Vault sends outbound emails from a Veeva Vault domain address by default. When you send emails from your Vault to external recipients, you can configure Vault to send emails from customized domains and allow users to change the sending email address to one associated with your organization.
Note: This feature is currently available and configurable in MedInquiry Vaults (for Case Response Emails), QMS Vaults (for Sending External Notifications for Complaints and Medtech Complaints), and Clinical Operations Vaults (for Study Startup Feasibility Surveys). This feature does not apply to Vault notifications.
Creating Email Domains
Before creating an outbound email domain, you must create and verify a Root Domain:
- Navigate to Admin > Configuration > Outbound Email Domains.
- Under Root Domains, click Add. Access to the Outbound Email Domains page is controlled by Outbound Email Domains permissions.
- Enter a Domain Name and a Verification Email.
- Click Save.
- Click OK.
- Check your email inbox for the verification email and click the link.
Note: You cannot edit root domains if there are one or more active Outbound Email Domains. Editing a root domain invalidates any configured Outbound Email Domains using it.
Once you verify the Root Domain, you can return to Admin > Configuration > Outbound Email Domains to add an outbound email domain:
- Under Email Domains, click Create.
- Enter a Label.
- Verify that the Status is Active.
- Optional: Enter a Description for the email domain.
- Click the Domain drop-down. You can select an existing subdomain, Create New Subdomain, or Use Root Domain. We do not recommend using the root domain. If your organization uses Approved Email in Veeva CRM or Vault CRM, the root domain may already be in use and you cannot register it a second time. If this is the case, create a subdomain as it provides improved deliverability and troubleshooting.
- If you are creating a new subdomain, click OK and enter a Subdomain. You can create a maximum of five (5) subdomains with one root domain across all Vaults.
- If you are using the root domain, click OK.
- Click Submit.
- If necessary, verify the domain by following the Setup Instructions provided. Verification may take up to 48 hours to complete.
- Click OK.
Note: You can create a maximum of five (5) outbound domains for a maximum of three (3) root domains. For customers with multiple Vaults that use the same root domain, there is also a limit of five (5) domains for each root domain across those Vaults. In addition, you cannot register domains already in use by Approved Email in Veeva CRM or Vault CRM.
About DNS Records
Vault uses a tool called Mailgun for the Outbound Email Address functionality. When adding Outbound Email Domains, Vault provides details in Setup Instructions on DNS records that you must create in your DNS provider in order to complete verification.
This verification of the ownership of the email domain mitigates spam, and ensures that malicious parties cannot impersonate this domain.
If the domain is already hosted somewhere, log in to your DNS provider to change your DNS records. If the domain isn’t hosted anywhere yet, set up an account at any DNS provider.
Configure the following DNS records in your DNS provider:
| DNS Record Type | Purpose |
|---|---|
| SPF (Sender Policy Framework) TXT record | An email-validation system designed to detect email spoofing by ensuring incoming mail from a domain is sent from a host authorized by that domain’s administrators. |
| DKIM TXT record | A Google standard widely adopted by email providers and Exchange servers designed to detect email spoofing. |
| CNAME record | Used for URL redirects. This is also used to track when recipients open and click on a link in emails. |
| Two (2) MX records | Ensures successful email delivery and minimizes Sender Verification errors. Receiving servers may reject emails from a domain without an MX record. MX records are primarily used to specify which mail servers accept incoming mail for the domain and where to route emails sent to the domain. If your DNS provider already has an MX record set up for the domain, you may not need to create an MX record. |
It may take up to 24 hours for these DNS changes to take effect.
Note: When creating records for subdomains, some DNS providers may append the domain to the entered subdomain. For example, entering mail.domain.com as the subdomain may result in the DNS provider setting up the subdomain as mail.domain.com.domain.com. Please be aware of the behavior of your specific DNS provider.
Creating Outbound Email Addresses
After configuring an outbound email domain, you can add an outbound email address while creating or editing a Person record. Enter the outbound email address in the Email field and ensure the Outbound Email Status field is enabled. Then, after saving the Person record, verify and activate the email by clicking the Actions menu and selecting Verify Outbound Email. Vault sends an email to the address defined. Click the link in the email to activate the outbound email. The link expires if you send a new verification email.
In some cases, Vault cannot verify the outbound email address because it is not set up to receive emails, such as noreply@vernpharma.com. Contact Support to verify and activate this type of email address.
Outbound Email Domain Migration
While the Outbound Email Root Domain setting is not migratable, the setting is included with Outbound Email Domain records in a full Vault clone, such as when creating a sandbox. If the Vault is not a clone, you must create and verify the root domain in the target Vault before migrating Outbound Email Domain records via VPK.
Related Permissions
You can complete all steps in this article with the standard System Admin or Vault Owner security profile. If your vault uses custom security profiles, your profile must grant the following permissions:
| Type | Permission Label | Controls |
| Security Profile | Admin: Configuration: Outbound Email Domains: Read | Ability to view the Outbound Email Domains page. |
| Security Profile | Admin: Configuration: Outbound Email Domains: Create, Edit | Ability to create and edit Outbound Email Domains. |