EasySMS Service



Block Diagram


SMTP / POP3 Integration

The EasySMS Service has an integrated SMTP and POP3 Server. This allows for submission of outgoing sms’s and reception of incoming sms’s. The SMTP & POP3 Server can be configured in the Service INI file. The simplest way of integration is from Microsoft Outlook.

The EasySMS Service will forward the text submitted in the SMTP request to the sms recipient. In order to determine the sms number for the outgoing sms, the EasySMS Service will search the contact database for a contact with an email address that matches the email address submitted with the SMTP request. If the contact is found the sms is submitted with the contacts cellular number. If the contact is not found, the POP3 server responds with an error email to alert the user of submission failure. The POP3 server will also respond with an error email in the event that a blacklisted recipient is specified.

Incoming sms’s that are delivered to Outlook via the POP3 Server are removed from the users SMS Inbox.

Bulk SMS’s can also be submitted via the SMTP Server by attaching the sms file to the email. In this case, the text in the email is ignored. Please refer to the section on sms file formats.

To configure Microsoft Outlook to connect to the EasySMS Service, do the following:

  • Create a new POP3 account.
  • Setup the POP3 and SMTP addresses to the name of the PC on which the EasySMS Service is installed. If the default smtp/pop3 port are not used, the ports will also need to be specified.
  • Setup the account username and details as per the required EasySMS Service users details.

Please note that the EasySMS Service only supports email bodies in plain text.

 
 

HTTP Integration

 

SMS’s can be submitted to the system utilizing HTTP gets. The sms is submitted in the following manner:

 http://server:port/httprec.exe?username=<USER>&password=<PSWD>&from=<FROM>&to=<TO>&text=<TEXT>&refid=<REFID>

 Where

  • <USER> is the EasySMS Service user
  • <PSWD> is the EasySMS Service user’s password
  • <FROM> is the EasySMS Service user’s number (this is configured in the EasySMS Service)
  • <TO> is recipients cellular number
  • <TEXT> is sms text
  • <REFID> is the sms reference

 The EasySMS Service will respond with a response indicating success or failure

FTP Integration

The EasySMS Service has an integrated FTP Server. This allows for submission of outgoing sms’s or the import of contacts. The FTP Server can be configured in the Service INI file.

The following procedure must be followed when submitting sms’s via the FTP Server.

  •  Connect to the FTP Server using the PC name and configured FTP Server port.
  •  Logon with a valid easySMS Service username and password combination.
  • PUT the sms file.
  •  Rename the sms file to any chosen name. The rename triggers the sms submission.
  •  Logoff from the FTP session.

 Please refer to the section on sms file formats.

The following procedure must be followed when submitting a contact import file.

  • Connect to the FTP Server using the PC name and configured FTP Server port.
  • Logon with a valid easySMS Service username and password combination.
  • Change directory to the Contact sub-folder (ie. type in ‘cd Contact’ and hit enter)
  •  PUT the sms file.
  •  Rename the sms file to any chosen name. The rename triggers the sms submission.
  •  Logoff from the FTP session.

 Please refer to the section on contact file formats.

CSV Integration

The EasySMS Service will import both sms and contact information via comma delimited files.

For Contact Import the contact file must be placed in the contact import directory. The directory is configurable in the Service INI file. The default directory is c:\program files\EasySMS Service\Import\Contact. Please refer to the section on contact file formats.

For SMS Import the import file must be placed in either the FTP or the HTTP import directory. The directories are configurable in the Service INI file. The default directories are c:\program files\EasySMS Service\Import\FTP and c:\program files\EasySMS Service\Import\HTTP. Sms import files that are place in the FTP directory will be sent using FTP and files placed in the HTTP directory will be sent using HTTP. Please refer to the section on sms file formats.

Incoming sms’s and delivery reports are placed in the directory c:\program files\EasySMS Service\Import\INC. The directory may be changed in the Service INI file.

Socket Integration

The EasySMS Service has an integrated Socket Server. The default port is 3010 but may be changed in the Service INI file. Sms’s may be submitted via the socket. The following string must be used when submitting sms’s.

 <USER>, <PASSWORD>,<SEND METHOD>,<TO>,<REFID>,<TEXT>|

 where

  • <USER> is the EasySMS Service user
  • <PSWD> is the EasySMS Service user’s password
  • <SEND METHOD> is 0 for HTTP and 1 for FTP
  • <TO> is recipients cellular number
  • <REFID> is the sms reference
  • <TEXT> is sms text

Note that the | character must follow each sms in the submit string.

 

DLL Plugins

The EasySMS Service operation can be customized using standardized plugins. The EasySMS Service can execute these plugins once a day or when incoming sms’s are received.

These plugins can be used to perform both sms and contact processing providing useful functions such as:

  • SMS auto-responders
  • Contact synchronization with other applications.
  • Automated sms submission and delivery
  • Automatic ‘unsubscribe’ or blacklist plugins

 
Contact Dev Squared Designs should you wish to utilise EasySMS Service Plugins.


Contact File Format

Contact files submitted via the WebServer or FTP have the following format:

Title,First Name,Last Name, Mobile Phone,E-mail Address
Mr,Peter,Fredson, 0824331042,reg@careersit.co.za
…..

 Contact files placed in the import directory must have the following format:

[BOF]
username:Admin
password:1234
share:0
Title,First Name,Last Name, Mobile Phone,E-mail Address
Mr,Peter,Fredson, 0824331042,reg@careersit.co.za
……
[EOF]

The username and password must be a valid EasySMS Service username and password.

The Share value determines whether the contact is shared within the users user-group.

Import files conform to the standard Windows address book CSV format. The EasySMS Service Contact database is completely configurable. The system is installed with the following default fields: 

  • Firstname
  • Lastname
  • Reference
  • Cellular Number
  • Email Address
  • Shared flag

 
The EasySMS Service allows for custom field to be added to the database specific to the end users requirements. The following field types can be defined for any new fields required.

  • Integer
  • Float
  • String
  • String List (with defined string options)
  • Boolean
  • Date / Time

When adding importing data into the new field, the import header must be defined. For example, when adding a birthday field, the import header could be defined as Birthday. When importing with the new field defined, the following file format would then be used.

Title,First Name,Last Name, Mobile Phone,E-mail Address,Birthday
Mr,Peter,Fredson, 0824331042,reg@careersit.co.za,01/04/1961
…..


Custom contact fields can be added using the easySMS Service Wizard.

SMS File Format

SMS files submitted via the WebServer, SMTP or FTP have the following line format:

<NUMBER>|<TEXT>|<REFID>|<SCHEDULE>|<VALIDITY>
…….

SMS files placed in the import directory must have the following format:

[BOF]
username:Admin
password:1234
<NUMBER>|<TEXT>|<REFID>|<SCHEDULE>|<VALIDITY>|
…...
[EOF]

For Example:

[BOF]
username:Admin
password:1234
0827867106|Hi from CSV import.|FUN4660129|200801301130|2d|
[EOF]

Where:

  • <TO> is the sms recipient number
  • <TEXT> is the sms text
  • <REFID> is the sms reference
  • <SCHEDULE> is the sms send schedule date time (yyyymmddhhnn)
    • yyyy = year
    • mm = month
    • dd = day
    • hh = hour
    • nn = minute
  • <VALIDITY> sets the expiry time for the sms and can be set to a maximum of 48 hours or 2 days (Eg. 48h and  2d)
    • h = hours
    • d = days