How to Filter/Add Users and Set Up Your Email Connector for Microsoft 365
This article details the steps to adding an email connector to your Microsoft 365 instance where only select users from your organization are allowed to send outbound faxes via email using DirectFax.
Info, Notes and Warnings
Without setting up SPF/DKIM, as indicated below, your organization will not be able to use the DirectFax Email Services for outbound faxing.
etherFAX only accepts traffic from that of Microsoft or Google for DirectFax email services. Failure to tailor existing email services around this will result in failures within the fax process.
Prerequisites
Before reading these instructions be sure that the following prerequisites are met:
A user with the Exchange Administrator role in order to configure these settings.
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) established as per Microsoft’s instructions here.
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) established as per Microsoft’s instructions here.
Instructions
How to set up your email connector
Visit the Microsoft 365 Exchange Admin Center at https://admin.exchange.microsoft.com.
Visit Connectors under Mail flow:
On the Connectors page, select + Add a connector where you will be taken to the wizard:
For Connection from select Office 365 and then select the Connection to option to Your organization’s email server and then click Next:
Note: While selecting Your organization’s email server sounds misleading, this option allows us to set up filtering in the future.Give your Connector a name and description (optional, but recommended). After doing so, leave the Turn it on checkbox on, while toggling off the Retain internal Exchange email headers (recommended) checkbox and then click Next:
On the Use of connector page, select the middle option of Only when I have a transport rule set up that redirects messages to this connector and then click Next:
On the Routing page the value you need to enter, if not already attained, will need to be attained by etherFAX support. Once you have this value, click the + icon and click Next.
On the Security restrictions page, leave the default toggles/checkbox on and enter the same value gathered from etherFAX support in the previous step.
Please note that TLS is required in order to using email-to-fax with DirectFax.In the Validation email page, enter a bogus 10 digit number followed by @directfax.ca or @directfax.net, please use the former (@directfax.ca) if your organization’s Microsoft Office 365 tenant is set to Canada or the latter (@directfax.net) if your organization is set to the United States.
Hit the + icon and then click Validate.
Note: For example, you could use 5555555555@directfax.net. Please make sure whichever number is used is 10 digits.It will take a moment to validate, but once it is complete you will view a similar screen to this:
This is normal and is used to help set the 10 digit fax number @directfax.ca or @directfax.net format, depending on whichever is used. Once complete, click Next.Before moving onto the next page, you will receive a prompt asking Do you really want to go without successful validation?, click Yes and then Next:
If everything on the review page looks correct, click Create connector and then Done.
How to create your member-oriented fax group
In the Exchange admin center (https://admin.exchange.microsoft.com) page, select Groups under Recipients:
Click Add a group:
When choosing a group type, select Mail-enabled security and then click Next.
On the Set up the basics page, give the group a name, and optionally a description:
On the Edit settings page, create a unique email address under Group email address (adding an entry here will create a new email address and it must be a unique value).
We recommend something easy to remember like faxsendersgroup @ [your organization’s domain] (your organization’s domain should be prepopulated).Select Require owner approval to join the group under Approval. Leave the other option toggled off.
Click Next, then Create group and Close.
How to add members to your member-oriented fax group
To add more users, simply go to Recipients > Groups > Mail-enabled security and click your group’s name where a pop-out will appear:
In the pop-out, select the Members tab and then click View all and manage members:
Click + Add members where you will be able to either search for members or by clicking the checkbox near any suggested members. Once complete, click Add.
How to set up your filtering rule
Visit Rules under Mail flow and click + Rule followed by Create a new rule…
A new rule pop-up will appear. Give your rule a name, for example, Group Fax Filtering Rule.
Select More options… at the bottom of this pop-up, otherwise the options we need will not be present.
Under Apply this rule if… select the sender is a member of…. A pop-up titled Select Members will appear where you will choose your recently created group. Once chosen, click add → and then OK.
Click add condition and select the recipient… followed by address matches any of these text patterns. On the specify words or phrases pop-up enter @directfax.net or @directfax.ca depending on what you have chosen on previous steps. Click the + icon and then OK.
Under Do the following… select Redirect the message to… then select the following connector…. Once prompted, select the previously made connector for our fax group and then click OK.
Leave the other default settings as is and then click Save.
You will now be able to determine who can, and who cannot, fax within your Microsoft Office 365 tenant!
Ending Notes and Details
If you wish to let all users within your email domain fax via email, please use the steps in the following knowledge article: How to Set Up Your Email Connector for Microsoft Office 365.
To test this out—have two users, one with membership in the group and one without membership, attempt to send a fax using the instructions found in our How to Send a Fax via Email using DirectFax Email Services knowledge article.
In order to begin faxing outbound, etherFAX must first have a record of your email domain that is validated.
The instructions found here cover this topic: How to Add your Email Domain for Outbound Email-to-Fax.
Please work with your etherFAX account manager or your etherFAX partner if you cannot perform the instructions in the How to Add your Email Domain for Outbound Email-to-Fax knowledge article.