by Denis ONeil | Jul 22, 2021 | Enterprise SMS
EmailToVoice.Net can send Two-Way SMS messages in either simple text or rich content by just using Email.
Business applications and monitoring software need to send critical alerts and rich communications through SMS. Often, a response is required to ensure the recipient received the message or trigger another workflow action. EmailToVoice.Net provides the ability to send an SMS by using the email capability within Monitoring Software, CRM, ERP, or any enterprise business application.
Additionally, the recipient can reply to the SMS and the replied message is sent back to the Customer Portal and a designated email address. The authorized individual can review the replies on the Customer Portal or review the responses in the designated email address, which is collecting the replies.
SMS Reply Handling
Because the replies are collected in a designated email mailbox, no code solutions such as Microsoft Power Automate (Flow) can be used to evaluate the replies and act upon them accordingly.
Microsoft Power Automate and EmailToVoice.Net work well together. Microsoft Automate has email connectors that enhance business flows. These email connectors can easily act upon emails being sent from EmailToVoice.Net, such as the replies from two-way SMS messages. EmailToVoice.Net and products such as Automate integrate SMS communications with enterprise business flows. When Microsoft Power Automate detects an email message arriving in the designated email address, it will trigger an action such as a database update and/or an email to be sent back through to EmailToVoice.Net that will then generate a phone call or SMS to other recipients.
Two-Way SMS
The SMS can be set to 2-Way by adding the tag “<TwoWay>” anywhere in the email. If this is set, then the user can reply to the SMS, and an email with the reply contents will be sent to the email address set in the customer’s account profile. The email address to receive the replies can be set in the Customer Portal / My Details.
Alternatively, the tag “<TwoWayReplyAddress>” can be put in the email message when the SMS is sent through EmailToVoice.Net to set a designated email address to receive the replies for this specific event.
Sender ID
For One-way SMS, you will see the same Sender ID each time an SMS is received through EmailToVoice.Net. In the case of a Two-Way SMS, the Sender ID number will be chosen from a pool of long-code numbers so that we can track the replies. However, you have the option to purchase a LongCode for a nominal monthly fee that is added to your monthly charges. Then the Sender ID number will be unique to your organization.
Text or Rich Communications
EmailToVoice.Net can send either a simple SMS text message from any email interface or a Rich Communications SMS message as a link to a hosted web page automatically inserted into the SMS.
Sending formatted text messages for industrial communications can be done easily with just a simple email interface using EmailToVoice.Net. SMS Messaging is a reliable means to get important information to employees or business partners immediately. However, the limitations of SMS text messaging often keep it from being used in mission-critical business processes. Text messaging is limited by the lack of formatting and low text character limit, which is necessary to convey detailed information. MMS and RCS attempt to address this issue. However, they too have limitations that cause barriers to wide adoption for mission-critical applications.
EmailToVoice.Net provides the ability to send formatted data to a cell phone using SMS from monitoring software or business applications. Messages with the formatting requirements of an HTML Web Page can be automatically sent to just about any cell phone in the world as easily as sending an email. EmailToVoice.Net uses the LinkInSMS service to provide Enterprise SMS to its customers.
Enterprise SMS is a feature of EmailToVoice.Net, which creates a custom HTML Web page from your business email alert and then delivers it as a simple SMS message. For each SMS recipient, a custom web page is created and inserted in their SMS text message, allowing viewing of the page of HTML with a simple tap. This allows a single text message to communicate large amounts of formatted data.
To send an Enterprise Text message,
- the TO field merely needs to have the recipient’s phone number and specific email domain provided by EmailToVoice.Net.
- Our cloud-based messaging service will convert the email content into a custom web page and insert the link of the automatically created Web page into the text message.
- The recipient can then tap the link in the text message and see the entire email content formatted as a Web Page on their smartphone.
The Email Fields would look like this:
TO: 5551231234@linkinsms.message-service.org (The recipient’s cell phone – no preregistration required)
FROM: emailaddress@yourcompanydomain.com (Subscribed to EmailToVoice.Net)
SUBJECT: Anything (Used as a job name for reporting purposes)
The content of the email is converted to an HTML Web page. The Web page of data is hosted by our service and a link to the Web page is substituted into the outgoing SMS text message so that the recipient can easily view the data with a tap.
