MailChimp is one of the leading online Email providers and you can now integrate your lists with Text Marketer’s SMS platform.

Enable your MailChimp account to send SMS's and also allow people to join your MailChimp lists by text message, automatically.

This provides you with 2 main advantages;

• Use the power of short code marketing to allow people to join your MailChimp list! You get a free keyword on our 88802 short code which allows people to text in and join your email list.
• You can instantly send an SMS, via Text Marketer, to any lists in your MailChimp account.

Text Marketer uses direct UK connections for ultimate reliability and if you request it we can also allow European and worldwide bulk SMS.

Popularity: 24%

Most of the companies that contact us are new to bulk SMS and are searching for a new supplier of a bulk SMS service. They’ll typically ring us and we chat through what they’re trying to achieve and then make recommendations. Then they normally set up a free account to test the service and we take it from there.

What is less common is for companies to contact us who already have a bulk SMS service in place. The leading providers, (we’d count ourselves amongst them) all have very robust services, good support and a good track record of providing a reliable service. So unless a company is looking to try and secure a better deal on their SMS service, there are precious few reasons to change.

Changing Bulk SMS provider – not as simple as throwing a switch

There are also risks associated with switching provider. Any new supplier will be an unknown quantity and if your bulk SMS service is a vital part of your customer communication that simply cannot fail, then the risk can just seem too great to justify the benefits.

There are often other costs with switching bulk SMS provider. If you’re using an SMS API then you’ll need to get your technical department involved to reconfigure the system to work with the new supplier. That inevitably sucks resource and time.

Inertia – a powerful force

So it seems there are plenty of reasons not change the status quo. It would need something pretty seismic to warrant the additional cost and hassle. A massive cost reduction saving the company thousands of pounds a year is often the only driver that would encourage a change of bulks SMS provider.

Huge SMS Price Differences

People often reasonably assume that most of the leading bulks SMS companies have more or less the same product and therefore more or less the same price structure. Surprisingly this is not the case. There are a spectacular number of different price tariffs, sliding scales and message bundles available and the savings that can be made often make a pretty strong case for switching.

Our price comparison table shows that the average saving to be bagged is an impressive 38% while the largest price difference is as much as 56%. So there comes a point when the bulk SMS price difference is so dramatic that inertia is overcome and the argument for switching cannot be ignored.

If you’d like to set up a free account and explore our platform, help yourself. We’ll add some free text credits for testing. We’d also love to hear from you if you’d like to discuss anything. Our details are on our contacts page.

Popularity: 9%

Embed this Infographic on your website:

</p> <p><a href="http://www.textmarketer.co.uk/blog/2012/03/sms-marketing-ideas/4-steps-to-improve-supply-chain-management-infographic/"> <img src="http://www.textmarketer.co.uk/img/4-steps-to-improve-supply-chain-management-600px.jpg"/></a><P>Source: <a href="http://www.textmarketer.co.uk/">Text Marketer Bulk SMS Services</a>

Popularity: 12%

How to configure Goldmine to send SMS Text Messages

Goldmine already has an inbuilt email function but as many businesses know, only a small % of emails get read. Also, if the message is urgent, such as chasing payments, you want to make sure it gets there and fast. Sending an SMS from Goldmine is as simple as sending an email. In fact, it uses the email functionality of Goldmine and our Email-to-SMS Gateway.

Text Marketer provide one of the lowest cost SMS Gateways so you can be sure you’re getting the best deal on SMS costs.

We’ve tested this process with a number of Goldmine users and from setup to getting the first SMS message out of Goldmine, the whole process normally takes around 10 minutes and then you’re integrated for SMS from Goldmine.

Step 1 – Open an SMS account

First, you need an account with us, so that you can use our Email-to-SMS Gateway.

Open your free Text Marketer account
(Use the promo code GOLDMINE and we’ll add 100 free text credits to your account for testing – pre-filled with link above).

Step 2 – Setting where your emails come from

Go in to your Text Marketer account. Navigate to SETTINGS | ACCOUNT SETTINGS.

See “Email Gateway Settings” on that screen. First, click “Toggle” next to the “Use Domain Authentication” box to make it Active.

