by Denis ONeil | Aug 17, 2020 | How To, Product Feature
EmailToVoice.Net has the ability to designate the beginning and the end of a voice or text message sent using email. This is valuable when you want to send only the pertinent information in your alerts and mission-critical messages.
Send Voice and Text via Email
EmailToVoice.Net provides the ability to make a phone call or send an enterprise text message by merely using any email capability. This is a requirement for mission-critical processes in many industries. Our customers can send alerts directly from monitoring software, like Vaisala/viewLinc, ServiceNow, Nagios, SolarWinds, and more. If the alert message is concise and complete, then the complete message can be converted and delivered to the recipient as a voice phone call or text message without change.
However, there are situations when our customer has information in the content of the email that does not need to be converted to a voice message (TTS) or SMS message.
Examples When Email Parsing Is Desired
Food Delivery Services
A person may order food from a web site which creates a Delivery Order form. That Order form may need to be sent to the delivery person or the restaurant via a voice phone call or a text message. The Delivery Order form will often have information that does not need to be converted to voice or a text message. EmailToVoice.Net allows our customers to specify, at the account level, the characters that designate the beginning and the end of the message that needs to be delivered by voice or text message.
Industrial Device Alerts
Industrial IoT (Internet of Things) devices are generally out in the field. When a monitoring service detects a failure or scheduled maintenance, an alert is sent to the Service department. The alert can also be sent directly to the Field Repair person. The alert may contain information that does not need to be converted. Our customers can merely specify the characters that identify the beginning and the end of an alert message that needs to be converted to voice or text.
Important Email Messages
Emails do not always get the attention that is required for important messages. Most of us are overloaded with email messages. So, to get people’s attention, companies will send a voice phone call or text SMS message. However, the original email will often times have an Email Signature that is not necessary for other forms of communication. Or sometimes the email is forwarded and that creates extra header information that does not need to be converted to voice or text. EmailToVoice.Net provides the ability for our enterprise customers to eliminate the top and bottom portion of the email before conversion to voice or text occurs. Then when the message is played over the phone, only the important part of the message is heard by the recipient. The same occurs for the person receiving the important Email message in text across the SMS channel.
The above three examples are only a few of many where this feature of EmailToVoice is so valuable. The recipient of alerts and other mission-critical information should be hearing or reading only that which is of the utmost importance.
How To Enter the Beginning and End of a Message
Change My Details Account Information
The customer can designate the beginning and end of all messages by logging into the Customer Portal and then going to My Details / Change My Details. The fields in the account details are
Email to Broadcast-Start of Message Text:
Email to Broadcast-End of Message Text:
There is an additional capability that is extremely useful. The customer can specify if the text designated as the Start of the Message is to be included in the text of the outgoing message. This is a checkbox. See the Customer’s “My Details” section below:
Enter Tags into the Message
You can also enter the “Begin Message” and “End Message” tags directly into the email message to control what is converted to voice or text.
Start message indicators
Instead of starting the outgoing message content at the beginning of the email, there are methods of skipping the start of the email and starting the relevant message further
down.
1. A line containing just the tag “<Begin Message>” can be included in the email, and the
outgoing content will start on the line AFTER this.
2. If the user has the option “Start of message text” set, then the outgoing content will
start where this text is found (including the text itself)
End message indicators
The end of a text message to be sent can be indicated in a number of ways:
1. A line containing just the tag “<End Message>” can be included in the message.
2. A blank line followed by “– ” (two plain ascii dashes and a space) which must then be on
a line by itself
3. Four empty lines
4. The text entered in the users “End of Message Text” configuration field
Alternatives for More Detailed Parsing
Our customers can choose to do more elaborate parsing of the email before sending the message through our service for conversion to voice or text. There are many Email Parsing services available. In the past, we have written about Microsoft’s Power Automate as one example. These email parsing services provide the customer with the ability to extract and reformat information before being sent through our Email to phone call cloud service for conversion and delivery.
