How to Monitor IP Health with Microsoft SNDS in Sparkforge

Microsoft Smart Network Data Services (SNDS) reports IP-level deliverability for mail sent to Outlook, Hotmail, and other Microsoft inboxes. Sparkforge customers on dedicated IP subscriptions can monitor SNDS data directly inside the platform.

What Microsoft SNDS Tracks

SNDS surfaces health metrics for each IP you send from, including filter results, spam complaints, traffic volume, and block status. Healthy IPs reach Outlook inboxes; flagged IPs land in junk or get blocked outright.

Open the IP Status Dashboard

1. Go to Settings > Email Services > Postmaster Tools > Microsoft SNDS.
2. Pick an IP from the list to see its current metrics.
3. Click View Details for a deeper breakdown of activity on that IP.
4. Click Download CSV to export raw data for further analysis.

How to Read the Metrics

Filter Results

• < 10% spam — healthy. Mail is largely bypassing Outlook spam filters.
• 10% or higher — audit your list, content, and sending cadence before deliverability tanks.

Blocked Status

• No — IP can send without restriction.
• Yes — IP is blocked. Investigate the cause and submit a delisting request through Microsoft Outlook Support.

Trap Hits

• 0 — IP isn't hitting Microsoft spam traps. Keep your list clean to keep this at zero.
• 1+ — trap hits indicate invalid or harvested addresses on your list. Remove them before reputation drops further.

Complaint Rate

• < 0.1% — excellent. Recipients are not flagging your mail.
• > 0.1% — too high. Review content and confirm every recipient opted in.

RCPT and DATA Commands

RCPT commands count recipients addressed; DATA commands count message payloads transmitted. Compare both to your expected campaign volume — unusual spikes can trip Microsoft's spam filters.

Trap Message Period

Days during which your mail was caught by spam traps. The target is 0 days. Anything else is an active list-quality problem.

Red Days (Filter Result Issues)

• 0 Red Days — filter performance is healthy.
• 1+ Red Days — specific days had elevated spam classification. Audit sending patterns for those dates.

What to Do When an IP Is Blocked or Spam Rate Spikes

1. Review the metrics. Focus on trap hits and complaint rate over the last 7–30 days.
2. Clean the list. Remove invalid addresses, hard bounces, and anyone who didn't actively opt in.
3. Request delisting. If the IP is blocked, submit a delisting request via Microsoft Outlook Support.
4. Pause aggressive sends until the underlying issue is fixed — sending more mail through a flagged IP makes the problem worse.