Automated Bounce-Handling Solutions

With the recent influx of users on the 'Net, subscribership on mailing lists has grown tremendously. However, that influx of Netizens is a double-edged sword -- some of them are not staying very long, others are quickly upgrading to better service providers, etc. This means that addresses are becoming defunct at a rapid rate -- a phenomenon that is significantly exacerbating the overall bounce problem for large mailing lists.

There are many different ways of handling bounced mail; MailBounce is just one of several techniques available. What follows is a brief synopsis of the currently available methods> This list comprises both third-party programs and list servers with integrated bounce handling.

In general, you will find that the third-party programs handle a greater diversity of bounce formats and provide a broader range of configuration options and control, while the list servers with integrated bounce-handling features provide a more seamless/transparent bounce-handling environment. The technique that is better for you will depend on your personal preferences and list-management philosophy.

If you know of a program or list server that provides bounce handling for mailing lists and is not listed here, please let us know.

Third-Party Bounce Handlers

MailBounce
(Obviously, our favorite.) This third-party program runs on Macintosh (PowerPC only), Windows 95-XP, and several different flavors of Unix. MailBounce supports a wide variety of list servers. It features fully user-configurable bounce tracking, discriminates between "hard" and "soft" bounces, can process redirected addresses and "unsubscribe" requests, allows the operator to specify "ignored" addresses, and will "fuzzy match" bounce addresses to subscriber addresses. Bounce recognition performance exceeds 99%. Go here for more information. Has both a freeware version and a commercial version.


BounceFilter
This is an open-source Perl script, originally written by Norbert Bellow. It is designed to be used with Majordomo, though it could probably be ported to other platforms without much difficulty. Exploits its close ties to the Majordomo list server to provide several very nice features. Freeware.


LetterBounce
LetterBounce is a third-party bounce handler for the LetterRip list server. Not very feature rich (though still very new), but very easy to configure and run. Exploits its close ties to LetterRip to greatly expedite setup and processing. Handles only LetterRip bounce digests, with no current plans to support bounces that are not returned via the digest. Written by Hank Chandless. Both Macintosh and Windows. Commercial software with a freeware demo.

List Servers That Provide Bounce-Handling Services

Lyris
Truly an impressive list server on all fronts, Lyris also happens to do a superb job of handling bounces in a manner that is nearly fully transparent to the list owner. Runs on Windows NT and several flavors of Unix. Features both freeware and commercial versions.


LetterRip
A full-featured Macintosh-based list server that generates convenient "bounce digests" for the list owners. Commercial software with a thirty-day free demonstration.


LISTSERV
A mainstay of the list server community, LISTSERV's integrated bounce-handling capability includes optional daily error monitoring reports for the list owners. Runs on VM, VMS, Windows, and several flavors of Unix. Commercial software.

If you have any questions, additions, or corrections to this page, please feel free to contact us here at Smart Mail Solutions, Inc.

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