What are the Business Communications Products Offered by EmailToVoice.Net?

What are the Business Communications Products Offered by EmailToVoice.Net?

We are an Application to Person (A2P) Solution for Critical Alerts and Business Communications

With EmailToVoice.Net, you can use any common email interface to send a phone or text message. We convert the content of an email to a voice phone call or a rich content SMS message.

In addition to using email to send the message through our service, you can also use a cURL command from within any program or Blockchain application.

The EmailToVoice.Net Suite of Products

Convert an Email into a Voice Phone Call

We dial the number in the TO field of the Email, which looks something like 5551234567@tts.message-service.org (international calls require a +CountryCode in front of the local number)

The recipient will receive a call on their phone. The text in the email is converted to a nice-sounding voice. If the recipient answers, they will hear the message right away. If they do not answer, the message will be left on their voice mail system. You can even leave a different message if the call goes to voice mail.

You can also send to a list of recipients. The recipients on the list can either be called all at once or called sequentially stopping when one acknowledges receipt of the call. This is called an Escalation List.

Convert an Email into a Text SMS Message

We convert the content of an email to a text message and deliver the message as an SMS.

Convert an Email into a Rich Communications SMS Message

We create a custom HTML Web page from the content of the email and deliver it through a simple SMS message, allowing viewing of the page on a cell phone from a simple tap. The message can also require a password to be entered before the rich content SMS message can be read by the recipient.

Convert an Email with a recorded voice attachment into a Voice Phone Call

We deliver a prerecorded voice to a phone.

Convert an Email into a FAX

We deliver the attachment of an email to a FAX number and use the content of the email as  the cover letter.

Other Useful Features

Parse the important part of the message converted to Voice or SMS

You can parse the email message by specifying where the important part of the text starts and ends. This eliminates the irrelevant parts of your email, such as images, the top Header part, and the bottom of the email, such as the Signature, leaving only the important part of the message. Set these parameters in the Customer Portal / My Details / Change Details. It is great to keep the message short and more succinct.

Set a window of time for delivering the messages

If you want to send alerts out to your staff as phone calls or SMS text messages only during a specific time of day, you can specify the times in Customer Portal / My Details / Email To Broadcast: Active Window.

In Summary

There are many advanced features of EmailToVoice.Net. These are merely a few of them. We love to share our many years of experience in this industry and provide easy no-code solutions for your workflow communications needs. Do not hesitate to Contact Us.

Author

Director at EmailToVoice.Net: CISSP – Solutions Architect for Industrial IoT Alerts and Business Communications. LinkedIn

Limit Messages Sent Through EmailToVoice.Net Based on a Time Span

Limit Messages Sent Through EmailToVoice.Net Based on a Time Span

Update February 4, 2024, (All Messages)

EmailToVoice.Net is a powerful communication tool that allows users to convert emails into voice messages or SMS messages. In a production environment, it can be very prudent to establish limits on the number of alert messages that can be sent within a set timeframe.

The situation that makes this feature useful is in the case of a catastrophic event. Sometimes, monitoring software will send alert messages out until the issue is resolved. EmailToVoice.Net provides a safeguard for excessive alert phone calls being made during a catastrophic event.

This feature applies to Text-To-Speech, SMS, Enterprise SMS (LinkInSMS), and Prerecorded messages.

Customer Portal Setting

This feature is available in the Customer Portal / My Details / EtoB – Send Limit cutoff . The customer can enter the number of messages that are acceptable within a selected timeframe.

Sending Limit cutoff

In Summary

There are many advanced features of EmailToVoice.Net. This is merely one of them. We love to share our many years of experience in this industry and provide easy no-code solutions for your workflow communications needs. Do not hesitate to Contact Us.

Author

Director at EmailToVoice.Net: CISSP – Solutions Architect for Industrial IoT Alerts and Business Communications. LinkedIn

Send a Voice Alert to a List of Recipients Without Adding a Tag to the Email Content

Send a Voice Alert to a List of Recipients Without Adding a Tag to the Email Content

+++ Updated May 30, 2023 +++

Users of EmailToVoice.Net are not always able to add a special Tag to the content of the email before the content is converted to voice and used as a voice phone call. That restriction is now solved through a special feature of EmailToVoice.Net.

Multiple Ways To Send To Multiple Recipients

EmailToVoice.Net can send a message to a phone using email and have the email content read to the recipient with a nice-sounding voice using Text-To-Speech. The destination used in the email is simply to have the TO field look something like 2145551234@tts.message-service.org.

To send the message to multiple recipients, the sender can merely send the message multiple times to different recipients. However, there are three other ways to send a message from EmailToVoice.Net to multiple recipients.

Multiple Destinations in the TO Field

Multiple destinations can be specified in the TO field by separating them with a “#”. IE;:
2145551234#2145551235#2145551236@tts.message-service.org
OR, multiple destinations can be entered as multiple full email addresses:
“2145551234@tts.message-service.org, 2145551235@tts.message-service.org”

NOTE: When stringing destinations in the TO field of the Email, there is standard general length restriction of about 64 characters for the TO field.