Features of Enterprise SMS
Enterprise SMS provided by EmailToVoice.Net is rich in features to meet any business requirement. Below are some examples of these features that can be set up in the Customer Details in the Customer Portal.
- You can add a Header and a Footer that will be used in all text messages from your account. For example, you can add a logo, an introductory message, disclaimers, and links using HTML
- You can specify a specific SMS Sender ID so the recipient can recognize the sender of the text message.
- You can enter a default email address for SMS replies. So, if the recipient replies to the text message, the reply will go to this email address. You can then alternatively use Microsoft Power Automate to continue a complex business workflow process without any coding. (Contact us for assistance in developing workflow processes)
There are many more features of the Enterprise SMS Messaging feature in EmailToVoice.Net. Let us know if you would like to learn more. Contact us. We love to share our experience in industrial communications, workflow, and alerts.
Author
Director at EmailToVoice.Net: CISSP – Solutions Architect for Industrial IoT Alerts and Business Communications.
LinkedIn
by Denis ONeil | Apr 30, 2021 | Emergency Alerts, Voice communications
SIEM critical alerts need to get immediate attention when triggered. Phone calls get people’s attention. A phone call is rare and loud.
SIEM is a class of products that combines security event management and security information management. SIEM technologies provide the analysis of log and event data together with security information management. Machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities within SIEM products are on the rise. Cloud services are also being developed for SIEM offerings.
People responsible for the issues are notified of the results of the threat monitoring, event correlation, and incident response. The critical alerts cannot be ignored. A multi-channel response must be used because of the importance of these issues. Voice phone calls must be part of that multi-channel alert. These SIEM services can send emails. But, an email to voice and SMS service needs to be implemented to achieve the multi-channel communications network. EmailToVoice.Net is a cloud-based multi-channel communications service that can be implemented with minimal effort and reasonable cost.
As stated by Mary Pratt in What is SIEM software? How it works and how to choose the right tool
The SIEM market has several dominant vendors based on worldwide sales, specifically IBM, Splunk and HPE. There are at least several more major players, namely Alert Logic, Intel, LogRhythm, ManageEngine, Micro Focus, Solar Winds, and Trustwave.
Implementing critical alerts delivered from SIEM products is a major effort. Sending a message from SIEM products to a phone requires specialized hardware and software solutions to be installed in the client’s central data center. However, a cloud-based communications solution such as EmailToVoice.Net makes this all as easy as sending an email. The EmailToVoice.Net service does the hard stuff. It converts the text of the email message into a genuine-sounding voice (Text to Speech), then dials the phone, handles voice mail, and much more. All of this is done without the need to install hardware or use APIs. There are not even any monthly fees.
People pay more attention to voice calls these days than email. A phone ringing gets the attention of the person that needs to be alerted in an emergency. The reason is that email has swamped us to the point we do not pay attention to them, anymore. A phone ringing still makes people pay attention. They are loud and rare.
How to send an Alert to a Phone
EmailToVoice.Net provides the ability to make a phone call using any email interface. This can be tested using a personal email mailbox. However, the production use of this capability is by utilizing the email capability within Alert Software, CRM, ERP or any enterprise application.
First, a user should subscribe to EmailToVoice.net. A free trial is available with a value of $4.95 USD allowing about 55 message units to be sent within a 28 day trial period. The user will be able to immediately make a phone call using their email by following the simple instructions below:
The email must be sent from the same email address as was specified during the free trial subscription process.
The TO field will specify the phone number to be dialed. The TO field would look something like 2145551783@tts.message-service.org. (if the number is not a USA or Canadian number, then the TO field would look something like +6155551243@tts.message-service.org) The number can be any phone number in the world, with some exceptions due to international regulations, and does not have to be preregistered.
The SUBJECT field can be anything brief. It is used for reporting.
The content of the email is converted to a pleasant-sounding voice.
