts from the list
In situations where an alert is no longer required or has expired, they can be removed by using the Delete option. Follow these steps to delete an alert.
- Log in to Zoho Mail Admin Console and select Security & Compliance on the left pane.
- Navigate to Smart Alerts and select Outgoing Alerts.
- To remove an Alert:
- Hover over an existing or expired alert and click the delete icon.
- Alternatively, you can select the desired alert, click Delete on the top menu and choose the required option:
- Delete selected alerts
- Delete all expired alerts
- Delete all alerts
- Click Delete in the confirmation dialog that appears.
This will remove the outgoing alerts from your list. Please note that once removed, the alerts cannot be retrieved and will be permanently removed from the list.