FreePhoneLine voicemail to email stopped working.

[Dickson]

My FongoFreeLine stopped forwarding voice messages to my email around October 1; not sure of the date but somewhere around the instigation of $1.95 charge for 911.
I can still call the phone line and here voice message. I can still call out on the line. But messages are not forwarded.
I checked in Fongo and message forwarding is still ’on’.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Liptonbrisk]

My FongoFreeLine stopped forwarding voice messages to my email around October 1; not sure of the date but somewhere around the instigation of $1.95 charge for 911.

The 911 fee is unrelated, unless the Freephoneline account is suspended or deleted, which isn't the case if it can be used to make calls.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately, this problem isn't easy to troubleshoot because it doesn't obviously affect Gmail accounts -- except emails end up in spam folders -- and for email providers where the email is delayed or completely rejected, you may not be able to get the full error message or reason why it was rejected unless you're running the email server or have access to good customer service.

I know this works for Freephoneline accounts that I've tested:

1) Create a free Gmail account, just for testing purposes: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/56256.
2) Login in at https://www.freephoneline.ca/voicemailSettings.
3) Set "Voicemail Forwarding Email:" to your new Gmail address. Click the "Update" button.
4) Call your Freephoneline number, and leave yourself a voicemail message. Wait 10 minutes.
5) Afterwards, login at gmail.com. If your gmail inbox doesn't contain the email, navigate to the online "Spam" folder. The voicemail email should be there (gmail just marked it as spam).

So, it's not as though the email from phonenumber@vm.fongo.com isn't being sent. It is.

If that works (seeing the email in Gmail's online spam folder), then you may have an issue with your email service provider either filtering email from "phonenumber@vm.fongo.com" (without quotation marks) as spam, or rejecting the email completely or very slowly delaying delivery due to a DMARC error. You might be able to get an email provider's admin to whitelist wildcard@vm.fongo.com, but that's not a good solution.

I have seen DMARC errors with email forwarders, but I can't see the full error message, which isn't useful. I'm guessing that DKIM needs to be setup properly by the email sender (Fongo would have to address this issue, if I'm correct) so that signed elements are maintained through the entire path.


I have tried to contact someone at Fongo about these DMARC failures, but I'm not hopeful for a fix because Gmail accounts are able to receive the voicemail emails quickly, even if they end up in spam folders. Also, it's not always easy to obtain useful error messages that Fongo might need and full email headers when the email is being rejected immediately by the server.


To summarize, if you're using a Gmail account, voicemail to email works, but the email will probably end up in your online spam folder. For others not receiving voicemail email (rejected by the email server immediately) or having delivery delayed significantly, while the email is being checked for potential threats, you're probably encountering DMARC errors.

[fguser100]

My FongoFreeLine stopped forwarding voice messages to my email around October 1; not sure of the date but somewhere around the instigation of $1.95 charge for 911.
I can still call the phone line and here voice message. I can still call out on the line. But messages are not forwarded.
I checked in Fongo and message forwarding is still ’on’.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Verify your spam folder.

[Liptonbrisk]

"DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is an email authentication protocol that helps protect [Fongo's] domain from email spoofing and phishing attacks. A DMARC policy specifies how email receivers should handle messages that fail authentication checks."


This is the DMARC policy being used by vm.fongo.com:

v=DMARC1; p=reject; rua=mailto:don'tneedtometionthis(at)fongo.com

a) v=DMARC1 specifies the version of DMARC being used, which is the current version (DMARC1). It also signifies that this is a DMARC record.

b) p=reject

This sets the policy for how receiving mail servers should handle emails that fail DMARC authentication checks. In this case, the policy instructs servers to reject any emails that do not pass DMARC checks. This means that any email failing SPF and/or DKIM alignment will not be delivered.

If the sender (vm.fongo.com) has set its DMARC policy to "p=reject", Fongo is indicating that any email it sends that fails DMARC checks should be rejected by the receiving server.

