Setting up Email

This article covers how to add an existing Helm email address to a new device (laptop, iPad, etc.) or mail client (Outlook, Thunderbird, Mail, etc.).

Choosing a Mail Client

As part of the initial setup for the Helm Personal Server on the Helm app, users set up their primary email account using their phone's native email client (e.g. Apple Mail or Samsung Mail). Once setup is completed, users can then set up their email account on other devices like a laptop or iPad.

The most common mail clients are as follows:

macOS: Mail, Outlook

Windows: Windows Mail, Outlook, Thunderbird

iOS: Mail

Android: Standard email

Other mail clients may work as well if they support IMAP over TLS and SMTP over TLS.

(01/08/2021) Note - There is a known issue with Outlook for Android that prevents it from working with email services like Helm's that utilize STARTTLS.

(08/26/2021) Note - Similar to the situation with Outlook for Android, we are finding failure of recent versions of Outlook for iOS and iPadOS to make an SMTP connection using STARTTLS.

General Setup Steps

For Admin Users and Secondary Users with the Helm app...

Once in the app, go to Menu > Email > select the email address > select the device
1. If you want to create a new device first, go to Menu > Accounts & Devices > Add a new device or client. Specify a name for it and tap Add, then continue with the above step.
Your Connection Info will be displayed
Enter the information from the Connection Info screen on the device to be configured

For Secondary Users without access to the Helm app...

Ask your Admin for the Connection Info for the email account you would like to add to a mail client.
For the Admin - In the Helm app go to Menu > User Management > select user > Email, Calendar and Contacts > select email address > select the device
1. If you want to create a new device first, go to Menu > User Management > select user > Accounts & Devices > Add a new device or client. Specify a name for it and tap Add, then continue with the above step.
For the Admin - The user's Connection Info will be displayed. Share this information with the user.
Enter the information from the Connection Info screen on the device to be configured

From the Newly Configured Device (all users)...

Choose your email client. To configure your account:

Look for an option to add a service (e.g. email, calendar, contacts)
Look for an Advanced (or Manual) option for entering in server settings manually
Enter the user name, password and server settings from the Connection Info screen

You will now be able to use your Helm account on your device.