Let Us Help
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.
by Denis ONeil | May 12, 2020 | How To
Microsoft Flow works well with EmailToVoice.Net. And now, Microsoft has made licensing changes that make Microsoft Flow even more convenient for routing and parsing emails while EmailToVoice.Net converts the emails into voice phone calls.
As recently announced by Microsoft, Office 365 is now Microsoft 365. Included in that change, Microsoft Flow is now available in most Microsoft 365 subscriptions.
Microsoft Flow and EmailToVoice.Net are great companions. Microsoft Flow has email connectors that enhance business flows. These email connectors can seamlessly invoke the abilities of EmailToVoice.Net. EmailToVoice.Net provides the ability to integrate Text to Speech and SMS communications with enterprise business flows.
Customer Service Scenario
To provide an example of how Microsoft Flow and EmailToVoice.Net can work together, the following is an example of sending a voice message to customer service staff when an email arrives from the enterprise’s customer. The prerequisites for this example are a subscription to EmailToVoice.Net (can be a free trial) and a paid subscription to Microsoft 365. This example uses the GMAIL connector. Microsoft Flow has many connectors.
When Microsoft Flow detects an email message arriving in the customer service general email address Microsoft Flow will trigger an email to be sent (forwarded) to EmailToVoice.Net that will then generate a phone call to the customer service representative.
To set up the Microsoft Flow script, sign into your Microsoft 365 Account.
Images below are from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365 Updated versions may change the views.
Select All Apps
Select Flow
Go to Connectors and connect to Gmail
Select Trigger
In this example, the trigger will be a new email coming into the customer service email mailbox from a customer.
Choose the “Forward Gmails that meet a certain criteria” action for this example. But there are many templates and you can also just choose to create your own without using a template.
Provide Assurance to Microsoft Flow that you own the email account
Sign-in to the Gmail account that will receive the alerts that need to be forwarded to EmailToVoice.Net, as Microsoft Flow requests you to do.
Set the Flow
This is where you specify which emails are entering your email mailbox that are to be forwarded to the EmailToVoice.Net.
Set Flow Part 1
The From criteria specifies the customer service email address that will receive the customer’s email message.
Set Flow Part 2
Set the SEND criteria. The TO field should be like: nnnnnnnnnn@TTS.MESSAGE-SERVICE.ORG For more information, refer to How Email to Voice Works
Conclusion
When a message comes in from a customer to the customer service email address, a Microsoft Trigger will occur, which will forward that message to EmailToVoice.Net from your email address. EmailToVoice.Net will convert the content of the email to a nice sounding voice, dial the phone number, etc. Learn more at EmailToVoice.Net
Additional Considerations
The Subject Field of the message being forwarded to EmailToVoice.Net for conversion to a voice can be preset in Microsoft Flow. The Subject field can then be optionally read as part of the message to the customer service representative by selecting the following setting in the Customer Portal.
Customer Portal / My Details / Email To Broadcast Subject Field Behaviour
The number of characters of the email being sent to EmailToVoice.Net can optionally be limited by selecting the setting in the Customer Portal.
Customer Portal / My Details / TTS character limit
Additionally, a Header Message can optionally be set in the EmailToVoice.Net account for every message. The Header message will be converted to voice and read every time at the beginning of every voice message.
Customer Portal / My Details / TTS Message Prefix
How EmailtoVoice.Net works
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 an SMS message with no need to program APIs or install any hardware or software.
For making a voice phone call, you merely make the TO field in the Email you are sending to look 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 an SMS, FAX or prerecorded Voice Message from an email program interface, like from an application, Internet of Things device (IoT / M2M), or through your CRM and Dispatch System.
Contact Us if we can provide further assistance in helping you meet your business communications requirements.
by Denis ONeil | Apr 2, 2020 | Supply Chain
Supply Chain communication is critical to the success of the Supply chain and its stakeholders. The importance of effective communications for internal stakeholders and external suppliers cannot be overstated. An enterprise must have a well-planned communication strategy to ensure the resilience of the Supply Chain.
