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xequte
7504 Posts |
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xequte
7504 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2009 : 02:05:36
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quote:
Is there another way for sending SMS messages? If I'm undestanding
Clickatell pricing (for US) it's $1,700 to sign-up, and $1,100 per month or $14,900 for the first year.
I thought SMS messages could be sent for free throug the web. (Am I mistaken?)
Is there a less costly solution?
Douggg
Hi Doug
The pricing you mention is only for shortcodes if you plan to receive text messages via Clickatell:
http://forums.clickatell.com/index.php?topic=7301.0
For sending text messages the charges should be similar to what your carrier offers. In the US this is a little less than 4c per message.
You should see the pricing wizard at:
http://www.clickatell.com/pricing/pricing_wizard.php
(Use the "SMS Gateway API" option)
Also note that you do not need to use Clickatell. We suggest them solely because their pricing is reasonable and in our testing we never had any problems with them.
However you can use any SMS service provider that offers an HTTP API. If you would like to use someone else let us know and we will help with the configuration.
I certainly doubt that anyone will allow you to send bulk SMS messages for free.
Nigel
Xequte Software
www.xequte.com
nigel@xequte.com
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xequte
7504 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2009 : 02:07:04
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Also, for the benefit of other customers, tell us more about why you went with TextAnywhere?
quote:
Right - textanywhere.
Basically the developers API they provide knocks socks off Clickatel (who I was with previously)
Also you can set it to reply to an email address, or a url post - so getting a reply from your text is better. The receipient doesn't actually send it to an email address, but instead replies to textanywhere and they forward it to your chosen email address. This way the receipients phone doesn't have to be email/wap enabled as it goes via a standard text reply. Replying to a url means you can put a webpage up and handle the url post yourself, storing the reply in a database etc. or handling it automatically.
You can also specify your own send originator just like clickatel used to before they locked it down.
Build in web apps on their website as well etc.
Hi Paul
Thanks for the info. I have created a configuration file for other customers who might want to use TextAnywhere (available by clicking the "Load Settings" link at the bottom of the SMS configuration dialog).
Nigel
Xequte Software
www.xequte.com
nigel@xequte.com
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xequte
7504 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2009 : 02:07:51
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quote:
Another HTTP method is Dynmark's e-txt HTTP Services.
The setup is similar to other providers and works with Mail List King
This service is very ideal for UK based users
You will need to first setup an e-txt account by going to http://www.e-txt.com and clicking on the register link.
The URL is:
http://www.services.dynmark.com/HttpServices/SendMessage.ashx?
Parameters:
user=MyEtxtUsername
password=MyEtxtPassword
to=%RECIPIENT%
text=%TEXT%
from=MyFrom
You can visit e-txt HTTP Services for more information
Thanks Chris!
I have added a configuration file for Dynmark to the install.
Nigel
Xequte Software
www.xequte.com
nigel@xequte.com
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xequte
7504 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2009 : 02:08:17
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Hi
For v8.12 we have made it much easier to use different SMS hosts. At the bottom of the SMS configuration dialog is a "Load Settings" link which allows you to select from various hosts (currently only the ones listed above, but let us know of any others we should add).
Nigel
Xequte Software
www.xequte.com
nigel@xequte.com
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Pjonz2008
New Zealand
29 Posts |
Posted - Oct 07 2009 : 13:17:19
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Nigel,
Have you checked out if I can I use Vodafone in NZ for this SMS service?
Cheers
Peter |
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xequte
7504 Posts |
Posted - Oct 08 2009 : 13:00:44
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Hi Peter
To ensure the SMS solution works anywhere it sends SMS texts via web delivery services. As far as I am aware Vodafone NZ does not offer any such service.
Nigel
Xequte Software
www.xequte.com
nigel@xequte.com
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Pjonz2008
New Zealand
29 Posts |
Posted - Oct 13 2009 : 11:54:53
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Nigel,
A few questions about MLK SMS message system.
I have joined up with Exetel from Sydney and sent a test message from MLK which worked fine.
1. From your documentation I understand that if I simply send an SMS to the numbers I have now (all New Zealand) IE 021XXXX, 027 XXX XXX etc your system will append a 64 or a +64 (which one?) to the number and I assume it will drop the preceding zero? Is this true?
In Exetel's manual it shows international numbers as 64 21xxxx without the preceding +. I have not checked with them yet to see whether this will work either way.
2. And I also assume from your documentation that any spaces, hyphens etc will be removed from the number?
I am trying to avoid having to dump all my clients into a CSV file and reformat all their mobile numbers. I also have some listed as +64 and just 64 preceding the number.
He help you can give on this matter would be much appreciated and have me up and running quickly.
Peter |
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xequte
7504 Posts |
Posted - Oct 13 2009 : 14:25:10
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Hi Peter
MLK automatically handles all of the number reformatting for you:
- Formatting characters such as dashes and spaces are removed
- If the number has a zero prefix it is dropped and assigned the country code prefix
- A leading plus for international numbers is included or dropped depending on your setting under View > Options, Sending SMS Settings
If you send me your SmsHost.ddt file (in the main window click Ctrl+Shift+I and choose the settings folder). I will check your settings.
