Licensing

In this article you will learn more about the licensing of CodeTwo Email Signatures 365.

• Trial version
• Can I extend the trial period?
• How is the software licensed and how are the licenses counted?
• How can I get a license?
• How can I check the number of available licenses and which accounts are using them?
• What happens when my license limit is exceeded?
• How to manage and reassign licenses?
• How can I change the number of licenses?
• How can I change my subscription plan?
• How can I pay for my subscription?
• What to do if my credit card expires or stops working otherwise?
• How can I remove my credit card?
• How can I cancel my subscription?
• What happens with my data and settings after I cancel a subscription?
• How can I resume my subscription?
• How can I stop using CodeTwo services completely?
• What will happen to my subscription if I change my domain in Microsoft 365 (Office 365)?
• How to activate a subscription with a product license key?

Trial version

The trial version of CodeTwo Email Signatures 365 can be used for free for 14 days (you can easily extend it to 21 days) and for up to 1000 mailboxes. During the trial period, the program works exactly the same as the full, licensed version and you also get full technical assistance from us.

Once the trial is over, the program stops adding signatures and you receive multiple notifications via email about that. When you purchase a subscription, there is no need to reinstall the software - all the previous settings will be kept and ready for use.

Can I extend the trial period?

Yes, it’s possible without sacrificing all the benefits of the 14-day trial (e.g. full technical assistance). If you simply need more time to test our software, you can easily extend the trial period in the CodeTwo Admin Panel either by clicking the link from the yellow-box message at the top of the window or using the button on the Subscription page (Fig. 1.).

Fig. 1. Extend your trial period by clicking (A) the link or (B) the button.

Note that the option to extend the trial appears in the CodeTwo Admin Panel when your trial period is close to ending. You can extend the trial period twice: by 5 days and then by 2 days, which gives you 21 days in total for free testing (counted from the trial period starting date).

If your company needs additional time to test CodeTwo Email Signatures 365 after the trial version expires, contact us.

How is the software licensed and how are the licenses counted?

Licensing of CodeTwo Email Signatures 365 is based on a monthly or yearly subscription model. If you want to purchase a different subscription period, please contact CodeTwo Support.

When you buy a subscription, you get signature licenses plus the same number of autoresponder licenses. Each license type is counted separately, so you can use them up for the same users or assign them to different ones to allow the biggest number of users possible enjoy features offered by our software.

The minimum number of licenses is 10 and it is not possible to order fewer licenses. Also, if you ordered more than 10 licenses it will not be possible to reduce their number below 10 at a later date.

Signature licenses

Each user whose emails are routed through the CodeTwo Email Azure Service and each user who uses a CodeTwo signatures add-in for Outlook consumes one license. One user can consume one license only, even if this user triggers both client-side and server-side signature rules. As far as license consumption is concerned, it does not matter if an email is actually stamped with a signature.

Additional notes for server-side signatures: Licenses are consumed by shared mailboxes as well, because Microsoft 365 (Office 365) treats shared mailboxes as users. In the server-side mode, it does not matter if an email is actually stamped with a signature (this depends on your signature rule conditions defined in the Senders step), what matters is the fact that an email passes through the CodeTwo Email Azure Service (there are 2 exceptions: emails sent from mail-enabled public folders, and emails sent as groups, distribution lists and contacts do not consume licenses because they are not supported by the signature-adding mechanism). To learn how to manage the scope of licensed users in the server-side mode, see this Frequently Asked Question.

Additional notes for client-side signatures: Licenses are consumed differently, depending on which Outlook add-in you use:

• for the modern CodeTwo Signatures Web Add-in for Outlook, a license is consumed as soon as the add-in checks if there are any signatures available for a user who uses the add-in, 
• for the classic CodeTwo Signatures Add-in for Outlook (COM Add-in), a license is consumed as soon as a user signs in to the add-in.

Autoresponder licenses

Autoresponder licenses are consumed based on autoresponder rule settings. If you create an autoresponder rule for X users (this includes user/shared/room/equipment mailboxes defined in the Reply from step of the rule) in your organization, X licenses will be instantly consumed when you save the rule. If you select the Group members (inside organization) option and select a group / distribution list with Y members, Y licenses will be consumed when you save the rule (the group / distribution list itself will not consume a license).

How can I get a license?

The product license is sold as a subscription, which can be purchased in CodeTwo Admin Panel. Any user with the owner or admin access to your organization's Admin Panel account can purchase the subscription (learn more about the admin roles in CodeTwo Email Signatures 365). In order to pay for the subscription, you need to add a payment method on the Payment methods tab. After that, access the Manage tenant page - you can do it from the Dashboard or the Tenants tab by clicking the Manage tenant () button next to the name of your tenant. On the Subscription page (Fig. 2.), click Buy subscription. A wizard will guide you through the process of ordering a subscription. If you have not defined a payment method and have not filled out required contact info yet, you will be asked to do so.

Fig. 2. The subscription management page - trial version.

