Business Email Setup Service in Singapore: What It Should Include

What 'email setup' should mean

For most Singapore SMEs, business email means Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace on your own domain, such as you@yourcompany.com.sg. Whichever you choose, the setup has the same building blocks.

DNS records: MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC

DNS records are the settings on your domain that tell the internet where your email lives and which servers may send for you. Four matter:

• MX tells other servers where to deliver your mail. Google lists its values in Set up MX records for Google Workspace; Microsoft shows them when you add a domain to Microsoft 365.
• SPF lists the services allowed to send as your domain. There must be only one SPF record; see Google's SPF set-up guide.
• DKIM adds a signature to each message. In Google Workspace you must generate the key and start authentication in the Admin console (Set up DKIM); in Microsoft 365 you add two CNAME records and enable signing (Microsoft DKIM guide).
• DMARC tells receivers what to do with mail that fails, and sends you reports. Start at p=none and move to quarantine once every sender passes (Set up DMARC).

A setup that only adds MX records will deliver incoming mail but leave outgoing mail exposed to spam filtering and spoofing. Our SPF, DKIM and DMARC guide explains each record in more depth.

Mailboxes, aliases and shared inboxes

A common mistake is creating a paid mailbox for info@ and giving the password to three people. That costs a licence, makes MFA hard and leaves no record of who did what. Better patterns:

• Personal mailboxes for each staff member, in a consistent format such as firstname@;
• Aliases that deliver to one person, for example accounts@ going to the bookkeeper, at no extra cost;
• Shared inboxes for addresses several people answer, such as info@ or sales@. In Microsoft 365 that is a shared mailbox; in Google Workspace, a Google Group set up as a collaborative inbox;
• Groups or distribution lists for team addresses that should reach everyone.

Ask your provider to explain which addresses are mailboxes, which are aliases and which are shared, and to write it down. That list is what you need when someone leaves.

Security from day one: MFA and admin accounts

New tenants are the easiest time to set security up properly, before anyone gets used to bad habits. A good setup includes MFA for every user, with an authenticator app rather than SMS where possible, at least two admin accounts held by the business (one kept as a break-glass account), and staff mailboxes without admin rights.

If the setup provider keeps the only admin login, you do not really own your email. Our MFA set-up guide shows how to check and turn it on yourself.

Moving old email and setting up devices

If you are moving from a web host's email, a personal Gmail or another provider, the setup should include a migration plan. Done carelessly, mail sent during the switch can bounce or vanish.

1. 1

   Agree a cut-over date and time

   Pick a quiet time, such as Friday evening. Tell staff not to delete anything from the old mailboxes for a few weeks.

2. 2

   Create mailboxes and verify the domain

   Set up all users and aliases in the new service before touching MX records.

3. 3

   Copy existing mail, contacts and calendars

   Use the built-in migration tools in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, or a third-party tool for larger moves.

4. 4

   Switch MX records

   Point MX to the new service, then run a final sync to catch mail that arrived at the old host during the change.

5. 5

   Set up phones and laptops

   Add the new account in Outlook or Gmail on each device, remove the old one, and test sending and receiving.

6. 6

   Keep the old account until everyone confirms

   Do not cancel the old service until each user has checked their folders and contacts.

For a detailed walk-through of moving between providers, see our email migration guide.

How to check your email setup was done right

You can verify most of a provider's work yourself in 15 minutes, even without technical knowledge.

Do it yourself or get help?

If you have one or two users and are comfortable editing DNS, you can follow our business email setup guide yourself. Licence costs are covered in our business email cost guide.

If you want it done once and done properly, our Business Email Setup (S$249) covers Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace in your name for up to five people, with aliases, a shared inbox, MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC, a signature template and a full admin handover. If your domain needs to be moved into your name first, Domain and DNS Setup (S$99) handles that. Already set up but landing in spam? The Emails Land in Spam Fix (S$249) repairs the records.