Then, enter the domain name your emails come from in the box. So if your emails come from sales@abcwidgets.com for example, you would enter abcwidgets.com. Then, click the Submit button to save those changes.

Step 3 – Updating a contact record in Goldmine to have an Email-to-SMS address

You need to specially format an Email-to-SMS address for your contacts. Most people simply put this in as a second email address for a customer.

The format is [the-mobile-number]@textmarketer.biz, e.g. 07888999777@textmarketer.biz.

Choose a test contact in Goldmine and update their secondary email address as per the above format, using their mobile number.

Step 4 – Sending your first SMS message in Goldmine

Let’s send your first SMS. All you’re going to do is the same process you would as if you were going to send this contact an email.

Choose your test contact. Choose the secondary Email-to-SMS address we set up earlier and then create your email message.

There is no need to put in subject in. The only difference is that you should end your message with ## … this tells our system where the end of the text message is (so it doesn’t send signatures or sign offs often automatically added to the end of emails).

For example, send “Hi, this is a test of our new SMS function in Goldmine. You can reply to this text. Thanks.##“

Then send the email and your contact will receive the message as a text message.

You’ve now sent your first SMS message from Goldmine!

FAQ’s

Can people reply to messages I send them?
In your account, you can set who the message comes from. This is called the Sender ID. It can be your company name for example (which people couldn’t reply to). Or, you can set it as a number to reply to. This could be an office mobile phone for example and then replies would come back to that. Or, you could rent a virtual mobile number where all replies come back in by email.

How much does each text message cost?
Our prices per text are very low. We even provide a competitor price comparison chart on our prices page.

I don’t want to put the ## at the end of each message. Can I change that?
Yes. Go to SETTINGS | ACCOUNT SETTINGS in your Text Marketer account. In the Email Gateway Settings area, you’ll see ## in the Message Termination field. Change that to whatever you wish or remove it completely and everything in your email will be sent as an SMS. Click Submit to save.

I’d like to be able to send from other Email programs like this, can I?
Yes. See our Email-to-SMS gateway instructions.

Popularity: 10%

How to configure Capsule CRM to send SMS Text Messages

Capsule CRM is one of the leading online CRM providers and you can now integrate your lists with Text Marketer’s SMS platform.

This provides you with 2 main advantages;

• Use the power of short code marketing to allow people to join your Capsule Groups and Contacts list! You get a free keyword on our 88802 short code.
• You can instantly send an SMS, via Text Marketer, to any Groups or Organisations in your Capsule account.

Text Marketer uses direct UK connections for ultimate reliability and if you request it we can also allow European and worldwide bulk SMS.

Popularity: 10%

How to configure Salesforce.com to send SMS Text Messages

Salesforce.com already has an inbuilt email function but as many businesses know, only a small % of emails get read. Also, if the message is urgent, such as chasing payments, you want to make sure it gets there and fast. Sending an SMS from Salesforce.com is as simple as sending an email. In fact, it uses the email functionality of Salesforce.com and our Email-to-SMS Gateway.

Text Marketer provide one of the lowest cost SMS Gateways so you can be sure you’re getting the best deal on SMS costs.

We’ve tested this process with a number of Salesforce.com users and from setup to getting the first SMS message out of Salesforce.com, the whole process normally takes around 10 minutes and then you’re integrated for SMS from Salesforce.com.

Step 1 – Open an SMS account

First, you need an account with us, so that you can use our Email-to-SMS Gateway.

Open your free Text Marketer account
(Use the promo code SLSFORCE and we’ll add 100 free text credits to your account for testing – pre-filled with link above).

Step 2 – Setting where your emails come from

Go in to your Text Marketer account. Navigate to SETTINGS | ACCOUNT SETTINGS.

See “Email Gateway Settings” on that screen. First, click “Toggle” next to the “Use Domain Authentication” box to make it Active.

Then, enter the domain name your emails come from in the box. So if your emails come from sales@abcwidgets.com for example, you would enter abcwidgets.com. Then, click the Submit button to save those changes.

Step 3 – Updating a contact record in Salesforce.com to have an Email-to-SMS address

You need to specially format an Email-to-SMS address for your contacts. Most people simply put this in as a second email address for a customer.