As stated in The Stream by River Logic
Organize a Communication Chain
A chain of communication is as straightforward as it sounds, but it is important to establish the expected flow of information within a business. The chain can be as simple as the chain of command, but all members must understand what is expected of them when they receive a message — including what messages should be forwarded, who they should be forwarded to, and how they should be delivered.
As part of a Supply Chain communication plan, multiple channels and methods should be taken into consideration,. As an example, Social Networks should be explored as a ubiquitous alternative in the exceptional case of normal communication channels being interrupted during the time of a crisis. The resilience and variety of Social Networks is an excellent complement to ensuring the resilience of a Global Supply Chain. During recent global catastrophes, we have seen Social Media technologies effectively used in grassroots disaster response. These successful grassroots efforts have brought the value of global social networks to the attention of governments and global enterprises.
Effective Voice Phone Call
An additional communication channel is a voice phone call. This is an effective communication channel in regular Supply Chain processes because phone calls get the participant’s attention. SMS text messaging can also be an effective method of alerts or regular dissemination of timely information.
The challenge to incorporating a voice phone call as part of the regular Supply Chain processes is the cost and effort to have business applications integrate with PSTN phone communications.
In the past, implementation could be a major effort. Sending a message from an application to a phone required specialized hardware and software to be installed. Connections to CRM, PCS or ERP systems were through complex APIs or software gateways.
Providing a voice phone call as integrated communications channels is now easy. With our cloud messaging service called EmailtoVoice.net, all that is needed to send a voice message from an application is the ability to send an email. Email communication is common in enterprise applications; and also can be found in many IoT devices.
EmailToVoice.Net can make a phone call as easy as sending an email. Mission-critical processes that exist in all stages of the Supply Chain already have an email capability.
How EmailtoVoice.Net works
We transform an email message into a phone call.
You make the TO field in the Email you are sending to look 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 an SMS, FAX or prerecorded Voice Message from an email program interface, like from an application, Internet of Things device (IoT / M2M) or through your CRM and Dispatch System.
Multiple Communication Channels is Critical
Supply Chain Communications is critical to the resilience of critical processes. Using multiple channels during the process is imperative to success. The communication channels of the voice phone call and SMS messaging should be incorporated for mission-critical real-time alerts and informational messaging to the stakeholders.
by Denis ONeil | Mar 10, 2020 | Customer Portal
We are excited to announce the launch of the new EmailToVoice.Net Customer Portal. The Portal will be available to the customers of EmailToVoice.Net on Monday, March 16th at 7:00 AM EST. This capability has been requested by the customers of EmailToVoice.Net and we are pleased to deliver.
The customers of EmailToVoice.Net will be able to securely login to the Customer Portal at any time and see detailed information about the jobs submitted through their customer account. Here is a summary of the Portal’s advanced features:
-
- View All Jobs: The customer can view summary and detailed information on messages that have been sent through EmailToVoice.Net. Date ranges can be specified to review monthly, weekly or daily activity and even a specific job number.
- Manage Personal Lists: The customer can setup lists, which are then referenced by the LISTS tag in the content of the email for sending TTS or SMS messages to groups of recipients.
- New Broadcast: The customer will be able to send a TTS, SMS and even email messages to one or more recipients directly from the Portal
- Quick SMS: A customer will be able to 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.
- My Details: The customer will be able to change certain fields within their account, such as company address, email address or phone number. This includes the customer’s account password.
Customer Considerations to Access the Portal
-
- Access to the login of the Portal will be available as a Menu tab on EmailToVoice.Net or can be accessed directly by using Portal.EmailToVoice.Net.
- The username will now be prefixed with etv/. The old username prefix of us/ will be retired on March 16th at 7:00 AM EST.
- If the customer does not know their password, the customer will click on ‘Forgot Password’ on the Login page of the Portal the first time they use the Portal.