How can I check the number of available licenses and which accounts are using them?

You can check the number of available licenses on the Manage tenant page in the CodeTwo Admin Panel. To access that page:

• sign in to app.codetwo.com with a global admin account, click the user icon in the upper-right corner, and select Settings (Admin Panel); or
• sign in directly to the CodeTwo Admin Panel, go to the Dashboard or Tenants tab and click the Manage tenant () button next to the name of your tenant.

The number of licenses in use is shown in the Licensing section. To check the number of used signature licenses, go to the Signature licenses tab. Next, click Show used licenses (see Fig. 2. to display a list of all the email addresses to which a license has been assigned.

To see the number of autoresponder licenses in use for your tenant, simply go to the Autoresponder licenses tab instead.

If you want to change the number of licenses, see this section.

What happens when my license limit is exceeded?

If you are using server-side signatures and you exceed the license limit, some of your users will be sending emails without signatures (or will not send automatic replies if you enabled them). You will get an email notification from us each time this happens.

In the case of client-side signatures, the users who are unlicensed:

• will not get any signatures and will see a relevant message (modern Web Add-in),
• will not be able to sign in to the add-in (a relevant message will be displayed) and use any signatures (classic COM Add-in).

If necessary, you can limit the users who get signatures / auto replies (as explained here) or purchase additional licenses to cover all users who e.g. need signatures (as described here).

How to manage and reassign licenses?

The program assigns licenses automatically to every user (and shared mailbox) whose emails travel through the CodeTwo Email Azure Service and to every user who uses a CodeTwo signatures add-in for Outlook, as described earlier in this article.

If there are more users in your Microsoft 365 (Office 365) organization than you have CodeTwo Email Signatures 365 licenses for, you can limit the number of users that should get:

• Server-side signatures by limiting the scope of senders to a selected group of users during the configuration of Exchange Online connectors (for more information, click here). If necessary, you can create a Distribution List that includes only those users that should get the signature.
• Client-side signatures by deploying an Outlook add-in to the selected group of users only. See deployment instructions for:
  • the modern Signatures Web Add-in
  • for the classic COM Add-in.
• Automatic replies by selecting specific users/groups in the Reply from step when you configure your autoresponder rules in the signature management app. Learn more

Once a license is assigned to a specific user / shared mailbox, it will not be automatically reassigned to another one even if you change the scope of senders, uninstall the Outlook add-in from some users/machines or delete users from your Microsoft 365 tenant. However, if some licenses were assigned to the wrong users, you can use the Reset license count option to unassign all licenses and reassign them to other users.

Resetting licenses

To restart the assignment of licenses, open the CodeTwo Admin Panel. On the Dashboard or Tenants tab, click the Manage tenant () button next to the name of your tenant. On the Subscription page, go to the Signature licenses tab or the Autoresponder licenses tab, depending on which type of licenses you want to reset. Click Reset license count (see Fig. 3.) and the program will begin to count signature or autoresponder licenses from zero.

Fig. 3. Restarting license assignment with the Reset license count button.

How can I change the number of licenses?

If you want to change the number of licenses (for example, buy licenses for more users), you can do it from the Admin Panel by editing your subscription. On the Dashboard or Tenants tab, click the Manage tenant () button next to the name of your Microsoft 365 (Office 365) tenant. To change the number of licenses, click Edit subscription, as shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4. Accessing the Edit subscription wizard.

Modify the number of licenses, and the program will show an updated total price for your subscription period. Click Next to review the modified subscription order. You can check how many licenses will be added/removed, the amount to be paid for the new licenses, and verify your billing information (Fig. 5.). To finish, click Pay now (if you added licenses) or Change subscription (if you removed licenses from your current license pool).

• If you increased the number of licenses (Fig. 5.), then at this point you will be charged only for the additional licenses that will be used in the current billing cycle. In the next billing cycle, your credit card will be charged for the total number of licenses.
• If you decreased the number of licenses, then the subscription price and the number of available licenses will be decreased starting from the next payment renewal date (next billing cycle).

Fig. 5. The Preview step shows how many licenses have been added or removed.

How can I change my subscription plan?

If you want to change your subscription plan (e.g. from monthly to yearly), you need to cancel your current subscription and buy a new one. See this Knowledge Base article for step-by-step guidelines.

How can I pay for my subscription?

To buy a subscription and maintain its continuity, you need to add a payment method. You can add one or more credit cards to pay for your subscriptions.

Adding a new payment method

If you don't have any payment methods defined yet, you need to add a new credit card. You can do that when you purchase a subscription for the first time or you can go directly to the Payment methods tab in CodeTwo Admin Panel and click Add new (Fig. 6.).

Fig. 6. The Payment methods tab in the Admin Panel.

Changing or updating a payment method

If you need to change or update your payment method for a subscription, e.g. because your credit card has expired, first go to the Payment methods tab and add a new payment method (if necessary).