The format is [the-mobile-number]@textmarketer.biz, e.g. 07888999777@textmarketer.biz.

Choose a test contact in Salesforce.com and update their secondary email address as per the above format, using their mobile number.

Step 4 – Sending your first SMS message in Salesforce.com

Let’s send your first SMS. All you’re going to do is the same process you would as if you were going to send this contact an email.

Choose your test contact. Choose the secondary Email-to-SMS address we set up earlier and then create your email message.

There is no need to put in subject in. The only difference is that you should end your message with ## … this tells our system where the end of the text message is (so it doesn’t send signatures or sign offs often automatically added to the end of emails).

For example, send “Hi, this is a test of our new SMS function in Salesforce.com. You can reply to this text. Thanks.##“

Then send the email and your contact will receive the message as a text message.

You’ve now sent your first SMS message from Salesforce.com!

FAQ’s

Can people reply to messages I send them?
In your account, you can set who the message comes from. This is called the Sender ID. It can be your company name for example (which people couldn’t reply to). Or, you can set it as a number to reply to. This could be an office mobile phone for example and then replies would come back to that. Or, you could rent a virtual mobile number where all replies come back in by email.

How much does each text message cost?
Our prices per text are very low. We even provide a competitor price comparison chart on our prices page.

I don’t want to put the ## at the end of each message. Can I change that?
Yes. Go to SETTINGS | ACCOUNT SETTINGS in your Text Marketer account. In the Email Gateway Settings area, you’ll see ## in the Message Termination field. Change that to whatever you wish or remove it completely and everything in your email will be sent as an SMS. Click Submit to save.

I’d like to be able to send from other Email programs like this, can I?
Yes. See our Email-to-SMS gateway instructions.

Popularity: 8%

How to configure Netsuite UK to send SMS Text Messages

Netsuite UK already has an inbuilt email function but as many businesses know, only a small % of emails get read. Also, if the message is urgent, such as chasing payments, you want to make sure it gets there and fast. Sending an SMS from Netsuite UK is as simple as sending an email. In fact, it uses the email functionality of Netsuite UK and our Email-to-SMS Gateway.

Text Marketer provide one of the lowest cost SMS Gateways so you can be sure you’re getting the best deal on SMS costs.

We’ve tested this process with a number of Netsuite UK users and from setup to getting the first SMS message out of Netsuite UK, the whole process normally takes around 10 minutes and then you’re integrated for SMS from Netsuite UK.

Step 1 – Open an SMS account

First, you need an account with us, so that you can use our Email-to-SMS Gateway.

Open your free Text Marketer account
(Use the promo code Netsuite and we’ll add 100 free text credits to your account for testing – pre-filled with link above).

Step 2 – Setting where your emails come from

Go in to your Text Marketer account. Navigate to SETTINGS | ACCOUNT SETTINGS.

See “Email Gateway Settings” on that screen. First, click “Toggle” next to the “Use Domain Authentication” box to make it Active.

Then, enter the domain name your emails come from in the box. So if your emails come from sales@abcwidgets.com for example, you would enter abcwidgets.com. Then, click the Submit button to save those changes.

Step 3 – Updating a contact record in Netsuite UK to have an Email-to-SMS address

You need to specially format an Email-to-SMS address for your contacts. Most people simply put this in as a second email address for a customer.

The format is [the-mobile-number]@textmarketer.biz, e.g. 07888999777@textmarketer.biz.

Choose a test contact in Netsuite UK and update their secondary email address as per the above format, using their mobile number.

Step 4 – Sending your first SMS message in Netsuite UK

Let’s send your first SMS. All you’re going to do is the same process you would as if you were going to send this contact an email.

Choose your test contact. Choose the secondary Email-to-SMS address we set up earlier and then create your email message.

There is no need to put in subject in. The only difference is that you should end your message with ## … this tells our system where the end of the text message is (so it doesn’t send signatures or sign offs often automatically added to the end of emails).

For example, send “Hi, this is a test of our new SMS function in Netsuite UK. You can reply to this text. Thanks.##“

Then send the email and your contact will receive the message as a text message.

You’ve now sent your first SMS message from Netsuite UK!

