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    Text Messages

    Is it possible to send the contents of a field as a text message to mobile phones using a GSM modem attached to my PC. If so, how?

    #2
    RE: Text Messages

    Stephen,

    What software do you have to send SMS from your PC?

    Keith Hubert
    London.
    Regards
    Keith Hubert
    Alpha Guild Member
    London.
    KHDB Management Systems
    Skype = keith.hubert


    For your day-to-day Needs, you Need an Alpha Database!

    Comment


      #3
      RE: Text Messages

      At present this is only Terminal but alternatives can be considered.

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Text Messages

        I would like to find some kind of an integrated Alpha 5 solution. But I have used 2 different independent programs which both worked ... This company has the most variety of programs to send SMS messages .. http://www.drpusms.com/. But their customer support is really weak.

        This company ... http://www.smsdeliverer.com/ ... software has many more powerful features ... and their customer service is much better ... but their documentation is pretty weak.

        if anyone would like to push this idea forward ... i would like to help.
        Truth between candid minds can never do harm. Thomas Jefferson
        The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator. Louis Pasteur

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Text Messages

          Originally posted by jimxoc View Post
          I would like to find some kind of an integrated Alpha 5 solution. But I have used 2 different independent programs which both worked ... This company has the most variety of programs to send SMS messages .. http://www.drpusms.com/. But their customer support is really weak.

          This company ... http://www.smsdeliverer.com/ ... software has many more powerful features ... and their customer service is much better ... but their documentation is pretty weak.

          if anyone would like to push this idea forward ... i would like to help.

          You can send a SMS using email. All you need to know is the recipient phone number and their service providers gateway address.

          For example, in an email sent to [email protected] it would send an SMS message to phone number 1234567890

          Here are some gateway addresses by carrier. You can also search "sms gateway list" for additional gateway address or any updated gateways.

          AllTel @message.alltelcom
          AT&T @txt.att.net (@mms.att.net if the email contains rich text, html or attachments. Even works with plain text messages)
          Boost Mobile @myboostmobile.com
          Sprint @messaging.sprintpcs.com
          T-Mobile @tmomail.net
          US Cellular @email.uscc.net
          Verizion @vtext.com
          Virgin Mobile @vmobl.com


          It should be a simple matter of setting up where your Alpha app can send text messages using the built in email or using something like email_send() or email_send2()
          I have tested this with my phone and it works. I even sent a text message to myself with a pdf attached although I could not retrieve the pdf as I do not have a data plan with my smart phone.

          Don't know the persons carrier, you should be able to find it here if you have their phone number. https://www.carrierlookup.com/index.php

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Text Messages

            Originally posted by preston2 View Post
            You can send a SMS using email. All you need to know is the recipient phone number and their service providers gateway address.

            For example, in an email sent to [email protected] it would send an SMS message to phone number 1234567890

            Here are some gateway addresses by carrier. You can also search "sms gateway list" for additional gateway address or any updated gateways.

            AllTel @message.alltelcom
            AT&T @txt.att.net (@mms.att.net if the email contains rich text, html or attachments. Even works with plain text messages)
            Boost Mobile @myboostmobile.com
            Sprint @messaging.sprintpcs.com
            T-Mobile @tmomail.net
            US Cellular @email.uscc.net
            Verizion @vtext.com
            Virgin Mobile @vmobl.com


            It should be a simple matter of setting up where your Alpha app can send text messages using the built in email or using something like email_send() or email_send2()
            I have tested this with my phone and it works. I even sent a text message to myself with a pdf attached although I could not retrieve the pdf as I do not have a data plan with my smart phone.

            Don't know the persons carrier, you should be able to find it here if you have their phone number. https://www.carrierlookup.com/index.php
            As suggested, you can certainly send texts via email. We actually do that in some cases.
            Caveats:
            -You'll have to determine the carrier for each recipient and update if the recipient changes carriers.
            -If you send too many, you'll get blocked.
            -Some carriers will accept and deliver more than 160 characters, some will simply truncate.
            -Some carriers don't support it.
            -Delays can be significant.
            -Responses go to your email.
            -There is no conversation threading.
            -It sort of breaks the true SMS experience.

            The above is why we are working towards a more integrated approach.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Text Messages

              Originally posted by JohnFabrega View Post
              -It sort of breaks the true SMS experience.

              The above is why we are working towards a more integrated approach.
              "It sort of breaks the true SMS experience". What experience? Personally, I do not do text messages nor do I respond to them. I have always felt that if you are too lazy to do a voice call, then it is not that important.

              That said, sending a short text message to a customer who is text-addicted saying "your order is ready" may be something you would want to do. Having any replies come back to an email address would be preferred if you wanted easy to print out and prove anything said.

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Text Messages

                Voice calls can be impractical. I wrote an "integrated" SMS/Email alert system for things like Mailboxes, Delivery Services, etc. It lets the manager do a selection of the notice they want to send and then it automatically sends short pre-scripted messages either by SMS and/or Email depending on client configuration. See attached image. Prior to using this application, the manager would have to telephone each client. So this solution cuts down notification time from 3-4 minutes per client to just a few minutes to process ALL clients.
                Attached Files
                Steve Wood
                See my profile on IADN

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Text Messages

                  Originally posted by preston2 View Post
                  "It sort of breaks the true SMS experience". What experience? Personally, I do not do text messages nor do I respond to them. I have always felt that if you are too lazy to do a voice call, then it is not that important.

                  That said, sending a short text message to a customer who is text-addicted saying "your order is ready" may be something you would want to do. Having any replies come back to an email address would be preferred if you wanted easy to print out and prove anything said.
                  By 'the experience' I mean a conversational thread that shows both incoming and outgoing text messages from real phone numbers similarly to how they would look on a phone but on a desktop instead.

                  In the email to SMS scenario, you wouldn't get that conversational thread. If there was any kind of lengthy discussion, you'd have to find all of the associated emails and print all of them rather than simply printing the conversation. For a similar example to 'your order is ready' take a look at the video at: http://www.textbox.cc/repair-shops. For a look at an interface that could be somewhat replicated in Alpha, take a look at the demo video at http://www.textbox.cc/ (entire conversations can be printed from that app)

                  Edit: I realized after writing the above it was a different thread than I thought it was. There is another thread where we are talking about Alpha integration with our TextBox API. I just reviewed and see that the original question in this one was regarding sending SMS through GSM Modems. My apologies.
                  Last edited by JohnFabrega; 11-30-2015, 03:25 PM. Reason: clarification

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