Setting up scan-to-email shouldn’t require a static public IP address—or complicated SMTP authentication settings on every copier, scanner, or multifunction printer in your office.
Many businesses, home offices, and remote locations use standard internet connections where the public IP address can change periodically. With some SMTP relay services, such as SMTP2GO, organizations without a static IP typically need to configure a username and password on each device to authenticate with the SMTP relay service.
CM Relay takes a different approach.
Our patent-pending authentication process was designed specifically to make secure email relay easier for copiers, scanners, multifunction printers, and other devices—including devices located behind internet connections without a static IP address.
Why Dynamic IP Addresses Can Be a Problem
One common way to secure an SMTP relay is by allowing email only from specific public IP addresses.
This works well when your business has a static IP address. You simply authorize the IP address, configure your device, and you’re ready to go.
But many internet connections use dynamic public IP addresses. Your IP might remain the same for weeks or months, but your internet provider can change it at any time.
When that happens, a relay service that relies exclusively on IP-based authorization may stop accepting email from your device until the new IP address is authorized.
The traditional alternative is SMTP authentication using a username and password.
CM Relay provides another option.
CM Relay’s Patent-Pending Authentication Process
CM Relay supports a combination of Device IDs and Subject Authentication Codes that allows compatible devices to be identified and authorized without depending exclusively on their public IP address.
This means your scanner can continue sending email through CM Relay even if the public IP address at the location changes.
Instead of requiring every device to authenticate using a traditional SMTP username and password, CM Relay can use authentication information associated with the device and the messages it sends.
The result is a simple and flexible way to support scan-to-email from locations where a static IP address isn’t available or practical.
Ideal for Home Offices and Small Locations
This is especially useful for:
- Home offices using residential or small-business internet connections
- Small offices without static IP service
- Remote and satellite locations
- Businesses with multiple locations
- Temporary offices or job sites
- Copiers and scanners with limited SMTP authentication capabilities
- Legacy devices that can send SMTP email but don’t support modern OAuth authentication
You don’t need to purchase a static IP address from your ISP just to keep your scanner’s email functionality working.
What Happens When Your Public IP Changes?
With CM Relay, an IP address change doesn’t have to mean a service call or an emergency reconfiguration of your scanner.
When configured to use CM Relay’s Device ID and Subject Authentication Code functionality, the service has additional information it can use to identify and authorize the device.
So if your ISP changes your public IP address, your scanner can continue sending email without relying solely on that IP address for authentication.
This is particularly valuable for businesses supporting devices at many different customer locations.
Built for Devices That Can’t Keep Up With Modern Email
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace have increasingly moved toward OAuth-based authentication and away from traditional SMTP usernames and passwords.
That’s a good change for security, but it creates a significant challenge for older copiers, scanners, printers, applications, and other devices that were never designed to support OAuth.
CM Relay bridges that gap.
Your legacy device communicates with CM Relay using SMTP, while CM Relay handles the modern email authentication required by supported cloud email providers.
That means you don’t have to replace a perfectly functional copier or scanner simply because its SMTP implementation hasn’t kept up with changes in modern cloud email authentication.
Static IP? CM Relay Supports That Too
If your location already has a static public IP address, CM Relay can take advantage of it.
IP-based authorization remains one of the simplest ways to identify trusted devices and locations. CM Relay’s additional authentication options are there for situations where IP-based authorization alone isn’t practical.
This gives businesses and IT providers the flexibility to choose the approach that works best for each location.
For example, a main office might use a static IP address while several home offices or satellite locations use Device IDs and Subject Authentication Codes.
They can all use CM Relay.
Simple Scan-to-Email Without the Static IP Requirement
Scan-to-email should be simple.
CM Relay was designed to make modern email relay accessible to legacy copiers, scanners, multifunction printers, and other SMTP-enabled devices—without requiring every location to have a static public IP address.
Whether you’re supporting a single scanner in a home office or devices across dozens of customer locations, CM Relay provides flexible authentication options designed for real-world networks.
No static IP? No problem.
With CM Relay’s patent-pending authentication process, your devices can keep sending email even when the internet connection—and its public IP address—changes.
Learn more about CM Relay at CMRelay.com and see how easy modern scan-to-email can be.