That’s it. The EmalToVoice.net service will dial the number, play the voice rendition of the email content, handle voicemail, etc.
Extensive Features
There are many advanced features of EmailToVoice.Net. EmailToVoice.net can make a phone call, send an SMS, send 16MB of HTML data via SMS and even send a FAX. 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
by Denis ONeil | Apr 25, 2021 | How To, List Management
Customers of EmailToVoice.Net send alert phone calls or text messages to their employees. Sometimes, those employees leave the company or go on vacation. In these cases, the messages should be stopped permanently or temporarily. The most preferred method to stop calls from going to a specific phone number is to remove them from all lists. But, adding their number to the Opt Out List may be faster and more efficient.
The most expedient way to stop messages from being sent is to add the phone number to the account’s Opt Out List. The administrator can even set a time period.
Opt Out List
The Opt Out List is managed through the Customer Portal.
The administrator is provided with a list of message types on the OptOut Lists Management page. The choice should be made based upon what type of messages were being sent. The following can be used as a reference:
- Choose Phone if the message was sent to PhoneNumber@tts.message-service.org
- Choose Mobile if the message was sent to PhoneNumber@sms.message-service.org or PhoneNumber@linkinsms.message-service.org
- Chose FAX if the message was sent to PhoneNumber@fax.message-service.org
The OptOut List will work if you are sending messages individually or if you are using the different methods available in EmailToVoice.Net for multiple destinations. There are many ways to send to multiple users in a single message.
Using Lists in EmailToVoice.Net
To learn more about sending to multiple destinations, read our Blog Post “Three Ways to Send to Multiple Recipients Through EmailToVoice.Net“.
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 a 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>
Business Communications using EmailToVoice.Net
EmailToVoice.Net is rich in features and capabilities for your Business Communications needs.
Make a voice phone call from any email interface
We convert your email content to voice so the recipient of your choice receives an easy-to-understand voice message on their phone – plus many more valuable features. We do not require that the receiving phone number be registered with us. You can send a phone call from your email to any landline or cell phone. No software to install. No expensive complicated Apps. Nothing new to learn.
Send Rich content SMS messages from any email interface
EmailToVoice.Net provides the ability to send a large amount of formatted data (16MB) using LinkInSMS to a cell phone as an SMS from monitoring software or business applications. Messages with the formatting requirements of an HTML Web Page can be automatically sent to just about any cell phone in the world as easily as sending an email using simple SMS, which is available everywhere in the world.
Contact Us if you would like to learn more.
Author
Director at EmailToVoice.Net: CISSP – Solutions Architect for Industrial IoT Alerts and Business Communications.
LinkedIn
by Denis ONeil | Mar 25, 2021 | Escalation Lists, How To, List Management
Changes to distribution lists used for alerts and business communications are necessary when employees leave the company or change positions. However, sometimes an administrator of EmailToVoice.Net will get the following error message when trying to make a change to a List in EmailToVoice.Net.
Sorry, this list is currently locked and cannot get modified as it is in use for job nnnnnnnn
Updating a list that is currently in use by messaging jobs is easy. It merely entails
- downloading the list,
- making the changes,
- uploading the list under a new unique name,
- renaming the production list to something new,
- renaming the new list to the name of the production list.
Following are the steps in more detail
Login into the Customer Portal. Choose Manage Personal Lists in the menu on the left. Download the production list that needs to be updated
The downloaded file will be a comma-delimited file that can be updated in Microsoft Excel. Make the required changes to the downloaded file.
In the Customer Portal / Manage Personal Lists, click on Add List… Make the name of the list unique. Remember to click on the “This List is an escalation list” box if the recipients in the list are to be called in sequence until one answers. Learn more about our escalation list feature in our Blog Post “Escalation Lists Support Sequential Calling for Alerts in EmailToVoice.Net“
Import the updated comma-delimited file into the new list
Select Modify List Details and rename the old production list to something unique. Then click on the Modify List Details for the new list and name it the exact same name as the old production list.
Now, the updated list is the current production list.
