Oracle Utilities Opower Email Address Configuration Guide
A variety of email reports and email alerts are available in the Oracle Utilities Opower program. By default, all From addresses for these emails is [utilitycode]@email.opower.com. You have the option of customizing this address to more closely match your own domain or subdomain. For example, you could have emails sent from info@[utilitycode].email.com.
To enable Oracle Utilities to configure a different utility-specific email address for you, you must obtain a custom text (TXT) record from your Service Delivery Manager, and then create two Domain Key (DKIM) records and a Sender Policy Framework (SPF) record in the domain you own.
In this guide:
Obtaining a Custom TXT Record
To obtain the required custom DKIM TXT and SPF TXT records for the email configuration, contact your Service Delivery Manager. You can do this by signing into your Inside Opower portal and going to the Community tab.
Also, note that the requirements for creating custom DKIM and SPF records vary depending upon DNS configuration. You should contact an IT professional at your organization for help creating these records in your domain.
Creating a DKIM Record
A DKIM record allows Oracle Utilities to send communications from your domain on your behalf and helps to ensure that customers will receive your email. Internet Service Providers (ISPs), anti-spamming software, and security systems reference the DKIM records to validate that an email is properly authenticated and not “junk” mail involved in phishing or spoofing. DKIM records embed information within the email to make it easier to detect malicious emails.
A DKIM record is a simple TXT record placed in the Domain Name System (DNS) for a domain. To send Oracle Utilities Opower communications from a utility-specific email address, you must add two custom DKIM TXT records to your domain.
To create a DKIM record:
- Access the control panel for your DNS provider or domain registrar.
- Create a TXT DNS entry for your domain.
- In the appropriate fields, copy and paste the two custom DKIM TXT records provided to you by your Service Delivery Manager.
- Complete all other fields as required based on your DNS configuration.
- Save your changes.
Creating an SPF Record
An SPF record allows Oracle Utilities to send communications from your domain on your behalf and helps to ensure that customers will receive your email. ISPs, anti-spamming software, and security systems reference the SPF records to validate that an email is properly authenticated and not “junk” mail involved in phishing or spoofing. SPF records authenticate emails by allowing the domain owner to add a file or record on their DNS record that the receiving email server then authenticates against.
An SPF record is a simple TXT record placed in the DNS record for a domain. To send Oracle Utilities Opower communications from a utility-specific email address, the utility must add a custom SPF TXT record in their domain.
To create an SPF record:
- Access the control panel for your DNS provider or domain registrar.
- Create a TXT DNS entry for your domain.
- In the appropriate fields, copy and paste the custom SPF TXT record provided to you by your Service Delivery Manager.
- Complete all other fields as required based on your DNS configuration.
- Save your changes.
Once this update is implemented, Oracle Utilities can configure your reply mail management based on the email address you want to display as the reply address (must end in the host name specified above) and the address where you want to route these replies.