Notifications and SMTP

Settings → Notifications controls which statutory deadline events email the case owner, and lets your organisation connect its own SMTP server so those emails actually deliver.

What it is

Two cards: Alerts, two checkboxes for emailing the case owner when a statutory deadline is breached or approaching (within two working days); and Email (SMTP), your own mail server’s host, port, encryption mode, credentials and sender identity. The 6-hourly statutory sweep always writes to the in-portal alert centre and your audit log regardless of these settings — that channel can’t be switched off, since the warning itself is evidence.

Before you start

Configuring SMTP and alert preferences requires organisation-admin access to Settings, a level higher than most other Settings sections.

How to do it

1. Open Settings → Notifications.
2. Toggle either alert checkbox under Alerts.
3. Under Email (SMTP), enter your SMTP host, port, and encryption mode (STARTTLS on 587 is recommended; SSL/TLS on 465; unencrypted on 25 is strongly discouraged), plus a username, password, and optional from name/from email.
4. Optionally turn on If my SMTP server fails, fall back to the platform relay — off by default; when on, a send-time failure retries once via HousingSurvey Pro’s own relay instead of failing outright.
5. Click Save, then Send test email to confirm delivery to your own signed-in address.

How it integrates

If you use Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, no new SPF/DKIM/DMARC records are needed — your own provider already sends for your domain; records are only relevant if HousingSurvey Pro ever sends on your domain’s behalf via the fallback relay. If no SMTP is configured at all, statutory email alerts are skipped silently, while the in-portal alert centre and push notifications continue to fire regardless. Every send attempt, including a fallback retry, is recorded in Mail log, right below this section.

Common problems

• Statutory alert emails never arrive, but I never set up SMTP. That’s expected as-is — with no SMTP configured, email alerts are skipped silently; the in-portal alert centre still shows every deadline event. Configure SMTP here to also receive them by email.
• The test email doesn’t arrive. Check host, port and encryption mode match what your provider documents, and check your provider’s own sent-mail log and your spam folder — see Mail log for what HousingSurvey Pro itself recorded about the attempt.
• I turned on the fallback relay and I’m not sure it’s working. Check Mail log — a fallback attempt is recorded there alongside the original failed attempt, so both are visible.