Migrating to AtData’s SafeToSend® API from TowerData

Why migrate?

AtData’s SafeToSend® service is where the company is adding new functionality and focusing future Product & Engineering efforts. While we don’t have plans to deprecate the TowerData API any time soon, we highly recommend upgrading to SafeToSend to take advantage of existing enhancements and future upgrades.

By upgrading to SafeToSend Email Verification and Hygiene, you’ll benefit from:

Machine Learning-based spam trap detection
Fewer emails with an ‘unknown’ status
The best B2B email validation in the industry
A more robust set of integration options with email service providers to easily connect and sync your data.
The AtData Engagement Score*, which goes beyond validation to tell you if an email address is active

*Please note that Engagement Score is included for free in SafeToSend for all AtData subscription customers.

The key differences between the legacy Tower Data and AtData’s SafetoSend API are changes to the email response codes returned in your validation data.

SafeToSend Statuses - Quick Summary:

safetosend - The email address passed all checks of the SafeToSend process, is safe to mail, and is backed by our deliverability guarantee. Any references to TowerData ‘valid’ status should be updated to use ‘safetosend’.

valid - The email address passed the majority of SafeToSend checks; however, it could not be confirmed as deliverable and may still bounce. SafeToSend ‘valid’ is comparable to TowerData ‘unknown’ for status codes 10 and 20.
invalid - Do not mail. The email is invalid. It may lack the proper syntax, the domain may be dead, the mailbox does not exist, etc.. (see the list of codes for more granular details on invalid)
trap - The email address is a spam trap, honeypot, disposable, or high risk. Don’t send email to these risky addresses that can impact your email delivery. References to TowerData ‘risky’ should be updated to ‘trap’.
catchall- The domain doesn’t support a mailbox level check. Also known as an "accept all" or "catch all" domain. References to TowerData ‘unverifiable’ should be updated to ‘catchall’.
unknown - We could not complete any checks on the address. Messages to these addresses may see bounces. This status will be returned for status codes 5, timeout, or 999, error.

corrected - The email address is invalid because it had a syntax or spelling error, we fixed it and we validated the correction. This status only appears during batch processing and is not present in the real-time API.

Key Changes and Upgrades for SafeToSend

(as compared to TowerData API responses)

Status Codes with notable changes:

unknown status codes 10 and 20 are now considered Valid with the SafeToSend service
unverifiable, status code 45, is now labeled as a “catchall” in SafeToSend (the domain is a catch all and does not support validation)
risky 525 is now labeled as a "trap" in SafeToSend (the address is a spamtrap, a known complainer or is suppressed);
Note that this is an upgrade from TowerData which previously reported a count of traps but did not code them so that they could be identified)

New Statuses added to SafeToSend:

Safetosend 50 – our new “marquee” status for valid emails that meet all enhanced SafeToSend checks and criteria, with guaranteed results
Valid 55 - Address is allowed by client-configured exceptions
Invalid 255 - Address is not allowed by client-configured suppressions
Invalid 515 - Address was rejected during our manual review process
trap 525 - Address is a spamtrap, a known complainer or is suppressed.
trap 535 - Address is on the ANA's "Do Not Email List"

TowerData status codes removed from SafeToSend:

Invalid 135 - Address has unbalanced parentheses.
Invalid 205 - IP address is not allowed as a domain.
Invalid 315 - Domain doesn’t have a valid IP address.

Below is a comparison chart to help illustrate the key differences between AtData’s SafeToSend output versus the older Tower Data output:

AtData SafeToSend Output			TowerData Output
Status	Code	Description	Status	Code	Description
unknown	5	Timeout. Did not get a response in time.	unknown	5	Timeout. Did not get a response in time.
valid	10	Syntax OK.	unknown	10	Syntax OK.
valid	20	Syntax OK and the domain is valid.	unknown	20	Syntax OK and the domain is valid.
catchall	45	Domain is a catch all and does not support validation.	unverifiable	45	Domain is a catch all and does not support validation.
safetosend	50	Valid email address.	valid	50	Valid email address.
valid	55	Address is allowed by client-configured exceptions
invalid	100	General syntax error.	invalid	100	General syntax error.
invalid	110	Invalid character in address.	invalid	110	Invalid character in address.
invalid	115	Invalid domain syntax.	invalid	115	Invalid domain syntax.
invalid	120	Invalid username syntax.	invalid	120	Invalid username syntax.
invalid	125	Invalid username syntax for that domain.	invalid	125	Invalid username syntax for that domain.
invalid	130	Address is too long.	invalid	130	Address is too long.
*removed*			invalid	135	Address has unbalanced parentheses.
invalid	140	Address doesn’t have a username.	invalid	140	Address doesn’t have a username.
invalid	145	Address doesn’t have a domain.	invalid	145	Address doesn’t have a domain.
invalid	150	Address doesn’t have an @ sign.	invalid	150	Address doesn’t have an @ sign.
invalid	155	Address has more than one @ sign.	invalid	155	Address has more than one @ sign.
invalid	200	Invalid top-level domain (TLD) in address.	invalid	200	Invalid top-level domain (TLD) in address.
*removed*			invalid	205	IP address is not allowed as a domain.
invalid	210	Address contains an extra space or character.	invalid	210	Address contains an extra space or character.
invalid	215	Unquoted spaces not allowed in email addresses.	invalid	215	Unquoted spaces not allowed in email addresses.
invalid	255	Address is not allowed by client-configured suppressions
invalid	310	Domain doesn’t exist.	invalid	310	Domain doesn’t exist.
*removed*			invalid	315	Domain doesn’t have a valid IP address.
invalid	325	Domain can’t receive email.	invalid	325	Domain can’t receive email.
invalid	400	Mailbox doesn't exist.	invalid	400	Mailbox doesn't exist.
invalid	410	The mailbox is full and can’t receive email.	invalid	410	The mailbox is full and can’t receive email.
invalid	420	Mail isn't accepted for this domain.	invalid	420	Mail isn't accepted for this domain.
invalid	500	Emails with that username aren’t accepted.	invalid	500	Emails with that username aren’t accepted.
invalid	505	Emails with that domain aren’t accepted.	invalid	505	Emails with that domain aren’t accepted.
invalid	510	That address isn’t accepted.	invalid	510	That address isn’t accepted.
invalid	515	Address was rejected during our manual review process
invalid	520	Address matched to known bouncers (optional feature).	invalid	520	Address matched to known bouncers (optional feature).
trap	525	Address is a spamtrap, a known complainer or is suppressed.	risky	525	Address is a spamtrap, a known complainer or is suppressed.
risky	530	Address has opted out from commercial email.	risky	530	Address has opted out from commercial email.
risky	535	Address is on ANA's "Do Not Email List"
unknown	999	System error.	unknown	999	System error.

If you have additional questions regarding SafeToSend, we encourage you to review our full SafeToSend documentation or contact us via customer support.