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Tired of PBXact voicemail emails going to spam? Learn how to fix it with AWS SES and SPF alignment

Millions of us use AWS for email delivery, and many of us have devices like phone systems that send notifications, which aren’t using AWS SES and so are going to junk or being flagged as ‘unverified’. Without the correct SPF alignment, these emails may fail spam checks or could be rejected by recipients, causing missed voicemails and potential disruptions for your business.


Image to show the steps of sending PBXact via Amazon SES

In this blog, we will guide you through how to configure Sangoma PBXact to send emails via Amazon SES while ensuring SPF & DKIM compliance. While we focus on Sangoma, the process is nearly identical for most Asterisk platforms such as FreePBX.


At Owtanet, we’ve helped businesses like yours integrate PBXact systems with AWS SES to avoid spam issues and improve reliability. If you’d rather leave the technical details to the experts, our IT consultancy team can handle the setup for you.


Step 1: Connect PBXact to Amazon SES 

If you know where to look, sending via AWS is a straightforward configuration task where essentially you need 3 pieces of information for your PBXact server; the AWS SMTP server address, a username and a password. 


These can all be found here: 


SMTP settings on Amazon SES

Equipped with these 3 pieces of information, you can enter them in PBXact by going to: Modules>System Admin>Email setup. 



Email Settings on PBXact

Remember to save your changes by clicking on Submit on the bottom right and then Apply Config on the top right. 


Step 2: Ensure SPF Alignment

For SPF alignment to pass both the mail from address (the SMTP server) and the header from (the sending user) need to contain the same domain. This requires some configuration in AWS to work. Fortunately, it is relatively easy and quick to setup.


E.g. If your PBXact server is set to send out as pbx@owta.net (the default maybe set to pbx@randomseriesofnumbers.yourdomain.pbx.com)


Voicemail email config on pbxact

However since your Amazon SES uses the default Amazon mail server address (such as email-smtp.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com) you will need to configure a mailfrom address in AWS. This will overwrite email-smtp.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com) in the header to a SPF-compliant domain. So below we have a mailfrom domain set up as awsses.owta.net.


Custom mail from domain on AWS

Emails from the PBXact system via AWS will now pass SPF alignment because the domain in the from address pbx@owta.net matches the domain in the mailfrom address @awwses.owta.net in AWS. 


Security Reminders: Protect Your SMTP Credentials

It's important to remember that you need to take the necessary security measures to protect your SMTP credentials for example, regularly rotating your SMTP credentials and monitor for unauthorised use.


Need a security check of your system? Owtanet’s IT consultancy helps to make sure that your AWS and PBXact system is fully secure and is available to make recommendations


Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them


Are your emails still going to spam?

  1. Double-check your SPF record using MXToolbox

  2. Ensure your custom MAIL FROM domain (awsses.owta.net) is published in DNS.

  3. Make sure your DKIM configuration is set up correctly.


SMTP authentication failing?

  1. Verify your AWS SES credentials, they are region-specific (e.g., eu-west-1).

  2. Check that your PBXact server’s IP isn’t blocked by AWS.


Emails not sending at all?

  1. Confirm your PBXact SMTP settings match the AWS SES endpoint and ports.


Still having issues?

Our team of PBX and AWS experts are here to help at Owtanet. We can offer basic troubleshooting support to full IT Consultancy Integration. Contact us for more details on how we can help

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