- This portal is for all customers on the USA EmailToVoice.Net site. This includes our International customers that had a username prefixed with us/. However, the username prefix of us/ will be retired on March 16, 2020 at 7:00 AM EST and will become etv/username.
Background: How EmailToVoice.Net Works
For those that are not familiar with EmailToVoice.Net, this is an example of the value our cloud messaging service brings to enterprise customers.
After subscribing to EmailToVoice.Net, you can make a phone call or send an SMS by sending just an email. Just make the TO field look something like 5551234567@TTS.message-service.org or 5551234567@SMS.message-service.org. (International calls made outside of the USA and Canada should have a + country code in front, like +61555123456@tts.message-service.org)
For a voice call, the text in the email is converted to a nice sounding voice (TTS – Text-to-Speech). 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. There are many mission-critical features in our service.
We deliver Text To Speech message or SMS text message to phones with no need to install special APIs, hardware or software.
Why Send a Voice Phone Call Alert
Phone calls get people’s attention when you need them to act on a critical event. When you send an email, it just does not get the necessary level of attention for important information.
Email is the typical mode of communication for alerts from the monitoring software, CRM or other business applications. But, few of us immediately respond to email, especially after-hours. A phone call, however, will get our attention at all hours of the day or night.
Alerts for IoT Devices
An IoT device is any device connected to the Internet. In an enterprise environment. Monitoring these devices is commonly done through Monitoring Software.
These IoT devices need to communicate with people through alerts and integration with mission-critical applications. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) needs to be given a voice. An IIoT device that has only the ability to send an email must now be enabled to dial a phone. The voice phone call may be sent to a repair truck, or an emergency call in the middle of the night, or used as a means to cut through all the mundane communications received during the regular business day.
In any case, a phone call is an effective means to communicate very important information that needs to be acted upon in a timely fashion.
Stay Updated on EmailToVoice.Net
Subscribe to our mailing list in the right column of our Blog to stay updated on further advancements of EmailToVoice.Net. We also provide some very useful information in our Blog regarding Industrial Internet of Things, Workflow, Monitoring Software, and much more. Also, do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or we can assist you further in meeting your business communications requirements.
You can Subscribe for a free trial of EmailToVoice.Net. No credit is required for the free trial period.
by Denis ONeil | Jan 20, 2020 | How To
As a customer of EmailToVoice.Net, you may want to check the status of a message that was sent through EmailToVoice.Net. This is easy for you to do. You need to merely do a Search from inside the email mailbox of the email address that receives reports from EmailToVoice.Net. This will provide you detailed status of any job.
The reason this is available to you is because EmailToVoice.Net sends a detailed Job Success Report back to the main email address on the account, plus any additional email addresses added to account upon request. So, there is a detailed success report residing in the main email address specified on your EmailToVoice.Net account. A Job Success Report exists for each message sent through EmailToVoice.Net. Many customers set a Filter in the email mailbox so these detailed Job Success Reports are put in a special folder.
Example of Locating Job Success Reports
Therefore, to locate a past Job Success Report showing the detailed status of a job, merely sign into the email address that is designated as the the main email address in your EmailToVoice.Net account. Then you can do a Search to find the job’s detail. Below is an example for GMAIL.
Step 1: In the Email Search box, click on the Down Arrow to open. This will open advanced search capabilities.
Step 2: In the Search Box, enter Search criteria. In the Subject Field, enter “job report: Success “. Then in the ‘Has the words’ field, you can enter other search criteria, such as the phone number.
That’s it. You will see email search results showing the Job Success Reports matching your search criteria. You will be able to see things in the detailed reports such as:
- Was the job successful or is there an error code.
- Did the call go to Voicemail
- What was the cost to send the message
- And much more…
Alternative Use of Job Success Reports
Another good use of these Job Success Reports is to automatically take action if a certain result occurs. For instance, if a call goes to Voicemail, then another job can be initiated for sending the message to a different phone number, SMS or email address. This can be done using Microsoft Flow or other like services.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.