Nigel
Xequte Software
www.xequte.com
nigel@xequte.com
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brettlee
USA
1 Posts |
Posted - Apr 01 2010 : 22:49:37
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nice......
TOM... |
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geb
South Africa
36 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2011 : 13:04:01
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I tried the textanywhere scrip provided but it does not send despite mlk saying it was successful. textanywhere said that they have written a new script sms url but that they doubt that it will work with the current configs that nigel provided can see . basically textanywhere is the way to go cos you can get free return sms to email - if only I can get it to work.
I then loaded clickatell script and sms went through promptly - no problem
had to register my mobile before i could get a return
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xequte
7504 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2011 : 20:17:33
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Hi
Apologies for the slow response on this. I saw that you had also emailed TextAnywhere support so I wanted to hold off to see their response first. I have had a number of other customers use MLK with TextAnywhere in the past so there should not be a technical reason for it failing assuming they have not changed things on their end.
I'll email you some debug logging info.
Nigel
Xequte Software
www.xequte.com
nigel@xequte.com
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geb
South Africa
36 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2011 : 03:05:19
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after painfully trying to get sms sent and replies received via via both Textanywhere and clickatell I found out that both don't integrate properly with the service providers or don't have detailed enough deals that allow deep api integration . Clickatell seems determined to sell a shortcode at Thousands
-----Original Message-----
From: Clickatell Coverage [mailto:coverage@clickatell.com]
Sent: 29 August 2011 02:44 AM
To: georgebester@gmail.com
Subject: [Clickatell #3818285]: MTN Sender ID not displaying
Dear George,
That is correct, You would need to get a short code if you want users(any network provider) to respond to the text messages.
Please feel free to contact us should you require additional assistance.
Kind Regards,
Aidan Mouton
Customer Service
support@clickatell.com
Please feel free to visit the Clickatell Support Centre at http://support.clickatell.com/ for Clickatell's product guides, FAQ's and our on-line resource centre.
Mobile Touch. Multiplied
www.clickatell.com
On Sun, 28 Aug 2011 14:10:10 +0200, gbester@realou.com wrote:
> Hi Gavin
>
>
> So you saying I can't send to either a Vodacom or 8ta number and
> expect that they can reply to me .
> And there is nothing you can do about this except sell me a sort code ?
> All other mobile operates yes I can send a sms and yes they can reply
> to me
Clickatell blames the operators saying some of them disallow alpha numeral codes however
I then tried bulksms.co.za and it was working both ways ie back to email in minutes
From: auto@smsportal.co.za [mailto:auto@smsportal.co.za]
Sent: 29 August 2011 11:07 AM
To: georgebester@gmail.com
Subject: Reply received
Hi George Bester, a reply was received:
From: 2779599xxxxxx
Incoming message: Helpspror reply test
Datetime: 29/08/2011 11:05:58
Sent message: This is test SMS from www.bulksmsportal.co.za For more infomation please contact us on 0861112021 or email sms@smsportal.co.za. (www.bulksmsportal.co.za)
Sent Datetime: 29/08/2011 11:04:40
Sent message group name:
Sent message group desc:
Number Value 1:
Number Value 2:
Number Value 3:
Number Value 4:
Number Value 5:
Number Value 6:
Kind Regards,
http://www.bulksmsportal.co.za
Hopefully Nigel can help with the API integration
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xequte
7504 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2011 : 22:28:42
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Hi George
I'm sorry but there have been a lot of back-and-forth emails regarding your sending issues with your SMS suppliers so have lost track of the current status.
If there is a particular failing with MLK's SMS sending, then please give me more specific details to investigate further. All the logs you have forwarded show that MLK has connected and sent the SMS details to your SMS sending host, which means that the failing is at their end rather than hours.
Also, FYI, as part of the v10.45 release last week we ran our usual testing regime which includes posting an SMS message via Clickatell and it worked as expected.
Nigel
Xequte Software
www.xequte.com
nigel@xequte.com
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geb
South Africa
36 Posts |
Posted - Aug 30 2011 : 00:26:51
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HI Nigel
Yes it seems much more complicated than it really is - until you have unfortunately had to do the testing like I have to do.
I would need to say to my customers that they should now have to phone me or visit my web site.
Any messages sent to new potential customers are by law required to have the option to opt out. I also need to be able to feed the new info to MLK - object of the exercise.
If I send a message to any of Vodaphones 10 m local users these customers don't have an ability to reply to this message ( for positive or negative responses ) because a random from no is generated each time for both Clickatell and for textanywhere. It is also not possible to send a reply back to my email by either company -
I was told by clickatell and I proved it in my test with Textanywhere.
I could not use dynmark as they would not take an international mobile no - (that I could see )
Clickatell told me its due to the Network operator not accepting alpha numerical codes see link above
Textanywhere did not know why i did not get a reply sms or did not get a reply to email.
When I tried to find out why Clickatell tells me that its because of Vodacom/ vodaphone and that I have to buy a short code at huge unnecessary expenses. see above email
Then I tried another larger company bulksms.co.za and it worked both ways first time - via manual send
Therefore clickatell is wrong - I put forward two possible reasons above.