Multiple Destinations in the Email Content

Multiple Destinations can be In the body of the message in the following format:
<Numbers>
2145551234
2145551235
2145551236
</Numbers>

NOTE: The destination phone numbers are included in the body of the message. So, the TO field should be: msg@tts.message-service.org

Multiple Destinations Using a Pre-Loaded List

Multiple Destinations can be through pre-setup lists by using the format:
<Lists>
My First List Name
My Second List Name
</Lists>

NOTE: The destination phone numbers are included in the body of the message. So, the TO field should be: msg@tts.message-service.org

Creating Lists

EmailToVoice.Net continues to grow in features and functionality. On March 16th of 2020, we launched our new Customer Portal. The customer can see real time status of their jobs submitted through EmailToVoice.Net, change details in their Profile settings, create distribution lists, and much more.

Manage Personal Lists: The customer can set up distribution lists, which are then referenced by the LISTS tag in the content of the email for sending TTS or SMS messages to a group of recipients.

No Need for LIST Tag in Content

The List name can be designated in the TO field. For example, if a List has been created with the name nightshift, then the TO field would look like this:

list-nightshift@tts.message-service.org.

When the email is sent to our service, we will look for the List name nightshift in the Customer Portal profile of My Personal Lists. Our service will then use that List of recipients.

 

Considerations when creating the list in the Customer Portal:

  • The name of the list must be in lower case
  • The name of the list cannot have spaces or any special characters, like a dash or a plus sign or anything other than alphanumeric characters. Keep the name of the list short.
  • The reference field for each entry must be unique.
  • The reference field is sorted alphabetically when you designate the list as an ‘escalation’ list, so name the references something like ‘reference1, reference2, etc.’.

Escalation Lists Work, Too

Escalation Lists in EmailToVoice.Net are used to sequentially send a text-to-speech (TTS) message to a list of phone recipients from any business application. An alert notification needs action immediately. This may require the alert to be sent to more than one person to assure action is taken on the critical issue. EmailToVoice.Net provides the ability to send to a sequential list of people until one is reached. The feature of EmailToVoice.Net is called an Escalation List.

This feature will work with Lists setup as an Escalation List.

Works for all Communications

The examples above are using TTS. However, these multiple destination options are applicable for all of the communication methods available in EmailToVoice.Net. The exception is that escalation lists are only for TTS (Text to Speech). For instance, the tts can be replaced with sms, fax or voice, since EmailToVoice.Net can also send to SMS, FAX and send a pre-recorded voice message via an attached WAV file.

You can learn more at our Features Page. If you have any questions regarding these optional methods to specify recipients in EmailToVoice./Net, please Contact Us

 

Author

Director at EmailToVoice.Net: CISSP – Solutions Architect for Industrial IoT Alerts and Business Communications. LinkedIn
Blockchain Smart Contracts Require Application to Person Communications

Blockchain Smart Contracts Require Application to Person Communications

Blockchain applications need the ability to communicate with individuals. This can be everything from important alerts to sharing general information with a team. The challenge is to get the message out of a Blockchain application and deliver it to a human as a voice phone call or SMS message.

EmailToVoice.Net provides a cloud-based business communications service that can be invoked by a URL. This enables a Blockchain application to send voice phone calls and SMS messages using a cURL command.

Blockchain

Blockchain is quickly becoming integrated with all aspects of business in the form of Web 3.0 applications. Supply chain, finance, and health processes are developed in Blockchain environments using Smart Contracts, as explained in the article: Blockchain-enabled wireless communications: a new paradigm towards 6G

Empowered by its inherent properties such as transparency, anonymity, immutability, traceability and resiliency, blockchain can create trustworthy and secure environments in decentralized manners with low cost and enable a variety of innovative applications and services besides cryptocurrencies. Nowadays, blockchain is widely used in finance and many areas such as logistics, digital voting, tax regulation, copyright protection, health care, to name a few.

Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 Communications Requirements

Generally speaking, the traditional Web 2.0 applications easily send email messages. But, email is often not enough to get the attention of the recipient. So, EmailToVoice.Net was designed to allow traditional business applications to deliver data using a simple email interface. The TO field in the email specifies the recipient’s phone number. EmailToVoice.Net converts the content of the email to either a voice or an SMS message and is then delivered to a phone. Examples of the TO field are 5551231234@tts.message-service.org or 5551231234@sms.message-service.org.

However, Blockchain applications do not send emails as easily as traditional applications. To provide the same capability for Blockchain Web 3.0 applications, EmailToVoice.Net now provides a URL capability.

Blockchain programs can issue a cURL command that invokes EmailToVoice.Net and its A2P business communications services. The cURL command would be executed through protocols that provide off-chain communications. One example would be Chainlink, which is an oracle network that expands the capability of Smart Contracts by providing access to off-chain capabilities, like cURL commands. Chainlink has external adapters. There are templates to develop external adapters. One example would be Chainlink NodeJS External Adapter Template by Thomas.

Using cURL with EmailToVoice.Net

Emailtovoice.net converts a text message into a voice phone call or SMS message. The call can be sent to any phone in the world. A cURL command can invoke the capabilities of EmailToVoice.Net. The command can be a GET request or a POST.

