Messaging Service Setup |
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These options are found in Maintenance / Text Messaging Setup / Messaging Service Setup.
Enable Text Messaging Functionality -- Of course this must be enabled for any of the texting functions to be activated.
Country code default -- This is the default/assumed country code for any phone number entered that doesn't have it entered explicitly -- if the phone number does not start with this code or the '+' sign, this will be added to the front of it). If you need to enter a number with a different country code, then you should always use the '+' prefix in front of it.
Minimum digits -- This is the minimum number digits that should be in a phone number to be considered valid for texting, excluding the default country code. (e.g. U.S. and Canada numbers are 10 digits without the country code).
Maximum digits -- This is the maximum number of digits that should be in a phone number to be considered valid for texting, including any country code that may be present (or if the default is added).
Messaging Service -- You must select one of the pre-programmed options listed here, or the "User-defined" option. Once the service is selected, additional fields will be shown that are applicable to that service. Refer to the sections below for details of each service. The URL for that service will also be shown so you can easily open their web site -- just click the blue link.
Note that the settings for each service are saved separately, so you can enter the credentials for multiple services and then easily switch back and forth.
Test -- once you have signed up with a service and entered the credentials, click the Test button to try it out. You will need to enter a phone number (usually you need to use the phone number you signed up with, or a special number they give you, during testing). You will either get a "sent successfully" response, or an error message.
Errors -- Each service has different possible errors, different formatting, etc. Campground Master will simply show the raw error information, usually in XML or JSON format. While most of it will look cryptic, just look for key words or phrases in the message that indicate the reason for the error, e.g. "Insufficient credit", "unverified number", "unknown account", etc. If the reason is not obvious, then our tech support may be able to help if you send a screen shot of the error, along with your database (see Help / E-mail database & logs to support), so we can check further settings. A more complete record of the communications is also stored in the Audit Trail, which may also help debug the issue.
IMPORTANT -- Please be aware that we cannot provide any support for the services themselves. It's up to your IT department to set up and manage accounts, perform whatever validation/authentication and API credential requests required, etc. We show what credentials are needed for Campground Master, but beyond that we cannot help with the navigation of their web sites or working with their service. We don't take any responsibility for the pricing, billing, support, or functionality of the services themselves.
Also note that some services may require that all numbers you want to send to be added separately as recipients through the web site. We have not investigated the details of this yet, but obviously that would be a major drawback. We welcome any feedback you have about a particular service.
Note that the API keys, etc needed as credentials are generally very long and cryptic, so be sure to use copy/paste from the service's web site. Do not try to type them manually!
Messaging Services
As mentioned previously, we leave it mostly up to you to research each one and make a choice. Some notes are included with some minimal information and a link to learn more about each one. Each one has some level of free trial so you can check it out.
ClickSend
This seems to be a fairly good service, and it allows you to add your own phone numbers (look for "Own numbers") and send to them during the 14-day free trial. They also have a variety of other business communications services you could use besides the SMS texting interface with Campground Master.
The credentials you will need to get from your account and enter in the Messaging Service Setup here are: Username (your login E-mail address) API key From (this appears to be optional, but could be filled in once you have a verified number through them)
Twilio
This appears to be one of the larger services, with many features besides the SMS texting interface. (Additional features are not supported through Campground Master, but you can use them through the Twilio website). As with most others, you would want to subscribe to your own phone number, and it appears to require some verification before sending texts to any real phone (there is a "virtual phone" on the web site you can use for testing.
The credentials you will need to get from your account and enter in the Messaging Service Setup here are: SID Token From (the phone number of your Twilio account)
Mobile-Text-Alerts
https://mobile-text-alerts.com
This is a fairly simple-looking service. Pricing could be more than others, but it's hard to compare since their model is different.
Only one credential is needed, the API Key, but it takes a day or so before it shows up on your account (and you need to request it on the bottom of their Settings page):
User-defined
This is a general-purpose selection that you might be able to use if you're using an SMS service API that's not one of the pre-programmed ones above. Once this is selected, a whole bunch of individual parameters are shown. You will likely need to work with tech support to figure out whether your SMS service can be supported and how the parameters need to be set up.
In case you are a developer trying to set it up yourself, note that the SMS Post path supports 4 replacement values that can be used to embed the other parameters in the Post path if needed: <SID>, <Key>, <To>, and <From>.
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