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From the Pager Alert Tab select Add or Modify pager, select SMS/TAP as the destination type.

SMS/Cell/Mobile Device Notification Configuration

IPSentry SMS Mobile (TAP/Script) Configuration

The Alpha (TAP/SMS)  configuration provides you with the ability to send textual (and meaningful) messages to pagers, cell phones, and other mobile devices designed to receive small text messages via TAP or other dialup protocol.

Before configuring SMS alerts, you will need to get the following information from your mobile device service.

  • TAP Compliant
    Make sure that your provider offers a TAP compliant dialup terminal for sending alphanumeric messages. If they are not TAP compliant, this feature will not work without customized scripting - and even then, it is questionable, depending on the requirements of the paging service. You may need to look into email alpha paging as an alternative.
     
  • Get the TAP Paging Terminal Number
    Your provider needs to give you the phone number that will allow a connection with their paging service. This number is seldom, if ever, the same number as your mobile device.  Do not enter the number of your cell phone in the TAP Terminal #.  To insure that you have received a TAP terminal number, simply dial the number on a standard phone and you should receive a modem handshake signal - nothing else (well, maybe a ring before it picks up or a busy...).  If you receive voice message, answering system or anything else - the number is invalid and you will not be connecting to a TAP terminal.
     
  • Confirm the Paging Terminal Settings
    Make sure that you have the correct baud rate or modem connect speed to use when connecting. This is normally 1200 or 2400 bps. Very seldom is the speed requirement above this.  Some systems may allow a higher speed, but very few require it.

    Make sure that you have the correct data settings (E71 is standard but may be N81).
     
  • Confirm your Pager ID
    The Pager ID you will use can vary greatly among various providers. You may be required to use anything from your full actual pager number, (area+prefix+suffix), a PIN number totally unrelated to your mobile device, or just a part of your mobile device number.

    For example, locally I was originally required to use the last 7 digits of my pager number. After a few months of successful pages, the messages were getting lost. After speaking to 5 different people at my cell phone company, I found out that I now had to use the last 7 digits of a special PIN (not to mention that the alpha dialup number had also changed - but that's another story).

    The accuracy of the information provided will ultimately depend on the quality of the support person with which you speak.
     
  • Confirm Password requirements.
    Fortunately, very few providers require a password entry for sending the message. Of those that do, they will most likely emphasize this fact while discussing the configuration.
     
  • Maximum Message Lengths
    The default of 80 characters per message was in place due to the cost of sending messages and the amount of data being processed. In most cases, a message length of 255 characters and greater is no big deal for most mobile providers. Just make sure that you know what the maximum message size is and that you enter that value.
     
  • Mention IPSentry
    While support persons may not have heard of IPSentry (or myriad other paging packages available). Mentioning IPSentry may enhance the accuracy the results due to the fact that your paging company is in the business of providing a timely and efficient service to their customers. If they can quickly provide you with the information required for use with IPSentry in a timely and expedient way, they will do so.
     
  • Let us know about the service configuration.
    We are building a database of wireless device services and their requirements for sending pages integrated with IPSentry. Once you have configured IPSentry to function with your provider, please feel free to send us a report of any problems you encountered, and possibly how they were solved - this will help us to provide more efficient support to other customers who might not be able to work out the problems that you have already solved.

    Although the link is not yet available, this database will be used to post information regarding pager services and configuration details on our site.

TAP Terminal #
Enter the phone number of your paging service in this field.
Remember, this is the TAP Terminal number to which your modem will establish a data connection for the transmission of your pager message.
Please read above. 

TAPI Device Considerations
When setting the "Use TAPI Device" option, pay close attention to the format of the entry. Ideally, the phone number entered in this field should reflect the properly formatted phone number for your locale. e.g.: North America: +c (aaa) ppp-ssss Where c=country code, a=area code, p=prefix, s=suffix .

Any settings that have been applied to special dialing rules for the location selected under Modem/Port Settings tab will be utilized when this number is dialed.

Direct to COM port Considerations
When using Direct to Com, the contents of this field are sent AS-IS to the communications port immediately following the AT command found in the Dial String field under the Modem/Port Settings tab. No conversion is performed on the contents of this field.

If you are required to dial a 9 for an outside line, you will need to specify that in this field. Similarly, if you are required to use an accounting code after dialing, that too will need to be specified.

An example of dialing 9 for an outside line and an accounting code 2 seconds after dialing the number would result in the Dial Number being set to: 9,5551212,,999
This also assumes that the modem considers a comma to be a one second delay. On some modems, it may be considered a 2 second delay and on others more or less. You will need to consult your modem AT Command settings reference to insure that the modem is configured properly.

What's this TAPI: (null) message?
You will notice at the bottom of the pager configuration window a box that contains either TAPI: (null) or TAPI: (+1 (xxx) xxx-xxxx) or another phone number.

The purpose of this field is to show you that the values you have entered in the dialing fields will result in an accurate dialing of the number.

TAPI: (null) simply means that if IPSentry were to attempt a page through a TAPI device with the settings you have entered, no number would be dialed. This can be due to an invalid phone number, invalid pager ID, invalid custom code. This can even be due to the length of the dialing string being too long.

The most common problem is the invalid entry of the Dial Number field. Try entering the number in international format as c-aaa-ppp-ssss, ppp-ssss, or as noted above +c (aaa) ppp-ssss.

This is ONLY relevant when you have selected "Use TAPI Device". If the message persists after editing the various fields try using the "Direct to COM" settings since the requirements set forth in the configuration may not be able to be handled by TAPI dialing commands. (Usually associated to numeric pager settings)

SMS Device #
This field will vary depending on your mobile service requirements. (See notations above).
The SMS Device # may be your actual device phone number or a part of it, or it may just be a PIN.   You will need to contact your mobile device provider for details on this value.

Connect Timeout
This field represents the number of seconds IPSentry should wait for a successful connection. We recommend a value between 45 and 60 seconds.  Don't set the timeout to something like 4 or 5 seconds.  The modem has to dial, ring, handshake, connect...   this WILL NOT happen in 4 or 5 seconds on standard modem connection.  If you se this value to low, you won't get the message (rather, you will get an error) and you will wonder why it isn't working...

Error Retry Count
If the notification fails, you can specify how many times IPSentry should retry the SMS alert before giving up and continuing on with other alerts and monitoring tasks.  This value represents the number of RETRIES that will be attempted such that a value of zero (0) will signify that no retry to deliver the pager notification should be attempted.

Password
If your paging service requires a password to send text messages, you will need to enter that value here.  In most cases, no password is required and this field can remain blank.

Max Length
Some mobile services limit the size of a message that can be sent to a mobile device. Due to the fact that a message that exceeds this length may be rejected by the services SMS system, IPSentry first truncates the message to insure that at least the first (n) characters are sent on the alert. It is better to receive part of a failure alert than no alert at all. Again, check with your paging service to verify the maximum message length that they will transmit. 

We recommend keeping the messages in this area brief with the most important information contained in the first part of the message.

Note: This is also useful for services that charge a fee for long messages allowing you to limit costs by keeping messages under this limit.

Force Uppercase
Checking this option will cause the entire message to be converted to upper case. Some SMS systems have been found to convert lowercase values to special characters or simply ignore them completely. This setting provides you with the workaround as well as a means to send messages to mobile devices that only support upper case letters.

Message
Enter the message you wish to send when this alert is triggered. All IPSentry Key Words used in this field will be translated.

Script File
Please see Cell/Pager Scripting .

 



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