Skip Navigation
Expand
SMTP code 454 - Connection is not TLS encrypted - on Outreach outgoing e-mail
Answer ID 9908   |   Last Review Date 01/27/2019

What does SMTP code '454 Connection is not TLS encrypted' mean?

Environment:

Email Deliverability
Oracle B2C Service, All versions

Issue:

Our Outreach deliveries are being rejected with SMTP code 454 (4.7.0. Connection is not TLS encrypted. Recipient organization requires TLS). What does this error mean and how can we bypass it?

Cause:

The behavior occurs whenever the recipient domain requires the sender domain to use TLS when sending the message.

Currently, only Service e-mail is using opportunistic TLS. This is due to delivery rate issues experienced in the past. Some of the issues have been cleared up while others will still need to be worked out by our Hosting team. The change to permanently fix the outgoing e-mail issue regarding TLS is in plan to be performed next year.

Resolution:

If you would like to enable TLS on your Outreach mailboxes sooner, please engage your Sales Account Manager and discuss the possibility of purchasing an Outbound Dedicated IP Address. After the provisioning and entitlement are successful, please fill in the following questionnaire and raise a new service request with the CX Service Support in order to proceed with the configuration.

Click the plus sign next to the appropriate heading below to expand that section for viewing.

  Dedicated IP Questionnaire  

  1. Does the customer already have a dedicated IP through RightNow: No
  2. How do they plan to use the dedicated IP (Outbound or Redirect):
  3. Company Name:
  4. Site (Please list all sites):
  5. Site ID (Please list all IDs):
  6. Database server:
  7. Does this include all interfaces:
  8. Are there any security requirements:
  9. What is the customer’s total monthly volume (Note: If it is below 250.000, then a special approval is required):
  10. What is the daily volume:
  11. Has authentication been updated (SPF/DKIM):
  12. Marketing or Service mail (Or Both*):
Note: Outbound, at a minimum, will require a 4 week IP warm-up/ramp-up. At max, it can take months depending on the quality of the mail used. Our Deliverability team will not be held to an ‘End Date’ to complete this transition as this can depend on the customers' sending behavior. The Deliverability team will also require that the customer review the Deliverability best practice document to ensure that they are following the recommended mailbox settings. Not following the included recommendations could risk the success of the IP Warm-up.
*This will require a mail outage on all marketing related sends. The customer can define the transition date/time, but the customer needs to ensure that no marketing mail leaves our system during that time.
Once the form is completed, the Deliverability team will review and reach out if there are any areas of concern that need to be addressed. The Deliverability team has the right, depending on the answers provided, to deny the assignment of any Dedicated IP request. This can largely be due to the following:
  • Not Enough Sending Volume (Outbound): To maintain a positive IP reputation in the email space, minimum number of messages are required at each of the Global ISP partners. Unable to maintain this minimum volume threshold will put the sender at risk of having their mail block.  That is why our team requires that a minimum of 250.000 message be sent a month. For the customers who send below this threshold, they will find that a shared IP range will put their program in a better position to ensure the delivery of their sent messages.
  • Multiple IPs: The Oracle B2C Service has a limited number of dedicated IPs available for our customers. Giving our customers multiple IPs will not only limit who can have them, but more often than not, customers are unable to maintain appropriate volume levels to maintain a positive IP reputation in the space. This, also, applies to customer who are looking to create a SMTP redirect. Because our team requires the use of a single Gateway, we are unable to give customers multiple IPs if they are unable to meet this required standard.