FAQ’s

Can people reply to messages I send them?
In your account, you can set who the message comes from. This is called the Sender ID. It can be your company name for example (which people couldn’t reply to). Or, you can set it as a number to reply to. This could be an office mobile phone for example and then replies would come back to that. Or, you could rent a virtual mobile number where all replies come back in by email.

How much does each text message cost?
Our prices per text are very low. We even provide a competitor price comparison chart on our prices page.

I don’t want to put the ## at the end of each message. Can I change that?
Yes. Go to SETTINGS | ACCOUNT SETTINGS in your Text Marketer account. In the Email Gateway Settings area, you’ll see ## in the Message Termination field. Change that to whatever you wish or remove it completely and everything in your email will be sent as an SMS. Click Submit to save.

I’d like to be able to send from other Email programs like this, can I?
Yes. See our Email-to-SMS gateway instructions.

Popularity: 8%

How to configure OpenCRM to send SMS Text Messages

OpenCRM already has an inbuilt email function but as many businesses know, only a small % of emails get read. Also, if the message is urgent, such as chasing payments, you want to make sure it gets there and fast. Sending an SMS from OpenCRM is as simple as sending an email. In fact, it uses the email functionality of OpenCRM and our Email-to-SMS Gateway.

Text Marketer provide one of the lowest cost SMS Gateways so you can be sure you’re getting the best deal on SMS costs.

We’ve tested this process with a number of OpenCRM users and from setup to getting the first SMS message out of OpenCRM, the whole process normally takes around 10 minutes and then you’re integrated for SMS from OpenCRM.

Step 1 – Open an SMS account

First, you need an account with us, so that you can use our Email-to-SMS Gateway.

Open your free Text Marketer account
(Use the promo code OpenCRM and we’ll add 50 free text credits to your account for testing – pre-filled with link above).

Step 2 – Setting where your emails come from

Go in to your Text Marketer account. Navigate to SETTINGS | ACCOUNT SETTINGS.

See “Email Gateway Settings” on that screen. First, click “Toggle” next to the “Use Domain Authentication” box to make it Active.

Then, enter the domain name your emails come from in the box. So if your emails come from sales@abcwidgets.com for example, you would enter abcwidgets.com. Then, click the Submit button to save those changes.

Step 3 – Updating a contact record in OpenCRM to have an Email-to-SMS address

You need to specially format an Email-to-SMS address for your contacts. Most people simply put this in as a second email address for a customer.

The format is [the-mobile-number]@textmarketer.biz, e.g. 07888999777@textmarketer.biz.

Choose a test contact in OpenCRM and update their secondary email address as per the above format, using their mobile number.

Step 4 – Sending your first SMS message in OpenCRM

Let’s send your first SMS. All you’re going to do is the same process you would as if you were going to send this contact an email.

Choose your test contact. Choose the secondary Email-to-SMS address we set up earlier and then create your email message.

There is no need to put in subject in. The only difference is that you should end your message with ## … this tells our system where the end of the text message is (so it doesn’t send signatures or sign offs often automatically added to the end of emails).

For example, send “Hi, this is a test of our new SMS function in OpenCRM. You can reply to this text. Thanks.##“

Then send the email and your contact will receive the message as a text message.

You’ve now sent your first SMS message from OpenCRM!

FAQ’s

Can people reply to messages I send them?
In your account, you can set who the message comes from. This is called the Sender ID. It can be your company name for example (which people couldn’t reply to). Or, you can set it as a number to reply to. This could be an office mobile phone for example and then replies would come back to that. Or, you could rent a virtual mobile number where all replies come back in by email.

How much does each text message cost?
Our prices per text are very low. We even provide a competitor price comparison chart on our prices page.

I don’t want to put the ## at the end of each message. Can I change that?
Yes. Go to SETTINGS | ACCOUNT SETTINGS in your Text Marketer account. In the Email Gateway Settings area, you’ll see ## in the Message Termination field. Change that to whatever you wish or remove it completely and everything in your email will be sent as an SMS. Click Submit to save.

I’d like to be able to send from other Email programs like this, can I?
Yes. See our Email-to-SMS gateway instructions.