You can learn more about List Management and the use of the Customer Portal in articles published in our Blog.
TIP: Alternative to Modifying the List
As an alternative to making a change to the list, you can in EmailToVoice.Net put the employee’s number that has left the company in the Opt-Out List. Then that number will never be called even though it is in distribution lists.
Business Communications is Critical to Effective Business Processes
EmailToVoice.Net makes it easy to implement mission-critical solutions for business communications. Sending a message from monitoring software or directly from an IoT device to a phone requires a specialized hardware and software solution to be installed in the client’s central data center. Connections to smart devices, CRM, PCS or ERP systems need to go through complex API’s or propriety software gateways. EmailToVoice.Net makes this all as easy as sending an email. The EmailToVoice.Net service does the hard stuff. It converts the text of the email message into a genuine-sounding voice (Text to Speech), then dials the phone, handles voice mail, and much more. All of this is done without the need to install hardware or use APIs. We also can facilitate the delivery of rich communications SMS messages with the need of RCS. Learn more in our article “Comparing Enterprise SMS using LinkInSMS to RCS and MMS”
There are many more features in EmailToVoice.Net. Let us know if you would like to learn more. Contact us. We love to share our experience in workflow processes, industrial communications, and alerts.
Author
Director at EmailToVoice.Net: CISSP – Solutions Architect for Industrial IoT Alerts and Business Communications.
LinkedIn
by Denis ONeil | Mar 19, 2021 | Escalation Lists, How To
Escalation Call Lists are needed when an emergency alert must be received and acted upon. EmailToVoice.Net provides the customer the ability to create a list of recipients that will be called sequentially until a person is reached and listens to the alert message.
We have added an additional feature to our Escalation List. The customer can now set a default amount of time that occurs between the sequential calls. The customer signs into the Customer Portal and goes to MY Details. The field is called ‘Escalation List Delay’. This field sets the time between each call that was not answered in an escalation list. The setting is the delay duration in minutes.
List Management
EmailToVoice.Net has long provided List Management so that a customer can send a message to multiple recipients, such as an email to a voice phone call. This is done in the Customer Portal under the menu item Manage Personal Lists.
Escalation Lists are a feature of the List Management capability in EmailToVoice.Net.
Escalation Lists are used to sequentially send a text-to-speech (TTS) message to a list of phone recipients. The messages are sent one at a time until a person answers or takes an action to accept the call. The acceptance of the call is based upon specific criteria set by the administrator that created the list. This is unlike the standard list type, where the message is sent to all the recipients at one time.
The purpose of an escalation list is to find a recipient who can act on the message. Examples of such a message might be:
- Perform an urgent maintenance job for a piece of equipment that has failed
- Fill a shift vacancy for someone who has called in sick
- Get a courier to urgently pick up a package and deliver it
Send a Message to an Escalation List
You send your TTS message using this list in EmailToVoice.Net. For example,
- send the email message TO dmy@tts.message-service.org
- in the body of your message, include:
<Lists>*My New Escalation List Name*</Lists> (* * replace with your list name)
The message must be picked up (not by voice mail) and listened to for at least 10 seconds, otherwise, the next recipient in the list is called. Once someone listens to the message for the required length of time, the job stops there.
If you send a two-way TTS, the recipient must press 1 on the phone’s Dialpad to accept the message. Otherwise, the next recipient in the list is called. In this case, it doesn’t matter how long the person has listened to the message. Making a TTS message a Two Way is done by merely adding the tag <TwoWay> on a separate line in the content of the email.
More Features
EmailToVoice.Net is rich in features while being simple and effective to use for business communications and alerts. We transform an email message into a phone call or enterprise Text Message with no need to program APIs or install any hardware or software. You can send a voice phone call (TTS), Enterprise Text SMS, FAX or prerecorded Voice Message from any email program interface through your monitoring software, CRM, or Dispatch System. Contact Us and let us assist you in meeting your mission-critical business communications needs.
Author
Director at EmailToVoice.Net: CISSP – Solutions Architect for Industrial IoT Alerts and Business Communications.
LinkedIn
