How to Troubleshoot and Resolve Email Delivery Issues in Spectora
Email communication is a critical part of managing inspections in Spectora. Email delivery issues can arise for various reasons, including domain authentication problems, recipient email provider restrictions, or incorrect email configurations. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of common causes, troubleshooting steps, and preventative measures to ensure smooth communication with your clients.
✨ Tip: Spectora now includes a built-in deliverability scan for automation email templates. It flags spam-triggering wording right in the editor — before the email ever fails to send — so you can fix it yourself. No setup needed. See the Email Deliverability Scan for Automation Templates article for details.
Common Email Delivery Issues and Solutions
Overview of Email Automation in Spectora
Spectora offers two types of email automation:
Basic Automations: These are global settings that automatically send emails based on predefined triggers, such as when a report is published. For example, a "report ready" email is sent to the client upon report publication if Basic Automations are enabled.
Advanced Automations: These allow for more customization, including setting conditions like payment completion or agreement signing before an email is sent. Advanced Automations are ideal for scenarios requiring specific triggers or conditions.
Common Causes of Email Issues
Domain Authentication Problems: If your email domain is not authenticated, emails may fail to deliver. Ensure DNS records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) are correctly configured with your domain registrar. Notify Spectora once completed for verification.
Recipient Email Provider Restrictions: Some providers, like Gmail, Yahoo, or Comcast, may block emails due to strict spam filters or outages. For example, Gmail may reject emails sent from Outlook.com addresses via Spectora.
Incorrect Email Addresses: Typos, missing recipient addresses, or unconfigured sender emails in the Company Profile can prevent delivery.
Spam/Junk Folder Filtering: Emails may be marked as spam by the recipient’s email provider.5. Dropped Emails: Emails may be marked as "dropped" if the recipient's mailbox is invalid, over quota, or flagged as spam. Issues with the sending domain or mailbox configuration can also lead to dropped emails. 6. Agent Role Misconfiguration: Emails may not send if the agent's role is incorrectly assigned (e.g., listed as "Listing Agent" instead of "Client's Agent").7. Unintended Email Recipients: Misconfigured automation settings can result in emails being sent to unintended recipients. Double-check recipient lists and automation rules before publishing.
Missing Client Information: Automated emails require client or agent contact details (email/phone) to be included in the inspection. If these are missing, emails will not send.
2. Missing Subject Line in Email Template: Automations won’t send if the email template lacks a subject line. Add a subject to the template to resolve this issue.
3. Unpublished Inspection Reports: Follow-up emails only queue when all inspection reports are published using “Publish All.” Ensure all reports are published for the automation to trigger.
4. Automation Rules Not Matching Services: Automated emails only send if the inspection includes a service matching the automation’s rules. Update the automation rules to include the relevant service.
5. Missing Company Email: If the Point of Contact is set to “Company” but no email is listed in the company profile, automations will fail. Add a company email in Settings > Profile.
6. System Outages: During system-wide outages, emails may appear stuck in statuses like “Started” or “Processed.” Once the issue is resolved, queued emails are automatically sent.
Automation Conditions: Email automation checks conditions, such as payment completion or agreement signing, one minute after publication. Ensure all required conditions are satisfied to avoid delivery issues.
If conditions such as agreements signed or payments made are unmet at the time of the scheduled email, the email will not send.
1. Emails Not Received by Clients
If your client reports not receiving an email:
Check for Bounced Emails: Verify if the email bounced due to an invalid or misspelled address. For example, a bounce message like "not found/doesn’t exist" indicates an incorrect email address. Confirm the correct spelling with the client, update the email in the client/contact record, and resend the email.
Spam/Junk Folder: Ask the client to check their spam or junk folder, as the email may have been filtered.
Server Blocks: If the recipient’s server is blocking your messages, request the client to add your sending address to their approved/allow list. Retry sending the email after the address is whitelisted.- Old Email Providers (Yahoo/AOL): Yahoo and similar providers enforce strict DMARC policies that may route Spectora emails to spam or block them entirely. Ask clients to use an alternate email address or manually send them the Client Portal link via your personal email provider.
Gmail-Specific Issues: Gmail may reject emails sent from Outlook.com addresses via Spectora. Consider using a different sender address or configuring DNS records properly.
