SMS Gateway for BRX

[MarkTTU]

I've been working with sending SMS messages from the BRX the last week. To get it going required setting up a server with an API that the BRX could talk to. As I was troubleshooting a few things this week I realized if someone else had already created a SMS service and all I had to do was subscribe and then send messages from the BRX to a server in the cloud I'd have happily done it. Would anyone else find this type of thing useful?

[Andrew S]

Check out Twilio. They have a great API and they've been very reliable for me.

Andrew.

[MarkTTU]

Check out Twilio. They have a great API and they've been very reliable for me.

Andrew.

I've used them. I was just thinking there could be something simpler and more geared towards PLC guys.

[Bolt]

Is it not as simple as setting up a Gmail account with an API password and sending SMS's to 15551234567@vtext.com?  That's what I've done successfully, but more successfully since the latest firmware updates.

Is that you?  I believe I have you to thank/blame for sending me down the rabbit hole that is all things PLC's.  I've done some great things with them in the last 10+ years, and it's all because you pushed me over the edge!

[MarkTTU]

The email thing works, but you have to know the carrier and if the user decides to switch carriers then you have to update things for the new carrier?s gateway service. Also the email gateways aren?t as fast as sending a native SMS. What I?m in the process of setting up will let our end users (non code guys) enter a cell number on a touch screen and get text alerts.

[Garyhlucas]

We do email and text messages through a C-more connected to cell modems on every job. A screen lets an operator enter email & text addresses and check a box whether they are available and get messages or off duty and don?t. Went cell modem because customers would tell us they?d give us internet access and we?d get it 3 months after we needed it!

[MarkTTU]

That makes sense. We run cell modems pretty much everywhere too, but they're really only to get us internet access. The API stuff I've been messing with is geared towards super simple and completely network agnostic... doesn't matter how you get your internet connection, as long as there is one it "just works" is what I'm aiming for.

[EDurako]

I have the same problem/request. I am currently sending an email to 2171234567@txt.att.net. The maintenance guys put their name and number into the the c-more, it stores the number in SS1 through SS6 and SS7 is the ?@txt.att.net? I then combine them in the email command and out it goes. Although I keep having random errors where it sends to the guys in SS1, SS2, and SS5. When I run tests with my manual C bit, everyone gets the message, when an actual alarm occurs, not everyone gets the message. I?ll upload my logic tomorrow and you guys can point out my newbie mistake. I thought maybe there was a character limit for the TO field in the email command so I split up the strings between it and the CC field. Still no luck. Can you explain more how you send messages via Twillo?

[MarkTTU]

Best off the cuff guess is you need to queue the alerts going out so that you send one, then after it completes sending you send the second, then the third, etc.

Are you using a BRX or one of the other Do-more variants?

[ADC Product Engineer]

What @markTTU said.  Sounds like you are triggering too fast.

[EDurako]

I am using the BRX, you guys were right. While fiddling around today, I got 370 text messages in 9 minutes. So I altered the logic.


Now I am using the FILTER output and I have also incorporated an accumulation timer

[MarkTTU]

I went ahead and put together what the code would look like in the PLC for this service I'm contemplating. The big question is would this be a marketable service or is everyone satisfied with doing the SMS stuff the way they've been doing it?

[Bolt]

I myself wouldn't pay for a service like that.  But, I'm fairly stable in the phone numbers I send it to.  I like OkiePC's idea in AD forum, maybe a simpler setup, just have selections for Verizon, ATT, Boost, etc, don't need all 80 nationwide carriers I think.

But, there are times were it would be handy to send an SMS to an "unknown" number, such as a third party dispatcher, etc.  But then again, email always works too.

[MarkTTU]

Thanks Bolt! That's the type of feedback I was needing.

[EDurako]

Quick extra question kinda related to this topic.

The help file says, "The To, Cc, and Bcc fields are each limited to 1024 characters. The Email addresses in these fields must be in the form of X@Y.Z. Multiple Email addresses can be entered in each of these three fields; separate each Email address with commas."

My code says, STRPRINT to SS8---- SS1 SS7 ", " SS2 SS7 ", " SS3 SS7

The email command uses SS8 in the To: field

The addresses are being cutoff at 64 characters including spaces not 1024 (see picture)

Is this a limitation of the email server or have I botched it somewhere? I'm guessing that SS8 has a character limit and thats where I have gone wrong.

Yup turns out SS8 is a short string limited at 64 characters. Time to try the SL that can go up to 256 characters.

Since I have already typed all this out, I'm going to post it. Maybe someone else can benefit from my blundering