Consumer (free) Gmail still accepts Fongo's email that fails DMARC with a "p=reject" policy, except it's sent to the user's spam folder. Plenty of other email providers don't accept failed DMARC emails when there's a p=reject DMARC policy (in other cases, the emails are accepted -- but delivery can be delayed significantly while a manual check is performed).


c) rua=mailto:don'tneedtometionthis(at)fongo.com

This specifies an email address where aggregate reports about DMARC activity are sent. These reports provide insights into how the domain’s emails are performing concerning authentication checks, helping the domain owner monitor and improve their email authentication practices.

Maybe someone should take a look at those report emails.


The emails from vm.fongo.com are not DMARC compliant, and DKIM hasn't been set up. I have mentioned this to Fongo.


DMARC requires at least one of the following to pass: SPF alignment, DKIM alignment, or both.

1) SPF (Sender Policy Framework) can pass even if there’s an SPF alignment issue because SPF checks whether the sending server is authorized to send emails on behalf of the domain -- and not whether the "From" address matches the domain in the SPF record.

"SPF alignment refers to the alignment between the `From' domain in an email's header and the domain specified in the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) record. For SPF alignment to pass, the domain in the `From' address must match or be a subdomain of the domain used in the SPF record.

SPF checks whether the sending mail server is authorized to send emails on behalf of a domain. If the domains do not align, it can lead to DMARC failures, especially when DKIM is not set up. Proper alignment helps ensure that only legitimate senders can use the domain, reducing the risk of spoofing and phishing attacks."


If the SPF check passes, but the "From" domain does not align with the domain in the SPF record, this leads to DMARC failure if DKIM is not set up.



Well, that's a problem because DMARC compliance fails if DKIM alignment is also failing.

2)Unfortunately, if DKIM is not configured at all, there's no DKIM signature to validate, which produces a DMARC failure because there’s no alignment from DKIM (and there's no SPF alignment; refer to pic above).

"DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is an email authentication method that allows the sender to associate a domain name with an email message, thereby validating its authenticity. It works by adding a digital signature to the email's headers, which is created using a private key held by the sender. When the email is received, the recipient's mail server can verify this signature against a public key published in the sender's DNS records. This process helps ensure that the email hasn’t been altered during transit and confirms that it genuinely comes from the claimed domain, enhancing overall email integrity and trustworthiness."


DKIM alignment is more important, I feel, than SPF alignment, particularly for those who use email domain forwarding or email routing to another destination. The DKIM signature needs to be maintained along the entire path, but, in this case, DKIM is not setup. When emails are forwarded, the original DKIM signature can become invalid if the forwarding server modifies the email content, which isn't uncommon. Without DKIM properly set up, the forwarded email cannot maintain its original DKIM signature, leading to a failure in DMARC checks if DKIM alignment is required.

Personally, I'm not as interested in SPF alignment failing, so much as I'm concerned about DKIM not being set up. Both SPF alignment and DKIM alignment should pass, though.



^^ That situation raises concern. I feel lack of DKIM is a big problem, when p=reject is set in the DMARC record.

Submitting email headers (from number@vm.fongo.com) at https://mxtoolbox.com/Public/Tools/EmailHeaders.aspx shows the following:





So, to summarize, this is the problem: Fongo has 1) p=reject in its DMARC record, and 2)DKIM isn't set up (and SPF alignment is also failing, but I wish to avoid focus on SPF alignment because I think DKIM should be set up properly at least).

Fongo could change p=reject to p=none in its DMARC record.
However, Fongo may not want to do that if it doesn't wish to negatively affect Fongo's domain reputation due to potentially malicious email spoofing attacks.


Regardless, with p=reject set as a DMARC policy and both DKIM alignment and SPF alignment failing, emails from vm.fongo.com are not DMARC compliant, which results in a number of Fongo's users not receiving voicemail emails, unless they happen to be using Gmail and checking their online spam folders regularly or happen to be using an email provider that is willing to overlook p=reject and delay email delivery in order to check for potential security issues.



The voicemail emails are being sent, but users' email providers may completely reject or delay these emails due to p=reject in conjunction with DMARC failure. If the user has a consumer (free) Gmail account, the incoming email will be received in the user's webmail spam folder.