Popularity: 7%

How to configure Outlook to send SMS Text Messages

Outlook already has an inbuilt email function but as many businesses know, only a small % of emails get read. Also, if the message is urgent, such as chasing payments, you want to make sure it gets there and fast. Sending an SMS from Outlook is as simple as sending an email. In fact, it uses the email functionality of Outlook and our Email-to-SMS Gateway.

Text Marketer provide one of the lowest cost SMS Gateways so you can be sure you’re getting the best deal on SMS costs.

We’ve tested this process with a number of Outlook users and from setup to getting the first SMS message out of Outlook, the whole process normally takes around 10 minutes and then you’re integrated for SMS from Outlook.

Step 1 – Open an SMS account

First, you need an account with us, so that you can use our Email-to-SMS Gateway.

Open your free Text Marketer account
(Use the promo code Outlook and we’ll add 50 free text credits to your account for testing – pre-filled with link above).

Step 2 – Setting where your emails come from

Go in to your Text Marketer account. Navigate to SETTINGS | ACCOUNT SETTINGS.

See “Email Gateway Settings” on that screen. First, click “Toggle” next to the “Use Domain Authentication” box to make it Active.

Then, enter the domain name your emails come from in the box. So if your emails come from sales@abcwidgets.com for example, you would enter abcwidgets.com. Then, click the Submit button to save those changes.

Step 3 – Updating a contact record in Outlook to have an Email-to-SMS address

You need to specially format an Email-to-SMS address for your contacts. Most people simply put this in as a second email address for a customer.

The format is [the-mobile-number]@textmarketer.biz, e.g. 07888999777@textmarketer.biz.

Choose a test contact in Outlook and update their secondary email address as per the above format, using their mobile number.

Step 4 – Sending your first SMS message in Outlook

Let’s send your first SMS. All you’re going to do is the same process you would as if you were going to send this contact an email.

Choose your test contact. Choose the secondary Email-to-SMS address we set up earlier and then create your email message.

There is no need to put in subject in. The only difference is that you should end your message with ## … this tells our system where the end of the text message is (so it doesn’t send signatures or sign offs often automatically added to the end of emails).

For example, send “Hi, this is a test of our new SMS function in Outlook. You can reply to this text. Thanks.##“

Then send the email and your contact will receive the message as a text message.

You’ve now sent your first SMS message from Outlook!

FAQ’s

Can people reply to messages I send them?
In your account, you can set who the message comes from. This is called the Sender ID. It can be your company name for example (which people couldn’t reply to). Or, you can set it as a number to reply to. This could be an office mobile phone for example and then replies would come back to that. Or, you could rent a virtual mobile number where all replies come back in by email.

How much does each text message cost?
Our prices per text are very low. We even provide a competitor price comparison chart on our prices page.

I don’t want to put the ## at the end of each message. Can I change that?
Yes. Go to SETTINGS | ACCOUNT SETTINGS in your Text Marketer account. In the Email Gateway Settings area, you’ll see ## in the Message Termination field. Change that to whatever you wish or remove it completely and everything in your email will be sent as an SMS. Click Submit to save.

I’d like to be able to send from other Email programs like this, can I?
Yes. See our Email-to-SMS gateway instructions.

Popularity: 10%

How to configure SAGE ACT! to send SMS Text Messages

SAGE ACT! already has an inbuilt email function but as many businesses know, only a small % of emails get read. Also, if the message is urgent, such as chasing payments, you want to make sure it gets there and fast. Sending an SMS from SAGE ACT! is as simple as sending an email. In fact, it uses the email functionality of SAGE ACT! and our Email-to-SMS Gateway.

Text Marketer provide one of the lowest cost SMS Gateways so you can be sure you’re getting the best deal on SMS costs.

We’ve tested this process with a number of SAGE ACT! users and from setup to getting the first SMS message out of SAGE ACT!, the whole process normally takes around 10 minutes and then you’re integrated for SMS from SAGE ACT!.

Step 1 – Open an SMS account

First, you need an account with us, so that you can use our Email-to-SMS Gateway.

Open your free Text Marketer account
(Use the promo code SAGE and we’ll add 100 free text credits to your account for testing – pre-filled with link above).