A URL example for having a program make a voice phone call  using EmailToVoice.Net would look something like this:

    • Username: The user name created during the subscription to EmailToVoice.Net (Always preceded by etv/)
    • Password: The password used to sign on to the Customer Portal
    • JobType: Text-to-Speech or SMS
    • Message: The text message that will be converted based upon the JobType: For Text-to-speech, the text is converted to a voice and then played when the recipient answers or left on voicemail if the recipient does not answer. For SMS, the message is converted to an SMS and sent to the recipient’s phone
    • Recipients: the phone number of the recipient. If the number is in the USA or Canada, then the format would be 5551231234. For any number outside of the USA or Canada, specify the country code, like +615551234 or 0011615551231234. If you want more than one recipient, use the | as a separator, for example, 5551231234|5552343456
    • version: Always specify 2

How does EmailToVoice.Net work With Blockchain

EmailToVoice.net converts the content of an Email or a message in a cURL command into a Voice Phone Call or an SMS Text Message for Blockchain applications. We are an Application to Person (A2P) Solution for Critical Alerts and Business Communications. If you have any questions, please contact us. We love to share our experience in A2P business communications and expertise in Blockchain.

Author

Director at EmailToVoice.Net: CISSP – Solutions Architect for Industrial IoT Alerts and Business Communications. LinkedIn
Send Multi-Modal Business Communications Through the Customer Portal

Send Multi-Modal Business Communications Through the Customer Portal

EmailToVoice.Net provides a seamless way to make alert voice phone calls and to send rich content SMS messages. This is done by merely sending an email. However, it is important to not disregard how easy it is to send TTS, recorded Voice, and SMS messages using the Customer Portal in EmailToVoice.Net.

Customer Portal

QUICK SMS

You can send Quick SMS messages to a list of phone numbers by using the Customer Portal.

  • Step One: Enter the cell phone numbers that are to receive the message. The only field that must be filled in is the Mobile Number field.
  • Step Two: You can optionally enter an SMS reply number. This is for International (not USA or Canada) numbers. If you need an SMS reply number for the USA or Canada, Contact Us
  • Step Three: Enter your messages. Your SMS message can be a maximum of 1071 text characters. Messages between 160 and 306 characters will be charged as two messages; each extra 153 characters after that will be charged as an extra SMS message.

On the next screen, you can merely hit SUBMIT if you want the message to be sent out immediately. However, there are other options available for you to schedule the job to be released on a specific day and time.

 

 

 

Create Escalation or Sequential Lists – SMS, TTS, Recorded Voice, Email, and FAX

You are able to use the Customer Portal to set up lists. These lists can be simultaneous or sequential escalation lists. You can have the messages sent to all recipients in the list at effectively the same time. Or you click the ‘escalation list’ box and have the messages sent one at a time until a person answers and listens to the message for 10 seconds. The Escalation lists are for TTS and prerecorded voice messages.

 

 

 

 

Send to Lists SMS, TTS, Recorded Voice, Email, and FAX

You can send a new message broadcast to a predefined list in the Customer Portal. You will be guided through the setup step by step. The message can be SMS, TTS, Recorded Voice, Email, and FAX.

 

Features of the Customer Portal

The Customer Portal has many useful features for an enterprise to manage a no-code solution for business messaging. For instance, you can see the real-time status of jobs submitted through EmailToVoice.Net, change details in Customer Profile settings, create distribution lists, and much more.

Here is a quick summary of the capabilities of the EmailToVoice.Net Customer Portal

  • View All Jobs: The customer can view summary and detailed information on messages that have been sent through EmailToVoice.Net. Specific date ranges or a specific job number can be specified.
  • Manage Personal Lists: The customer can setup distribution lists, which are then referenced by the LISTS tag in the content of the email for sending TTS or SMS messages to a group of recipients.
  • New Broadcast: The customer can send a TTS, SMS or Email messages to one or more recipients directly from the Portal
  • Quick SMS: A customer can send a Quick SMS message, one-way or two way, to one or more recipients directly from the Portal
  • Manage Opt-Outs: The customer can specify a phone number that is never to be sent through the customer’s account. This is useful for phone numbers that have changed and should no longer be used. This is useful when an employee leaves the company and their personal cell phone number remains in lists.
  • My Details: The customer can change profile settings, such as company address, email address or main account phone number. This includes the customer’s account password. To learn more about the very useful fields in the profile, refer below.

More than Email To Voice

EmailToVoice.Net does more than send Voice and SMS messages via an email interface. You can use the Customer Portal to quickly send SMS messages or you can create Lists and use the Customer Portal to send email, Fax, SMS, TTS, and prerecorded Voice messages. Explore the Customer Portal and learn about the advanced capabilities of EmailToVoice.Net. Or just Contact US and let us know what you want to do. Our Solutions Architects will get on the phone with your project coordinator and work out all the details. We want you to be successful and we can help you achieve that.

Author

Director at EmailToVoice.Net: CISSP – Solutions Architect for Industrial IoT Alerts and Business Communications. LinkedIn