Troubleshooting and codes

Microsoft is still in the process of rolling out new mail servers. One thing that is new about these is some new codes on their error messages. This has led to questions and speculations as to what is going on.

host outlook-com.olc.protection.outlook.com [104.47.9.33] said: 550 5.7.1 Unfortunately, messages from [10.10.01.01] weren’t sent. Please contact your Internet service provider since part of their network is on our block list (AS3150). You can also refer your provider to http://mail.live.com/mail/troubleshooting.aspx#errors.

This particular error code caused all sorts of confusion because AS#### is a way of identifying networks (autonomous system number). AS3150 identifies network space owned by NTT America and reading the error message seems to indicate that Microsoft is blocking all of NTT. They’re not.
AS means “Anti-Spam” and the numeric code is for Microsoft to troubleshoot things on their end.
Another example of one of the new error messages is:

451 4.7.500 Server busy. Please try again later from [<ip-address>]. (AS843) [<someserver>.prod.protection.outlook.com]

There appear to be a number of these codes. I’ve seen specific mention of codes like  AS3140, AS3160 and AS844.  All of these are intended for internal use at Microsoft. If you’re filling out the sender support form, absolutely include that number. I don’t know for sure that it will help speed things up, but it cannot hurt. Plus, you’ll look like you know what you’re talking about if/when you need to escalate things.
A number of senders have asked if MS will be sharing what the different codes are. I haven’t seen any answer other than “they’re for internal troubleshooting.” That doesn’t mean they won’t be listed specifically, but I expect updating the postmaster website documentation is low down the list of things to do during the transition.
In any case, I wouldn’t focus on the specific AS codes for delivery troubleshooting until and unless MS releases them to the public. Focus on the codes that are public on the Postmaster website.
In summary:

  • Hotmail / Outlook / Microsoft isn’t blocking NTT America / AS3150.
  • The new AS codes stand for AntiSpam
  • The numbers are intended for internal, not external, troubleshooting
  • Check the postmaster site for the codes intended for external troubleshooting.

Related Posts

Microsoft deprecating SmartScreen filters

At the beginning of the month Microsoft announced that they were deprecating the SmartScreen filters used by the desktop Microsoft mail clients. These are the filters used in Exchange and various version of Outlook mail. This is yet further consolidation of spam filtering between the Microsoft free webmail domains, Office365 hosted domains and self hosted Exchange servers.  The online services (hotmail.com, outlook.com, Office365, live.com, etc) have been  using these filters for a while. The big change now is that they’re being pushed down to Exchange and Outlook users not hosted on the Microsoft site.
EOP was developed for Outlook.com (and friends) as well as Office365 users. From Microsoft’s description, it sounds like the type of machine learning engine that many providers are moving to.
Microsoft has published quite a bit of information about these filters and how they work on their website. One of the best places to start is the Anti-spam Protection FAQ. Something senders should pay attention to is the final question on that page: “What are a set of best outbound mailing practices that will ensure that my mail is delivered?” Those are all things  deliverability folks recommend for good inbox delivery.
Poking around looking at the links and descriptions, there is a host of great information about spam filtering at Microsoft and how it works.
A page of note is their Exchange Online Protection Overview. This describes the EOP process and how the filters work.
MS_filterProcess

Read More

Engagement filters for B2B mail

While I was doing some research for a client today I rediscovered Terry Zink’s blog. Terry is one of the MS email folks and he regularly blogs about the things MS is doing with Outlook.com and Office 365.
The post that caught my eye was discussing the Microsoft Spam Fighter program. The short version is that in order to train their spam filters, Microsoft asks a random cross-section of their users if the filters made the right decision about email. This data is fed back into the Microsoft machine learning engine.
As Terry explains it:

Read More

Getting unblocked at Outlook.com

It’s been a crazy week here at M3AAWG. I have a lot of stuff to blog about, but I think one of the really important things to get out is the new unblock request page at Outlook / Hotmail.
https://sender.office.com
Submit your IPs and it will be reviewed.
(Apologies for the repeated bad links. I’m blaming con crud, lack of sleep and MSN/Hotmail/Office/Outlook for having so many domains I can’t keep them straight. I have finally gotten it right and tested it.)

Read More