Using a custom ‘From’ e-mail address
To set a custom From e-mail address, you must own the domain. For example, you cannot use a Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, or Microsoft e-mail address.
If you have a custom domain and have set a custom From e-mail address for your booking engine (for example donotreply@reservations.mydirectbooking.com), you will need to configure the following settings in your web domain server:
SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
DKIM (Domain Keys Identified Mail)
DMARC (Domain Based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance)
These settings need to be configured to ensure compliance with Google and Microsoft’s security standards and to prevent e-mails being marked as spam. If these three settings are not configured, the custom e-mail address that you have set will revert to Direct booking’s default e-mail address:
If an e-mail is marked as spam, the e-mail may be rejected by the recipient’s e-mail provider; the e-mail may appear in the recipient's e-mail inbox with a security warning message; or the e-mail may be sent to the spam folder.
Configure SPF, DKIM and DMARC records in your web domain server
The steps to follow may be different depending on the domain service provider you use. Once updates are made, it can take 24 to 48 hours for changes to take effect.
If you need assistance with configuring the SPF, DKIM and DMARC records in your web domain server, please contact your web domain service provider directly.
Update the SPF record
To allow Direct booking to send e-mails on your behalf, follow these steps to update the SPF record:
Log in to your domain service provider.
Go to the page containing your DNS (Domain Name System) configuration.
If a SPF record does not currently exist:
Create a new TXT record: enter the domain you are using the e-mail for (for example, if the email address is donotreply@reservations.mydirectbooking.com, then the domain is reservations.mydirectbooking.com).
Include this text: v=spf1 include:_spf.siteminder.com ~all
If there is an existing SPF record:
Insert this text: include: _spf.siteminder.com
The updated record will look something like this: v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:_spf.siteminder.com -all
Save your changes.
Update the DKIM record
To prevent e-mail spoofing and to let recipients know that an e-mail message was sent by an authorised owner of a domain, follow these steps to configure the DKIM record:
Log in to your domain service provider.
Go to the page containing your DNS (Domain Name System) configuration.
Create a new TXT record with the name: siteminder._domainkey
In the TXT entry, add: v=DKIM1; h=sha256; k=rsa; p=MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQC3J1Zn9R4OD2jKdpfPni85BQyAC/hf3qJqb9nKgMJhu+HuGUdu1uTOMjPkc5fLcXpeOMtGWu3C8N/2Wzq410yJRj6FxVVO37Ti2oXdu0DQPA+RiWJdPUPtKI/r2Sg3DycWbkg3PcyzgdVm/ZPCkxCeS9yCNty1J6t7T2kRNDON8QIDAQAB
Save your changes.
If the DKIM record is not configured, validation will fail and the custom e-mail address will revert to Direct booking’s default e-mail address, donotreply@book-directonline.com (for APAC region) or donotreply@direct-book.com (for EMEA region).
Update the DMARC record
To help the recipient’s server know what to do if a validation fails (for example, to either quarantine or reject the message), follow these steps to configure the DMARC record:
Log in to your domain service provider.
Go to the page containing your DNS (Domain Name System) configuration.
Create a new TXT record with the name: _dmarc. followed by your domain name
The TXT record name will look something like this: _dmarc.reservations.mydirectbooking.com
In the TXT entry, add: v=DMARC1; p=none
Save your changes.