Domain Authentication: Ensure DNS records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) are correctly configured with your domain registrar to prevent delivery failures.- Dropped Emails: If emails are marked as "dropped," ensure the recipient's email address is valid and not flagged. Ask the recipient to whitelist your sending email address, clear any bounce or spam flags on the sender side, and resend the email. - Agent Role Misconfiguration: Verify that the agent is assigned the correct role (e.g., "Client's Agent") and that automation conditions are met before publishing.
Expired or Restricted Links: Inspection report links are secured and tied to the recipient's email. If the recipient uses a different email or browser, they may encounter access issues.
Missing Subject Line in Template: Ensure the email template includes a subject line to allow automations to send.
Unpublished Inspection Reports: Verify that all inspection reports are published using “Publish All” to trigger follow-up emails.
Automation Rules Not Matching Services: Check that the automation rules align with the services included in the inspection.
Missing Company Email: Add a company email in Settings > Profile if the Point of Contact is set to “Company.”
2. Resending Emails and Notifications
If an email needs to be resent:
Manual Resend: After correcting an email address, you must manually resend the email.
Alternative Methods: If the usual "Resend Confirmation Email" option isn’t available, use the following methods: - Create Email: Open the inspection, click "Create Email," and send a one-off client portal link. - Share Details: Use the Share Details option at the bottom of the inspection to resend the portal/agreement link.- Manually Send Links: Copy the Client Portal link and send it through your personal email provider to bypass Yahoo restrictions.
Check Delivery Status: Open the inspection details page in Spectora to view message status. Resend undelivered messages by long-pressing the message and selecting 'Resend.'- Clear Bounce Flags: Before resending, ensure any bounce flags associated with the email address are cleared. - Retrigger Automation: If automation conditions were not met, manually resend the email or republish the report. Disable client-facing actions to avoid duplicate emails.- Preventing Unintended Sends: If emails were queued before publishing a report with notifications enabled, they may still send. To prevent this, disable the relevant email automation for the inspection before publishing.
Manually Trigger Emails: Use the inspection’s automation list to manually trigger emails that failed to send.
Reorder Inspections: If Spectora Advanced was disabled and automations weren’t attached, reorder or copy the inspection to apply the correct automations.
Incorrect Recipient: If a report was sent to the wrong agent, add the correct agent as a client agent on the inspection. Then, use the "Resend Emails/Texts" option to send the report to the correct recipient.
3. Correcting and Updating Email Addresses
Incorrect email addresses will prevent clients from receiving emails or accessing agreements. To resolve this:
Verify and Correct Email Addresses: Check for typos (e.g., "gmial" instead of "gmail") and update the client record. Resend the email after making corrections.
Unique Email Addresses: Ensure that the client’s email address is unique and not shared with your business account or other profiles.
Sender Email Configuration: Ensure the sender email is correctly configured in the Company Profile to avoid delivery issues.
Avoid Using Inspector's Email: Avoid using the inspector's email as the client recipient email, as this can cause automation failures for agreements.
4. Configuring Email Templates
Configuring Basic and Advanced Automations
Basic Automations
Enable Basic Automations in your settings.
Define triggers, such as "report published," to automatically send emails.
Ensure the "Send Email" checkbox is selected when publishing reports to activate the automation.
Advanced Automations
Navigate to Advanced Automations and create a new automation.
Choose a trigger, such as "Inspection Published" or a payment-completion signal.
Set the action to send an email or webhook that triggers an email.
Include the report link in the email template and set conditions to ensure emails are sent only after payment is completed.
If clients cannot find a link to sign agreements in the confirmation email:
Edit Email Templates: Ensure the Client Portal link placeholder (e.g., or ) is included in the email template. Update the template in Automations and resend the confirmation email.
Manually Send Agreements: Navigate to 'View All Inspection Actions' and select the email to send agreements manually.
5. Client-Specific Scenarios
Agreement Emails Not Sent Automatically
Disabled Notifications: If notifications were disabled during scheduling or confirmation, emails won’t be sent automatically. Enable notifications before confirming inspections to ensure emails are sent.
Inspector's Email as Recipient: Agreements may not auto-send if the inspector's email is used as the recipient. Ensure a unique client email is used.
Missing Subject Line in Template: Automations won’t trigger if the email template lacks a subject line. Add a subject to resolve this issue.
