Exchange Mailbox Setup Guide

How to set up an Exchange mailbox for email ticketing with FreeITSM

Already have an Exchange Online mailbox?

If your company already has Microsoft 365 with Exchange Online, you may already have a suitable mailbox or the ability to create one through your existing admin centre. In that case, you can skip this guide and proceed to configuring an Enterprise Application.

This guide assumes you have already set up a free Azure Tenant and verified your domain. If you haven't done that yet, complete the Azure Tenant Setup Guide first.

Step 1: Check Your Billing Method

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 Admin Centre at admin.cloud.microsoft
  2. In the left-hand menu, navigate to Billing → Payment methods
  3. Check that a valid payment method is already listed – if you set up a free Azure account in the previous guide, your card details should already be on file
  4. If no payment method is present, click Add a payment method and enter your credit or debit card details

Step 2: Purchase Exchange Online Plan 1

FreeITSM only needs a single Exchange Online mailbox to handle email ticketing. Exchange Online Plan 1 is the most cost-effective option for this.

  1. In the Microsoft 365 Admin Centre, navigate to Billing → Purchase services
  2. Search for "Exchange Online"
  3. Find Exchange Online (Plan 1) and click Details
  4. Select a quantity of 1 licence – a single licence is all you need for FreeITSM
  5. Choose your billing frequency (monthly or annual – monthly gives you more flexibility)
  6. Click Buy and complete the checkout process

Cost

Exchange Online Plan 1 starts from around £3.10 per month (prices may vary). You do not need Plan 2 or any Microsoft 365 Business bundle – Plan 1 provides everything FreeITSM requires for email ticketing.

Step 3: Connect Your Domain to Exchange Online

For Exchange Online to send and receive email using your custom domain, you need to add three DNS records at your domain registrar or DNS hosting provider. These tell the internet that your domain's email is handled by Microsoft.

Log in to your DNS provider (e.g. GoDaddy, Cloudflare, 123 Reg, Namecheap) and add the following records:

1. MX Record

This tells other mail servers where to deliver email for your domain.

  • Type: MX
  • Host/Name: @ (or leave blank, depending on your provider)
  • Points to / Value: yourcompany-co-uk.mail.protection.outlook.com
  • Priority: 0
  • TTL: 3600

Your MX value will be unique to your domain

The value above is just an example. Microsoft will provide the exact MX record for your domain in the Microsoft 365 Admin Centre under Settings → Domains → select your domain → DNS records. Use the value shown there.

2. CNAME Record (Autodiscover)

This allows email clients like Outlook to automatically find and configure the correct Exchange server settings.

  • Type: CNAME
  • Host/Name: autodiscover
  • Points to / Value: autodiscover.outlook.com
  • TTL: 3600

3. TXT Record (SPF)

This is a Sender Policy Framework record. It tells receiving mail servers that Microsoft is authorised to send email on behalf of your domain, helping to prevent your messages from being marked as spam.

  • Type: TXT
  • Host/Name: @ (or leave blank, depending on your provider)
  • Value: v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all
  • TTL: 3600

DNS propagation

As with the domain verification step, DNS changes can take a few minutes to 48 hours to propagate. In most cases the records will be active within 15–30 minutes. You can verify your DNS records are correct by going to Settings → Domains in the Microsoft 365 Admin Centre and checking the status of each record.

Once all three records are in place and verified, your domain is fully connected to Exchange Online and ready to send and receive email.

Ready for the Next Step?

Before moving on, make sure you've completed everything in this guide. Use the checklist below to confirm you're ready:

  • Logged into the Microsoft 365 Admin Centre – you can access admin.cloud.microsoft
  • Payment method configured – a valid credit or debit card is set up under Billing → Payment methods
  • Purchased 1 licence for Exchange Online Plan 1 – the licence is active and visible under your subscriptions
  • Connected your domain to Exchange via DNS – all three DNS records (MX, CNAME, TXT) have been added and verified in the Admin Centre
  • Created a mailbox – you have assigned the Exchange Online licence to a user, which creates their mailbox
  • Logged into the mailbox – you can sign in at outlook.office.com and access the inbox
  • Tested sending and receiving – you have sent a test email from the mailbox and confirmed you can receive a reply back to it

All done? You're ready to configure an Enterprise Application so that FreeITSM can connect to your mailbox.

→ Continue to Enterprise Application Setup Guide

← Back to Getting Started