Step 2 – Setting where your emails come from

Go in to your Text Marketer account. Navigate to SETTINGS | ACCOUNT SETTINGS.

See “Email Gateway Settings” on that screen. First, click “Toggle” next to the “Use Domain Authentication” box to make it Active.

Then, enter the domain name your emails come from in the box. So if your emails come from sales@abcwidgets.com for example, you would enter abcwidgets.com. Then, click the Submit button to save those changes.

Step 3 – Updating a contact record in SAGE ACT! to have an Email-to-SMS address

You need to specially format an Email-to-SMS address for your contacts. Most people simply put this in as a second email address for a customer.

The format is [the-mobile-number]@textmarketer.biz, e.g. 07888999777@textmarketer.biz.

Choose a test contact in SAGE ACT! and update their secondary email address as per the above format, using their mobile number.

Step 4 – Sending your first SMS message in SAGE ACT!

Let’s send your first SMS. All you’re going to do is the same process you would as if you were going to send this contact an email.

Choose your test contact. Choose the secondary Email-to-SMS address we set up earlier and then create your email message.

There is no need to put in subject in. The only difference is that you should end your message with ## … this tells our system where the end of the text message is (so it doesn’t send signatures or sign offs often automatically added to the end of emails).

For example, send “Hi, this is a test of our new SMS function in SAGE ACT!. You can reply to this text. Thanks.##“

Then send the email and your contact will receive the message as a text message.

You’ve now sent your first SMS message from SAGE ACT!!

FAQ’s

Can people reply to messages I send them?
In your account, you can set who the message comes from. This is called the Sender ID. It can be your company name for example (which people couldn’t reply to). Or, you can set it as a number to reply to. This could be an office mobile phone for example and then replies would come back to that. Or, you could rent a virtual mobile number where all replies come back in by email.

How much does each text message cost?
Our prices per text are very low. We even provide a competitor price comparison chart on our prices page.

How can I update all my contacts to have an Email-to-SMS number quickly?
You would need to contact SAGE support for this or your support person. They should be able to run an update script in your system to automatically update all contact records to have the secondary address.

I don’t want to put the ## at the end of each message. Can I change that?
Yes. Go to SETTINGS | ACCOUNT SETTINGS in your Text Marketer account. In the Email Gateway Settings area, you’ll see ## in the Message Termination field. Change that to whatever you wish or remove it completely and everything in your email will be sent as an SMS. Click Submit to save.

I’d like to be able to send from Outlook and other Email programs like this, can I?
Yes. See our Email-to-SMS gateway instructions.

Popularity: 7%

Bond Adapt has partnered with Text Marketer to offer its customers a low cost SMS API route for users of the Adapt recruitment platform.

Text Marketer’s SMS API has been integrated with all versions of Adapt, so whether you’re using the latest cloud based system or one of the earlier software releases, you’ll be able to significantly reduce your SMS bill by switching to Text Marketer.

Text Marketer uses direct connections to UK networks, so despite being one of the lowest cost SMS providers, there is no compromise on the reliability of the service.

How to Use Text Marketer for Sending SMS with Bond Adapt

Initially, you will need to open a free account with Text Marketer. Use the promocode BOND when you sign up and you’ll receive 100 free text credits for testing.

Once you’ve set up your account, you will need to know your API username and password.

To get your api username and password

1. Login to your account at Text Marketer.

2. Select the SETTINGS menu option and select API SETTINGS.

3. Your username and password is in red at the top, you will now need these for integration

The SMS API integration is free and will be conducted by the technical team at Bond. The set up process will only take a couple of days after which the service will be ready for testing. So having set up your Text Marketer account, speak to your Bond Adapt account manager or ring the Bond Adapt support department on 01903 707070.

We look forward to welcoming you as a customer and reducing your sms costs.

Popularity: 7%

Zendesk SMS Integration

Zendesk has a great ability to trigger text messages to be sent when various actions occur, such as receiving a new ticket. You can easily integrate Zendesk with your Text Marketer account to allow Zendesk to send SMS messages for you. This article explains how!

Of course you’re not limited to SMS notifications only when you receive new tickets in Zendesk, you can configure a whole range of events that will trigger a text message to be sent, like changes in ticket status or when you get assigned a new ticket. This is a great way of getting instant notification of events without sitting in front of your computer.

