The end of Verizon's vtext.com gateway

[Tech Support]

While we don't have specific dates, multiple organizations have reported to us that Verizon's public SMTP-to-SMS gateway (vtext.com) is being decommissioned in the long run. Related to that, you may want to contact your organization's Verizon representatives to request registration on Verizon's EMAG platform.

Verizon offers access to their EMAG (Enterprise Messaging Access Gateway) system for free to public safety, first responder and some government related organizations as long as you only message Verizon recipients through that system.

During the registration, you'll need access to 3 APIs:
WCTP
SNPP
SMTP

With all three, you can configure a 2 tier failover system where PageGate will use the WCTP gateway as its primary host and fail over to their SNPP gateway if that fails. If even that fails, it will then email the message to the EMAG priority domain.

Unrelated to that, you could remove PageGate's reliance on your internet connection entirely by sending true SMS via cellular hardware.

Cellular hardware is the single most reliable and efficient method of delivering SMS. By using cellular hardware, you're removing PageGate's reliance on your internet connection to deliver your messages which means that your internet connection could go down and your messages would still be delivered.

SMS capable cellular hardware comes in two varieties: cellular modem and cellular router/gateway.

A cellular modem connects to the system PageGate is installed on by USB or RS232 and provides a COM port in the operating system. If PageGate is running in a virtual environment, you can also connect a cellular modem to a COM port virtualizer that provides the COM port to the virtual machine.

Good examples of cellular modem are:
Multitech's MTC-H5 and MTC-LNA4
US Robotics' USR3500
Microhard's IP4NG
AirPrime 73xx and 75xx
Skyus-DS

Cellular routers and gateways can be accessed by TCP, so you don't need a physical connection to access them; they just need to be connected to your network and configured appropriately to receive messaging commands.

Good examples of cellular routers/gateways are:
Multitech's MTC-LNA4, MTR-LVW2 and MTR-LAT1
Airlink's GX450, RV50 and RV55
Microhard IP4nGii
Cisco 819G

We would also recommend using the latest version of PageGate with both the EMAG platform and cellular hardware as previous versions may not be able to communicate with those hosts and devices properly.

If you need any assistance with the transition or further information, please contact us here on the forum, by email or phone.

_________________
Tech Support
support@notepage.com
http://www.notepage.net