I have tried my best to notify Fongo.

[Dickson]

My FongoFreeLine stopped forwarding voice messages to my email around October 1; not sure of the date but somewhere around the instigation of $1.95 charge for 911.
I can still call the phone line and here voice message. I can still call out on the line. But messages are not forwarded.
I checked in Fongo and message forwarding is still ’on’.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Verify your spam folder.

I just checked my spam folder and it is empty. Thanks for the suggestion.

[fguser100]

About 2 years ago my voice mail notification stopped working on my yahoo email. I switched to gmail and it works again.

If you're not using gmail then you should try gmail to see if it would help.

[Liptonbrisk]

About 2 years ago my voice mail notification stopped working on my yahoo email. I switched to gmail and it works again.

If you're not using gmail then you should try gmail to see if it would help.

While the suggestion is valid (for now), respectfully, people shouldn't have to switch email providers due to Fongo's voicemail emails not being DMARC compliant: the issue should be fixed by Fongo, in my opinion. If it's not addressed, the problem will grow as more email providers reject DMARC failures.

[fguser100]

About 2 years ago my voice mail notification stopped working on my yahoo email. I switched to gmail and it works again.

If you're not using gmail then you should try gmail to see if it would help.

While the suggestion is valid (for now), respectfully, people shouldn't have to switch email providers due to Fongo's voicemail emails not being DMARC compliant: the issue should be fixed by Fongo, in my opinion. If it's not addressed, the problem will grow as more email providers reject DMARC failures.

100% agree with you.

[Liptonbrisk]

This is the DMARC policy being used by vm.fongo.com:

v=DMARC1; p=reject; rua=mailto:don'tneedtometionthis(at)fongo.com

a) v=DMARC1 specifies the version of DMARC being used, which is the current version (DMARC1). It also signifies that this is a DMARC record.

b) p=reject

This sets the policy for how receiving mail servers should handle emails that fail DMARC authentication checks. In this case, the policy instructs servers to reject any emails that do not pass DMARC checks. This means that any email failing SPF and/or DKIM alignment will not be delivered.

If the sender (vm.fongo.com) has set its DMARC policy to "p=reject", Fongo is indicating that any email it sends that fails DMARC checks should be rejected by the receiving server.

Okay, so the DMARC policy being used by vm.fongo.com has been changed to


v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:mailto:don'tneedtometionthis(at)fongo.com;


DMARC compliance is still failing, but at least voicemail emails aren't being outright rejected by the email servers I was looking at due to p=none being used instead of p=reject.


However, the emails tend to be marked as spam due to lack of DMARC compliance.


I'm not feeling terribly well, so I just ran email headers through a couple of AI programs for analysis. Previously, I had been running email headers through https://mxtoolbox.com/Public/Tools/EmailHeaders.aspx.

I've sent the following information to Fongo, in case anyone is interested. I don't consider the IP information private, since anyone can take email headers and run them through whatever they want, including https://mxtoolbox.com/Public/Tools/EmailHeaders.aspx.

---
Resolving the DMARC Failure:

If vm.fongo.com is a legitimate subdomain authorized to send emails for fibernetics.ca, the SPF record for fibernetics.ca should be updated to include the SPF record for vm.fongo.com.


The SPF record provided for fibernetics.ca does not explicitly include vm.fongo.com as an authorized sender. This likely explains the DMARC failure.

Also, based on the analysis, the IP 208.85.217.136 (which is part of the sending infrastructure) isn't listed in the current SPF record for fibernetics.ca. 208.85.217.136 might be authorized indirectly, but it's good practice to explicitly include it.


original SPF Fibernetics.ca record:

v=spf1 ip4:208.85.217.0/24 ip4:208.85.220.0/25 ip4:208.65.246.0/24 ip4:69.166.16.44/32 include:spf.int-smarthosts.fibernetics.ca ip4:74.205.219.168 ?all

SPF Record Breakdown:

v=spf1: SPF record version 1
ip4:208.85.217.0/24, ip4:208.85.220.0/25, etc.: These specify authorized IP ranges for fibernetics.ca to send emails.
include:spf.int-smarthosts.fibernetics.ca: This includes another SPF record for further authorization checks.
ip4:74.205.219.168: This allows another specific IP address to send emails for fibernetics.ca
?all: This is a neutral qualifier, meaning it doesn't explicitly allow or reject anything.