Next, go to the Dashboard or Tenants tab, click Manage tenant () next to the name of your Microsoft 365 tenant, and click Edit subscription (as shown in Fig. 4.). In the Details step of the wizard that opens, choose the card you just added from the Payment method drop-down list. Then proceed to the Preview page and click Change subscription.

When you finish, you can remove your old credit card on the Payment methods tab, if applicable (make sure that all of your subscriptions are updated first).

What to do if my credit card expires or stops working otherwise?

When your payment fails, your subscription temporarily expires. Do not worry about your signatures - we will continue adding them for some time and you will receive multiple email notifications from us regarding the payment problems.

• If your card stops working, our payment processor will try to charge it several times within the next 72 hours. When you fix your card problems after that period, you will have to reactivate your subscription in CodeTwo Admin Panel (Fig. 7.).

Fig. 7. Subscription management options - payment failure.

• If your credit card expires, your subscription will resume the moment you add a new card and assign it to your subscription, as explained here.

How can I remove my credit card?

To remove a credit card, click Remove (see Fig. 6.). If there are any active subscriptions that use this card, you will not be able to remove the card until you cancel these subscriptions. Note that if your card expired and you want to add a new card, you do not need to remove the old one but you can update your card by editing it so that your subscription is not interrupted. Learn more

How can I cancel my subscription?

To cancel a subscription for a tenant, open the Admin Panel's Dashboard or Tenants tab, click the Manage tenant () button next to the name of your tenant and select Subscription from the left menu. This will open the subscription management page (see Fig. 7.). You can also access this page from the signature management app via the user icon in the upper-right corner (you might need to sign in with your CodeTwo Admin Panel account to proceed with the cancelation). Click Cancel subscription to terminate your subscription plan.

To prevent potential blocking of your mail flow, remember to deregister your tenant after your subscription expires - this will remove the CodeTwo Exchange Online connectors that route email through the CodeTwo Email Azure Service. These connectors are not removed automatically when you cancel your subscription.

What happens with my data and settings after I cancel a subscription?

After you cancel a subscription and it expires (your billing cycle ends), or after your trial period expires, we keep your tenant-related data and program settings (such as signature rules) on Microsoft Azure servers for 180 days (unless the law requires us to keep customer data longer) before they are permanently removed. Within this 6-month period, you can conveniently return to our services and all of your settings are available immediately.

If you want us to delete your data right after you cancel your subscription, contact us.

Learn more about data safety

How can I resume my subscription?

Before you resume your subscription, remember that:

• If you recently canceled a subscription, your signatures are still added until this subscription expires (which is at the end of your current billing cycle). To avoid double payment, it's best to resume the subscription right before the current one expires.
• If you resume using the program within 6 months after your subscription expired, all the settings associated with your tenant (including email signature rules) will be restored. Learn more about our data retention policy

To resume a subscription, go to the Dashboard or Tenants tab in CodeTwo Admin Panel. Click the Manage tenant () button next to the name of your tenant to open the Subscription management page. Click Buy subscription (see Fig. 2.) to resume the subscription.

How can I stop using CodeTwo services completely?

If you want to stop using our services, all you need to do is deregister your tenant (as described in this article) and the software will immediately stop adding signatures. Deregistering a tenant automatically cancels this tenant's subscription.

What will happen to my subscription if I change my domain in Microsoft 365 (Office 365)?

Nothing, because subscriptions are associated with tenants, not with domains. If you change a domain (i.e. add a new domain and remove the old one in Microsoft 365), the signatures will be added as previously.

How can I activate my subscription with a product license key?

If you received a product license key for CodeTwo Email Signatures 365 from CodeTwo Customer Support or your reseller, you need to use it to activate your subscription. To do so, sign in to CodeTwo Admin Panel, go to the Dashboard or Tenants tab and click the Manage tenant () button next to the name of your tenant to access the subscription management options. Next, click the link at the bottom of the Subscription section (Fig. 8.) to open the subscription activation wizard.

Fig. 8. Accessing the subscription activation wizard.

In the second step of the wizard, enter your product license key to validate it (Fig. 9.). If the validation is successful, the number of available licenses and subscription details will be shown. To activate the subscription, click Activate now (make sure to accept the required permissions as well).

Fig. 9. Activating the subscription for CodeTwo Email Signatures 365.

Limitations of a subscription activated with a product license key

Unlike subscriptions purchased via CodeTwo Admin Panel, subscriptions activated using product license keys have some limitations:

• only the yearly subscription plan is available,
• the subscription is not renewed automatically,
• you cannot make any changes to the subscription from the CodeTwo Admin Panel. This means you need to contact your CodeTwo reseller or CodeTwo Customer Support every time you want to:
  • modify (increase or decrease) the number of licenses,
  • renew the subscription,
  • reactivate the subscription.

If you would like to use a monthly subscription plan, have your subscription renewed automatically or be able to manage your subscription on your own, you need to purchase a subscription directly in the Admin Panel by following these steps.

See also

License Agreement - this article contains the terms and conditions of using CodeTwo software.