NotePage SMS, Paging and Messaging Blogs
11.28.03 & 11.29.03 SolarWinds & GSM |
SolarWinds Orion has begun shipping version 7. The
latest version uses NotePage's software to send network
alerts to pagers and cell phones. The public announcement
is expected in the next few days. Additional
Details.
On occasion we recieve inquiries regarding GSM. Messages
can be sent using a GSM phone connected via a serial
port. Details on how to set this up can be found in
the NotePager
forum or in the documentation of NotePager Pro
and PageGate.
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11.26.03 Newsletter |
NotePage's newsletter
went out be sure to check it out!
Addon's to PageGate available:
Version 5 of PageGate is on the horizon. This new
version will contain a number of feature requests.
As well as the following two addons; as a convenience
we've made the following addons available to existing
version 4 users. Contact sales@notepage.net
or 781-829-0500 for additional details.
PageGate v4 has two new addons available the first
is a SNPP-In gateway, which allows for messages to
be sent into PageGate using SNPP and then redistributed
to the appropriate individuals. The SNPP server add-on
will require PageGate's Commandline/Ascii interface,
and a 5000 pager license (or larger).
It will be capable of running as a regular application,
or as a System Service under NT, 2000, and XP. The
SNPP server will be high-performance multi-threaded
server capable of many simultaneous inbound connections.
It will have a configuration file a PIN number range
file for configuring the server's options, and to
set ranges of acceptable PIN numbers. Bad PIN numbers
can be rejected or silently dropped (your choice).
Because the message are accepted into PageGate, they
will be able to be delivered via any of PageGate's
supported protocols. The most commonly used protocol
will probably be TAP with a direct connection to a
paging terminal, but any of the other delivery mechanisms
will be supported.
PageGate also now has a new touch-tone recognition
add-on. This add-on allows users of the PageGate application
to initiate text messages remotely from any touch-tone
phone. Groups of recipients, and text messages can
be setup ahead of time, and then initiated remotely
from any touch tone phone. This new capability can
be extremely handy for situations when messages need
to be sent, but a suitable computer is not available.
The new touch-tone add-on requires a voice modem (modems
based on the Connexant and US Robotics chipsets have
been tested), an operational installation of PageGate,
and PageGate's Commandline/Ascii interface. There
is a $50.00 charge for the new touch-tone recognition
add-on.
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11.25.03 Verizon, Portability, & Nextel |
Verizon Wireless today finally confirmed that starting
in March 2004 it will charge its subscribers an additional
$0.40 each month to pay for the costs of wireless
number portability.
Another commentary on number portability can be found
at http://news.com.com/2030-1039-5110848.html
The head of Nextel Communications' Boost unit, Peter
Adderton, resigned after a disagreement with the company's
new strategy. Nextel's Boost unit offers push-to-talk
(P2T) wireless service in California and Nevada targeted
at the youth market.
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11.24.03 PageGate & Java Integration |
Frequently NotePage's software is integrated with
existing software. The most common integration is
via a commandline/ascii interface whet many don't
realize is that PageGate with the web interface can
also be integrated with Java. With the GetWeb Interface,
webpage developers can send messages to PageGate from
their webpages (HTML, JavaScript, Java, etc..). A
CGI program, is used to accomplish this. The CGI can
be used with either a POST or GET method. The GetWeb
interface can be used to enable the web program to
be integrated with applications running on different
platforms (Unix, Mac, etc..). Please let me know if
you require additional information.
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11.23.03 Changing Numbers |
Tomorrow the new laws regarding number portability
go into effect. A word of warning, there are likely
to be bugs in the system. You may want to wait it
out for a month before transferring your number.
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11.22.03 In House Paging Terminals & NotePage
News |
Many hospitals or large manufacturing facilities
have paging terminals in house. We are frequently
asked for paging terminal recommendations, that work
with PageGate's direct connect feature. A number of
customers successfully use PageGate with Zetron terminals,
the software is not however, terminal specific and
will work with any manufacturer.
Every few months we send out a newsletter that details
tips, tricks, discounts and news related to the NotePage
product line. A newsletter is being prepared to be
sent in the next week. If you are interested in receiving
NotePage news be sure to send an email to webmaster@notepage.net
with "subscribe" as the subject line.
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11.21.03 Why SMTP Delivery is the Least Desireable |
The most popular Internet protocol supported by cellular
carriers to send text messages to mobile phones is
SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol). SMTP is standard
email delivery and this is arguably the easist protocol
for carriers to implement, but it is the least reliable,
for sending text messages. While this protocol is
popular, it was not designed for paging or wireless
text messaging, as such it is not time sensitive,
there can be delays in the receipt of the email depending
on the routing (this does not have anything to do
with the software but the design of the protocol).
If your carrier supports either SNPP or WCTP we would
suggest using those protocols if time is an issue!
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11.20.03 Benefits to Network Software |
There is a significant price difference between network
software and standalone software. Why is there such
a vast difference? Network software requires various
security levels, and the ability for all network users
to share a single database. When using network software
the information is stored in a single database so
that logging is combined. With standalone software
users, all access independent databases and use separate,
rather than combined resources. This is beneficial
if there is a network failure.
You will need to determine which solution is designed
best for your organizations. In many cases users will
maintain a single standalone version for redundancy
sake.