Here's how to fix the issue based on this information:

Solution: Update the SPF record for fibernetics.ca to include vm.fongo.com.

Steps:

1. Modify the SPF Record:

The administrator for fibernetics.ca will need to edit the SPF record to include vm.fongo.com. They can achieve this using the include mechanism.

Here's an example of the updated SPF record: v=spf1 ip4:208.85.217.0/24 ip4:208.85.220.0/25 ip4:208.85.217.136 (other authorized IP ranges) include:spf.int-smarthosts.fibernetics.ca include:vm.fongo.com -all

The include:spf.vm.fongo.com directive instructs the receiving mail server to consult the SPF record for vm.fongo.com to check if the sender is authorized.



v=spf1: Specifies that this is an SPF version 1 record.
ip4:208.85.217.0/24, ip4:208.85.220.0/25: These specify IP address ranges that are authorized to send emails on behalf of fibernetics.ca.
ip4:208.85.217.136: This explicitly authorizes the specific IP address 208.85.217.136 to send emails.
include:spf.int-smarthosts.fibernetics.ca: This instructs the receiving mail server to consult the SPF record for spf.int-smarthosts.fibernetics.ca to check for additional authorized senders.
include:vm.fongo.com: This instructs the receiving mail server to consult the SPF record for vm.fongo.com to check for authorized senders.
-all: This is the "fail" qualifier. If the sender is not authorized by any of the previous mechanisms, the SPF check will fail.


2. Publish the Updated SPF Record:

Once the SPF record is modified, it needs to be published on the DNS server responsible for fibernetics.com. This propagation process can take up to 48 hours to reflect globally


After implementing this change:

Emails sent from vm.fongo.com on behalf of fibernetics.ca should now pass SPF authentication and contribute to a successful DMARC check.


You can use a tool like MXToolbox (https://mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx) to send a test email and verify the SPF and DKIM alignment after the SPF record update propagates.


3. Additional Notes:

It's important to note that even after updating the SPF record, DKIM authentication is still recommended for enhanced email security. DKIM uses digital signatures to verify the sender's identity, providing an extra layer of protection against spoofing.


Testing: After updating the SPF record, thoroughly test email sending to ensure that legitimate emails are not rejected.

Monitoring: Monitor DMARC reports to track the impact of the changes on email deliverability.




4. Fixing DMARC Alignment:

DMARC failure is most likely caused by the misalignment of the domains between the "From" header (vm.fongo.com) and the domain used for SPF (fibernetics.ca). To fix the DMARC issue:

Ensure consistent domain alignment:
SPF Alignment: The domain in the "From" header should match or align with the domain used in the SPF check. In this case, vm.fongo.com should either pass SPF with vm.fongo.com in the domain or use a domain that aligns with it.
Domain in From Header: If you want the "From" address to be vm.fongo.com, ensure that it aligns with the SPF check. Either configure SPF for vm.fongo.com to pass the checks or configure fibernetics.ca to properly align with the "From" domain.

If fibernetics.ca is the official sending domain, then emails should come from fibernetics.ca (or a subdomain of it), not vm.fongo.com. This would eliminate the DMARC failure related to alignment.


5. Review DKIM Configuration (if applicable):

If you’re using DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), ensure that DKIM signatures are being applied correctly for the domain in the "From" header. This also affects DMARC checks.
Ensure that DKIM signatures are properly configured for fibernetics.ca (or whatever domain is used for sending emails).
The domain in the DKIM signature should match the domain in the "From" header to pass the DMARC alignment check.





I suspect point #4 above isn't easily addressed. I suspect the problem is not having include:vm.fongo.com (and possibly ip4:208.85.217.136) in the Fibernetics.ca SPF record.


This is an AI analysis (which means it may not be correct), but it seems to be useful starting point for troubleshooting.