Using Powerchurch 10.4 on a network

[MRPK33]

I have installed PC+10.4 on a network and all is working fine except for the email portion. We are using Small Business Server 2003 and I am wondering how to get PC+ 10.4 to send out email on this server. Thanks for your assistance.
Paul

[Zorak]

PowerChurch Plus uses an SMTP mail protocol.

You should be able to define the mail server and settings at File > Preferences > System Setup Options > E-mail tab.

There is also a user-specific screen that can be used to override the system settings at File > Preferences > User Setup Options > E-mail tab.

[ladyv]

Hello,

I am wondering if you got your email to work. We are having the same issues here and followed the instructions from the Powerchurch manual and it still is not working.

Our outside IT person came in and spoke with a Powerchurch technician and was told that there is a known problem with Powerchurch email functioning with Server 2003 and therefore we can't send emails outside of the network.

Were you able to experience any success and if so, how were you able to accomplish it?

Thanks,

[Zorak]

Our outside IT person came in and spoke with a Powerchurch technician and was told that there is a known problem with Powerchurch email functioning with Server 2003 and therefore we can't send emails outside of the network.

In looking back at the Technical Support logs from today, the problem was with your settings in Microsoft Exchange Server, which requires a different type of setup to make an SMTP e-mail client such as PowerChurch Plus work properly. Microsoft Exchange is not a supported environment for PowerChurch Plus to send e-mails in. It is possible, but not supported by us.

There are no compatibility issues with Windows Server 2003 or Small Business Server 2003.

[NeilZ]

At my last church we came up against this issue, since internally we used Exchange to handle all the church email and backup from one central location.

Of course, what we did in our case may not work for you, since we had our email addresses setup as POP3 addresses at the web hosting service, and sent everything out through our system to the hosting service's SMTP server. Exchange would use the POP3 interface to pull the mail from the host, and SMTP Exchange interface to send mail out thru the host's SMTP server.

So it was a simple fix for us to create an info@mychurch.com email address at the hosting service, and then setup Powerchurch to bypass the Exchange server and directly sent to the service's SMTP server.

[MRPK33]

It took me a while to figure it out but once I did, I could have hit myself across the head. All I had to do was put the local smtp address in power church and it worked like a charm. I was trying to use my external smtp address and it would not work nor would the one I had registered with my DNS service. By the way I am using SBS 2003 but the same concept should work for the full version of Windows 2003 and Exchange 2003. I think the key is ensuring you have your own Domain controller which I have with Small Business Server 2003.

[ladyv]

I tried using the ip address of the local exchange server and it still does not work. When you say you used the local smtp address what exactly did you type in Power Church?

thanks

Jamie

[MRPK33]

Are you running your own network with your exchange server? What version of Server and Exchange are you using? If you prefer you can contact me offline.