Domain masking for seamless email automation

Domain masking for seamless email automation: keep your brand while automating emails

Many businesses want to automate their email processing but hesitate because they don't want to change their existing email infrastructure. Domain masking solves this perfectly—you can process emails through EmailConnect while maintaining your professional email addresses and existing setup.

The domain masking approach

Domain masking lets you use EmailConnect's powerful email processing while keeping your existing email infrastructure completely unchanged. Your customers still email your professional addresses, but the emails get processed through automation behind the scenes.

How it works

  1. Create a subdomain for EmailConnect processing (e.g., automation.yourcompany.com)
  2. Set up aliases on your subdomain that mirror your main addresses
  3. Create forwarding rules from your main domain to the subdomain
  4. Process and respond using your original professional addresses

This approach gives you the best of both worlds: seamless automation and unchanged customer experience.

Real-world setup example

Scenario: Company with existing email infrastructure wants to add automation

Current setup:

  • Main domain: yourcompany.com (hosted with Google Workspace)
  • Email addresses: support@yourcompany.com, sales@yourcompany.com
  • Transactional emails: SendGrid for notifications and responses

Masking implementation:

1. Create subdomain: automation.yourcompany.com
2. Point subdomain to EmailConnect: MX records → mx.emailconnect.eu
3. Set up aliases: 
   - support@automation.yourcompany.com
   - sales@automation.yourcompany.com
4. Create forwarding rules in Google Workspace:
   - support@yourcompany.com → support@automation.yourcompany.com
   - sales@yourcompany.com → sales@automation.yourcompany.com
5. Configure responses to come from original addresses

Customer experience: Customers email support@yourcompany.com and receive responses from support@yourcompany.com—they never see the automation subdomain.

Step-by-step implementation guide

Step 1: Choose your automation subdomain

Select a subdomain that won't interfere with your existing setup:

  • automation.yourcompany.com
  • process.yourcompany.com
  • bot.yourcompany.com
  • workflows.yourcompany.com

Step 2: Configure DNS for the subdomain

Add MX records for your chosen subdomain:

Type: MX
Name: automation
Value: mx.emailconnect.eu
Priority: 10

Type: TXT  
Name: automation
Value: v=spf1 include:emailconnect.eu ~all

Step 3: Create automation aliases

In EmailConnect, create aliases that mirror your main addresses:

  • support@automation.yourcompany.com → Support webhook
  • sales@automation.yourcompany.com → Sales webhook
  • feedback@automation.yourcompany.com → Feedback webhook

Step 4: Set up forwarding rules

Configure your existing email provider to forward emails:

Google Workspace:

  1. Go to Admin Console → Apps → Google Workspace → Gmail
  2. Navigate to Routing → Configure
  3. Add routing rule: Forward support@yourcompany.com to support@automation.yourcompany.com

Microsoft 365:

  1. Exchange Admin Center → Mail Flow → Rules
  2. Create rule: Forward emails to support@yourcompany.com to automation subdomain

Other providers:
Most email providers support forwarding rules or mail routing configurations.

Step 5: Configure response masking

Set up your automation workflows to send responses from original addresses:

Using transactional email services:

// Example webhook response
{
  "send_email": {
    "from": "support@yourcompany.com",        // Original address
    "to": "customer@example.com",
    "subject": "Re: Your support inquiry",
    "body": "Thank you for contacting support...",
    "provider": "sendgrid"                    // Your existing service
  }
}

Integration with existing infrastructure

Transactional email services

Your existing transactional email setup remains unchanged:

  • SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark: Continue using for outbound emails
  • AWS SES, Mandrill: Keep current sending infrastructure
  • Custom SMTP: Maintain existing server configurations

Email hosting providers

Works seamlessly with all major providers:

  • Google Workspace: Forward through Gmail routing rules
  • Microsoft 365: Use Exchange transport rules
  • Zoho Mail: Configure forwarding in mail settings
  • Custom servers: Set up forwarding in mail server config

Crm and business tools

Your existing integrations continue working normally:

  • Salesforce, HubSpot: Emails still appear to come from correct addresses
  • Zendesk, Freshdesk: Support tickets maintain proper sender information
  • Slack, Teams: Notifications show original email addresses

Advanced masking techniques

Selective forwarding

Forward only specific types of emails to automation:

Forwarding rules:
→ Subject contains "demo": Forward to sales automation
→ Subject contains "bug" OR "error": Forward to support automation  
→ From domain matches "enterprise.com": Forward to priority handling
→ All others: Handle normally through existing email system

Conditional automation

Process emails differently based on content or sender:

  • New customers: Full automation with welcome sequences
  • Enterprise clients: Human review with AI assistance
  • Internal emails: Skip automation entirely
  • Urgent keywords: Immediate human escalation

Multi-domain masking

Handle multiple brands or subsidiaries:

Brand A: support@branda.com → support@automation.branda.com
Brand B: support@brandb.com → support@automation.brandb.com
Parent Co: support@parent.com → support@automation.parent.com

Maintaining email deliverability

Spf record management

Update SPF records to include both your existing email provider and EmailConnect:

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:emailconnect.eu ~all

Dkim signing

Maintain DKIM signatures for your original domain:

  • Keep existing DKIM setup for outbound emails
  • EmailConnect handles DKIM for subdomain processing
  • No conflicts between the two configurations

