Cloud SMTP services fix the immediate problem: give the printer a username and password for their server and mail flows again. They are good products for what they were built for, which is sending application email at volume. For a printer in an office that belongs to a Microsoft 365 tenant, the trade-offs are worth understanding before you sign up to a monthly fee.
| Cloud SMTP service SMTP2GO, Brevo, SendGrid, Mailgun, Amazon SES | SMTP-365 | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the mail goes | Printer → the service's cloud → recipient. Your scans transit a third party's infrastructure. | Printer → appliance on your LAN → your own Microsoft 365 tenant. Nothing leaves your control. |
| Sender identity | Sends "on behalf of" your domain. You must add their SPF include and DKIM records, and internal recipients see mail arriving from outside the tenant. | Sent by your tenant as a real mailbox. SPF, DKIM and DMARC pass by definition; mail is internal to internal recipients. |
| Scan to SharePoint | No. | Yes, one address per folder. |
| Other devices | Yes, any SMTP device, each configured with the service credentials. | Yes, any SMTP device, each pointed at the LAN address with no credentials. |
| Device settings | Server, port 2525 or 587, username, password, TLS on. Older devices fail the TLS handshake. | Server, port. No login, no TLS on the LAN. Works on the oldest firmware. |
| Credentials on devices | The service username and password sit in every device's web panel. | None. The device trusts the LAN address; the appliance holds the tenant credential. |
| Compliance | A sub-processor to add to your data protection register; documents leave the UK/EU boundary depending on region. | No new processor. The vendor never sees your mail. |
| Cost | Monthly or annual fee, forever, per account; free tiers are capped and branded. | £149 once per appliance for every device on the site; optional £39 a year for updates. |
| Set-up time | Ten minutes plus DNS changes. | About twenty minutes: deploy the VM, run the wizard, change the printer. |
| Needs | Internet from every device; correct TLS on every device. | A small VM or box on the LAN. |
A device that is not on a network you control, such as a sensor on a mobile connection, cannot reach a LAN relay and a cloud service is the practical answer. Very high volumes of application email are also what those services are built for. Neither describes an office printer.
Customers moving from a cloud SMTP service point each device at the appliance instead, remove the service's SPF include once the last device is moved, and cancel the subscription. The appliance's 30-day trial lets you do the whole migration before paying.
Updated 2026-10-10. Menu names and screens vary between models and firmware versions; if yours differs, look for the same fields under the device's email, SMTP or notification settings. Corrections welcome at helpdesk@smtp-365.com.