You highly recommend Clickatell in you software and I must warn MLK users of the possible shortcomings.
This is precisely what Paul - the original poster said above
"You can also specify your own send originator just like clickatel used to before they locked it down."
If they could do it before and wont do it now then they are not being truthful about why they wont do it now .I think that they want to make more money from the service .- Bulksms can do it out of the box . Rather just say we wont do it at the same price not pretend its due to Network restrictions. Nothing wrong with wanting to make more money.
But MLK users need to know that there are more cost effective methods
Clickatell has this Alpha Numerical x in its quite a few of its global coverage network list so I need to warn your MLK customers about potential bottlenecks whe they want to send to a country and clickatell cries "Alpha Numerical"
I could be wrong as I can't test every network
Now it comes down to asking you to please help me set up bulksms.co.za for API access to MLK
all the development material is here
http://www.mymobileapi.com/HTTP.aspx
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xequte
7504 Posts |
Posted - Aug 30 2011 : 14:49:20
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Hi
I'll have an update out by the end of this week which will allow MLK to workaround one small quirk with the BulkSMS API.
Please let me know if it fails to resolve the problem.
Nigel
Xequte Software
www.xequte.com
nigel@xequte.com
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geb
South Africa
36 Posts |
Posted - Sep 25 2011 : 06:05:29
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Hi Nigel
You promised that you would have a solution to this problem nearly two weeks ago.
I never received a solution to this problem.
George |
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xequte
7504 Posts |
Posted - Sep 25 2011 : 22:18:54
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Hi George
This issue was fixed in v10.48 on September 2nd. I'm sorry that you did not receive my notification about it.
If it is not working as you would like please email me.
Nigel
Xequte Software
www.xequte.com
nigel@xequte.com
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geb
South Africa
36 Posts |
Posted - Sep 26 2011 : 02:40:51
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Hi Nigel
I had a problem in the MLK not saying its sucessfully sent the sms despite actually sending it. This was a problem as I then could not track sends and replies.
My Mistake for not checking for an update that was out.
I updated to update 10.51R and the bulksms portal works perfectly.
I received the sms and I also received the sms to email.
Thanks for offerring to refund my money if it did not work. It is reassuring to see Xequte stand by their products.
Neithyer clickatell ( without an expensive and unecessary shortcode) or textanywhere ( after ongoing tests to source local useable ( non scrambled) sms send number are able to get a reply email back to me . All their SMS are being sent via random SMS numbers so tracking replies is not possible .
Here is bulksmsportal.co.za reply email
Hi xxxxxxx, a reply was received:
From: 2782xxxxxxxxxxx
Incoming message: Reply test
Datetime: 26 Sep 2011 11:21:19
Sent message: This is a test SMS message sent from MailList King
Sent Datetime: 26 Sep 2011 11:02:33
Sent message group name:
Sent message group desc:
Number Value 1:
Number Value 2:
Number Value 3:
Number Value 4:
Number Value 5:
Number Value 6:
Number Value 7:
Number Value 8:
Number Value 9:
Number Value 10:
Kind Regards,
http://www.bulksmsportal.co.za
All I now have to do is set up the number values above and We are good to go
Thanks Nigel
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geb
South Africa
36 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2013 : 05:41:47
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I have been using the Sms service without shortcode and it has been working very well thanks
I do however sometimes get a unsubscribe opt out sms to email message from recipients that i need to process. Like one you would normally get from an optout via email However this time its to an mobile number.
The sms gateway intercepts this optout and sends me a unique sms telling me about the optout request. I think its a legal requirement and also a free service to the clients.
a sample message would be here
Sender:sms gateway email address
Receipient:To my registered email address
Subject:Reply received
*** Message forwarded at 2013-06-25 1:09:25 PM from MLK POP Account (Sender: auto@smsportal.co.za) ***
Hi xxxxxxx, a reply was received:
From: 123456789
Incoming message: Stop
Datetime: 25 Jun 2013 13:09:25
Sent message: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent Datetime: 25 Jun 2013 12:26:33
Sent message group name:
Sent message group desc:
Number Value 1:
Number Value 2:
Number Value 3:
Number Value 4:
Number Value 5:
Number Value 6:
Number Value 7:
Number Value 8:
Number Value 9:
Number Value 10:
Kind Regards,
http://cp.smsportal.co.za
My question is
How to I process the body of the message ie
"From: 123456789
Incoming message: Stop"
and not the header ie
"Sender:sms gateway email address
Receipient:To my registered email address
Subject:Reply received"
to act on the instructions to unsubscribe( based on a cell no ie 123456789) or update the group
thanks in advance |
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xequte
7504 Posts |
Posted - Sep 04 2013 : 01:57:10
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Hi
We need to add support to the web form processing functionality of MLK to support automatic subscribe/unsubscribe/bounce of mobile addresses.
Hopefully we can add this in an update not too far away.
Nigel
Xequte Software
www.xequte.com
nigel@xequte.com
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SMS Sending FAQ