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11.19.03 TAP Numbers discontinued |
As many are aware both AT&T and T-Mobile have
discontinued their TAP numbers in support of sending
text messages via SMTP. Due to the time sensitivity
of paging many subscribers are dissatisfied with this
solution. The alternative, AT&T's suggestions are
to use SMPP over a dedicated AT&T frame relay circuit
($500+ per month), or use TAP through a partner of
theirs ($1000+ per month), has resulted in a number
of unhappy customers. We have heard from a handful
of large public safety subscribers that there are
a couple of private TAP numbers still available. Be
sure voice your concerns to your carrier if this is
an issue for you.
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11.18.03 Value of Additional Dialers |
The use of additional dialers is often misunderstood.
When multiple messages are sent into the paging engine,
the message sending can be facillated by sharing the
work between multiple dialers. This is most helpful
when using a modem to send messages, but its also
helpful with the other protocols to a lesser extent.
Additional dialers allows for messages to be sent
to multiple carriers simultaneously.
When evaluating your setup to determine if additional
dialers would be beneficial consider the number of
carriers that you are sending to and determine if
there are frequently messages sent to multiple carriers
at the same time.
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11.17.03 Affiliates |
We received an inquiry about marketing NotePage's
software in specific organizations or market sectors.
This can be done very easily either through NotePage's
affiliate or reseller programs. If you are familiar
with the NotePage product line and have an interest
in receiving revenue, consider signing up. Details
can be found under the "reseller" navigational
tab.
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11.15.03 Out of Style, Out of Date |
Many people think that the time of pagers
has passed but what they may not realize is that both
pagers and cell phones have a place in the future. Building
control systems and monitoring applications can be automated
to send text alerts detailing outages or system problems.
Staff can be both remote or working in other parts of
the building and will receive instant notification of
urgent situations. Regardless of how technology has
progressed the process doesn't have awhole lot of room
for improvement. So though they may be out of style
they still get the job done and have a very real place
in the business world. |
11.14.03 Signs, Signs, Signs, |
When you are driving along the highway
and you see a message on a large portable LCD that says
"slow accident ahead, traffic stops" you may
not realize how that message got there. Believe it or
not many of the LCD signs have "pagers" inside
of them. Ok, well its not exactly a pager but it has
a receiver and the LCD acts as a diplayer just like
the screen of a pager posting the message that is sent
to it using software. |
11.13.03 SMS Messaging Confusion |
One of the most frequent comments we
receive is how much does SMS messaging software cost
for each message sent. This comes from customers not
quite understanding how sms messaging works. In Europe
many people use existing gateways to send SMS messages,
and they pay a per message charge to have the message
sent through that gateway. What people don't understand
is that when you are using software to send SMS messages
you *are* the gateway. There are no per messages charges
to send using software that deals directly with the
telecom provider. |
11.12.03 Home to Cell Number Portability |
According to the Washington Post the FCC has given
the go ahead for consumerst to switch their home phone
numberrs to their cell phones.
The Federal Communications Commission said people
will be able to transfer their numbers as long as
their wireless coverage area overlaps the location
of their conventional phone. The FCC also said it
wants to allow people to transfer cell numbers to
conventional phones but needs to gather more information
first.
The new home-to-cell number rule takes effect Nov.
24, the same day wireless customers will be able to
keep their numbers when they switch cell phone companies.
The rules govern customers living in the 100 most
populous metropolitan areas and take effect six months
later for all others.
Perhaps one day the rule will be that we will have
personal numbers that follow us regardless of where
we are located ....
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11.11.03 Public Safety |
We are seeing more and more public safety
sites using paging as a communication method. It seems
while voice communication is convenient, when the lines
are full it is not considered as reliable. We've heard
multiple reports that when communication systems are
strained public safety departments rely heavily on text
messaging as a means sof communication. |
11.10.03 More New Laws and Specifications |
In the future some house phone numbers will have
the ability to be ported to cellular phones. Details
on the rules that govern portability will be emerging
in the near future.
We frequently we receive queries related to the protocols
used for messaging the most commonly used protocol is
the "old" fashioned TAP or telelocator alphanumeric
protocol details on the TAP specificiation can be found
at http://www.tap-ixo.info
. The newer popular protocols are known as the "Internet"
protocols, they are SNPP, WCTP and SMTP. SMTP is standard
email delivery and it is not specifically designed for
wireless messaging or time sensitivity and can cause
delays. The other protocols SNPP and WCTP are defined
on the following sites: http://www.snpp.info
and http://www.wctp.info
. |
11.09.03 Ringtones |
Mobile phone carriers are often looking for ways
to change their "ring" sound. Only certain
manufacturers support melodic tunes, to determine if
your carrier/phone supports custom tunes or melodic
tunes simply click on the manufacturer name and look
for your mobile phone in the list at Ringtones
Central |
11.08.03 Changing the Rules for Cellular Providers |
New laws mean that cellular users can change providers
and keep their cellular phone numbers. Details on the
law changes and the implications of the changes can
be found in the article called Cellular
Number Portability |
11.07.03 |
We've recently updated a number of TAP,
SNPP, WCTP and SMTP settings. If you come across any
carriers not listed please feel free to contact us and
we will add the listings to our support
section. |
11.06.03 |
We are working with SolarWinds
, who just released a beta of their latest Orion application.
The latest version of Orion will be using NotePage's
software to send alerts to pagers and cell phones. Orion
is SolarWinds low end network monitoring application.
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