Dmarc policies

Configure DMARC to work with both setups:

v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourcompany.com; 
ruf=mailto:dmarc@yourcompany.com; sp=none; aspf=r; adkim=r;

Security and privacy considerations

Data flow protection

Emails travel securely through the masking setup:

  1. Customer → Your domain: Standard email encryption (TLS)
  2. Your domain → Subdomain: Internal forwarding (secure)
  3. Subdomain processing: EU-hosted, GDPR-compliant handling
  4. Response delivery: Through your existing trusted infrastructure

Access control

Maintain complete control over your email infrastructure:

  • Main domain: You retain full ownership and control
  • Subdomain: You control DNS settings and can revoke access instantly
  • Processing rules: You define what gets forwarded and how
  • Response routing: You control where and how responses are sent

Audit trail preservation

Complete email audit trails are maintained:

  • Original emails: Stored in your existing email system
  • Processing logs: Available through EmailConnect dashboard
  • Response tracking: Handled by your transactional email provider
  • Compliance records: Unified view across all systems

Common implementation patterns

Support ticket automation with masking

Flow example:
1. Customer emails support@yourcompany.com
2. Google Workspace forwards to support@automation.yourcompany.com
3. EmailConnect processes email and creates Zendesk ticket
4. Automated response sent via SendGrid from support@yourcompany.com
5. Customer receives response from familiar address
6. All subsequent emails follow same pattern

Sales lead processing

Sales automation flow:
1. Prospect emails sales@yourcompany.com
2. Email forwarded to sales@automation.yourcompany.com  
3. Lead qualification and CRM entry happen automatically
4. Sales rep gets Slack notification with prospect context
5. Rep responds manually from sales@yourcompany.com
6. Professional appearance maintained throughout process

Multi-department routing

Intelligent routing setup:
→ support@yourcompany.com → support@automation.yourcompany.com → Support team
→ sales@yourcompany.com → sales@automation.yourcompany.com → Sales team  
→ billing@yourcompany.com → billing@automation.yourcompany.com → Finance team
→ All responses sent from original @yourcompany.com addresses

Troubleshooting common issues

Email loop prevention

Avoid forwarding loops with proper configuration:

  • Never forward from automation subdomain back to main domain
  • Use conditional forwarding to prevent recursive forwards
  • Set up monitoring to detect and alert on loop conditions
  • Test thoroughly before activating production forwarding

Delivery delays

Minimize processing delays through optimization:

  • DNS propagation: Allow 24-48 hours for DNS changes
  • Forwarding speed: Most providers forward within seconds
  • Processing time: EmailConnect processes emails in under 20 seconds
  • Response delivery: Transactional services typically deliver within minutes

Spf record conflicts

Handle SPF record complexity:

  • Record limits: Stay within 10 DNS lookups per SPF record
  • Include order: Place most important providers first
  • Monitoring: Regular SPF validation and testing
  • Fallback policies: Configure appropriate fail policies (~all vs -all)

Migration strategy

Gradual rollout approach

Implement masking incrementally to minimize risk:

Week 1: Set up automation subdomain and test with internal emails
Week 2: Enable forwarding for one email address (e.g., feedback)
Week 3: Add support email forwarding after testing
Week 4: Expand to sales and other business-critical addresses
Week 5: Full deployment with monitoring and optimization

Rollback planning

Maintain ability to quickly disable masking:

  • DNS changes: Keep original MX records documented
  • Forwarding rules: Document how to disable forwarding quickly
  • Emergency contacts: Ensure team knows rollback procedures
  • Monitoring: Set up alerts for delivery issues or failures

Team communication

Keep stakeholders informed throughout implementation:

  • IT team: DNS changes and technical configuration
  • Customer service: New workflow processes and response times
  • Sales team: Lead processing and follow-up procedures
  • Management: Benefits realization and performance metrics

Performance monitoring

Key metrics to track

  • Email delivery rates: Monitor forwarding success rates
  • Processing times: Track end-to-end email handling speed
  • Response times: Measure improvement in customer response times
  • Error rates: Monitor for forwarding failures or processing errors

Optimization opportunities

Performance improvements:
→ Fine-tune forwarding rules for better efficiency
→ Optimize webhook response times for faster processing
→ Adjust automation logic based on actual email patterns
→ Scale infrastructure based on volume growth

Benefits of domain masking

Customer experience

  • Familiar addresses: Customers always interact with your brand domain
  • Professional appearance: No confusing or technical-looking addresses
  • Consistent branding: All communications maintain brand consistency
  • Trust maintenance: No changes to customer-facing email addresses

Business advantages

  • Risk mitigation: Existing email infrastructure remains unchanged
  • Gradual adoption: Can test and roll out automation incrementally
  • Easy rollback: Can disable automation without affecting core email
  • Cost efficiency: Leverage existing email investments while adding automation

Technical benefits

  • Infrastructure preservation: Keep existing email hosting and security
  • Compliance continuity: Maintain current compliance and audit procedures
  • Integration compatibility: All existing email integrations continue working
  • Operational simplicity: No complex migration or infrastructure changes

Ready to implement domain masking for your email automation? Start for free and set up your automation subdomain today.

Questions about domain masking implementation? Contact our technical team at technical@emailconnect.eu for step-by-step setup assistance.