Automation Rules Not Matching Services: Ensure the automation rules include the relevant services for the inspection.
Missing Company Email: Add a company email in Settings > Profile if the Point of Contact is set to “Company.”
Automation Timing: Automations check conditions, such as payment completion or agreement signing, one minute after publication. Advanced Automations allow for more complex condition-based triggers.
Accessing Agreements and Portals
Client Portal Access: The confirmation email contains a "Sign & Pay" button that directs clients to their portal. If the client didn’t open the email, resend it by clicking the three dots next to their name in the People box and selecting "Resend Confirmation Email."
Adding Clients to Inspections: Ensure the client is added to the inspection with their correct name and email. Resend the agreement after updating the client record.
Browser Troubleshooting: If access issues persist, suggest clearing the browser cache, using a Chrome incognito window, or switching browsers.
Confirming Email Activity
Email Activity Log: To confirm whether an agreement or email was sent, open the inspection’s details page and check the email activity log at the bottom.- Configure Dropped Email Notifications: Go to Settings > Internal Communication and change the notification type to email instead of in-app to ensure you are alerted about dropped emails.### Features Enabled After Upgrading to a Paid Subscription
Email and Text Automation: Once your account is verified, automated emails and text messages for inspections are enabled. This streamlines communication and ensures timely updates for your clients.
Agreement and Payment Links: After upgrading, you can send agreement and payment links directly to your clients. These features become available following a quick account review.- Free Trial Accounts: Email automation is disabled during the free trial period. Users can explore the platform and run mock inspections, but automated emails will not send. To enable email functionality, upgrade to a paid plan.
Active Subscription: Automated report emails require an active subscription. Without it, email features remain unavailable.
For free trial accounts, manually share the report link by copying it from the report viewer and sending it via your own email.
System Outages: Emails stuck in “Started” or “Processed” statuses may indicate a system-wide outage. Queued emails will resolve automatically once the issue is fixed.
Best Practices for Email Communication in Spectora
FAQs
Why are emails not being delivered to specific recipients?- Will reports still send if reminder emails fail? Yes, report emails are enabled by default. You can manually send them using the “Send Details” button.- Why do old inspector details appear in follow-up emails? Emails queued before updates retain the old automation settings. Future emails will reflect the updated information.
This could be due to recipient-side filtering, incorrect email addresses, or provider-specific restrictions. Check the recipient’s spam folder and ensure the email address is correct.
What should I do if emails are marked as delivered but not received?
Ask the recipient to check their spam/junk folder and mark the email as "Not Spam." Use Spectora’s text feature to share report URLs if needed.
How can I resolve issues with automated emails not being sent?
Ensure the client’s email address is added to the property details. Verify that automation conditions (e.g., agreement signed, payment completed) are met before publishing. Check that the agent's role is correctly assigned (e.g., "Client's Agent") and that notifications for dropped emails are configured as email alerts in Settings > Internal Communication.
Automations check conditions one minute after publication, and Advanced Automations can be used for scenarios requiring specific triggers or conditions.
Always verify email addresses for accuracy before sending.
Enable notifications during scheduling or confirmation to ensure automated emails are sent.
Regularly review and update email templates to include necessary placeholders.
Use the email activity log to monitor email delivery and troubleshoot issues promptly.- Use an alternate email address if issues persist with Yahoo or similar providers.
Improve email subject lines to reduce the likelihood of emails being flagged as spam.- Regularly review and update automation settings to ensure they align with your workflow. - Use Spectora Advanced for enhanced automation capabilities if you frequently need to include additional recipients.- Adding Additional Recipients: Use the Client CC or Agent CC fields to include additional recipients who will receive the same emails as the primary Client or Agent. Alternatively, use the Send Details option to manually email the report to any "Other" contact. - Monitor email notifications and address any dropped or bounced emails promptly.
Ensure all client and agent contact details are added before scheduling the inspection.
Ensure all email templates have subject lines to prevent automation failures.
Monitor Spectora’s status page for updates on outages or delays.
Ensure your company email is correctly listed in Settings > Profile.
Verify that automation rules match the services offered in inspections.
Regularly review and test your automation settings to ensure they meet your needs.
For manual email management, double-check recipient details to avoid errors.
By following these steps and best practices, you can effectively troubleshoot and resolve email delivery issues in Spectora, ensuring seamless communication with your clients.