The basic configuration follows below. Give us a call if you get stuck.

Of course you need a Zendesk account, and if you don’t have one yet, you should also create a free Text Marketer account (use ZEND as a promo code when you sign up and we’ll add 100 free text message credits to your account for testing).

Zendesk SMS setup to send text messages

The first step is to setup a target in Zendesk. Go to ‘SETTINGS‘ > ‘Extensions‘, then click the ‘Targets‘ tab and ‘add target‘:

Next choose the ‘URL Target’ option:

Finally fill in the following fields:

Title: anything you like, e.g. TextMarketer SMS

URL: http://www.textmarketer.biz/gateway/?username=APIusername&password=APIpassword&orig=Zendesk&number=YourMobileNumber

In the URL above you should replace APIusername and APIpassword with the API login details from your account, available from the account UI here (or go to Settings | API settings).

YourMobileNumber should be replaced with your mobile number you want to receive notifications at, beginning with the country code 44 (no plus sign), e.g. 447777123123.

Optionally, you can replace ‘Zendesk’ in the URL with a different sender ID (up to 16 numbers), or Alphanumerics (up to 11).

Method: leave ‘GET’ selected

Attribute Name: enter ‘message’

Ensure ‘Test target‘ is selected and hit ‘Submit‘. If the test works, choose ‘Create target‘ instead of ‘Test target’ and click ‘Submit‘ to create the new target.

NOTE: If you want to send messages to more than one mobile, you must create a new target for each number, i.e. repeat the steps above and change YourMobileNumber each time. In this case, we suggest you name the targets accordingly, e.g. ‘TextMarketer SMS to Bob’.

Create triggers (events that cause an SMS to be sent)

You need to create triggers that will cause a text message to be sent by Zendesk. For this, go to the menu ‘MANAGE‘ > ‘Triggers & mail notifications‘.

Edit one of the existing triggers, e.g. ‘Notify requester of received request’. Click the green plus sign to ‘Add action‘, choose ‘Notify target‘ as the action, and select the ‘TextMarketer SMS‘ target you created earlier.

In this example, I added some text to the message to tell me the subject of the request and who it’s from:

And here’s a screenshot of the resulting SMS when someone sends in a request.

Of course there are many other events that you can use as triggers to send an SMS from Zendesk.

Popularity: 7%

Bulk SMS aggregator, MBlox has recently commissioned some research that underlines the importance of marketers to use an unsubscribe option on their bulk SMS campaigns. Not only do consumers feel that being able to get off a list is important but it is also a legal requirement for companies to include an opt out.

The rules are quite clearly laid out on the Information Commissioner’s Office website. In their frequently asked questions section, they clearly state that bulk sms marketers must…

“..give them the opportunity to opt out of receiving further marketing messages each time.”

Companies who ignore the rules are not only potentially alienating their customer base but also could find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

The MBlox study revealed that 61% of respondents believe it is extremely important to be able to opt in/out of receiving promotional material and 55% felt that promotions should come from a company or brand they have used before. So it seems most consumers’ requirements are pretty straightforward and obvious. Don’t spam me and make sure I can get off your list.

All Text Marketer’s bulk SMS accounts come with an unsubscribe tool, so implementing legal bulk sms marketing campaigns is as simple as including an unsubscribe code in the body of the text.

To see the text opt out system in action, please feel free to set up an account. You’ll receive some free text credits for testing. If you’d like to discuss anything, please call us. Our details are on our contacts page.

Popularity: 7%

These instructions explain how to set up and activate SMS integration within your Opera system to use Text Marketer’s SMS gateway and benefit from lower costs per text message.

Initially, you will need to open a free account with Text Marketer and have your API username and password ready.

To get your api username and password

1. Login to your account at Text Marketer.
2. Select the SETTINGS menu option and select API SETTINGS.
3. Your username and password is in red at the top, you will now need these below.

Activating

To enable SMS functionality in OPERA login to Configuration and go to Setup>Application Settings and then select the ‘GENERAL’ group. Scroll down the list and locate the function called ‘TEXT MESSAGE HANDLING’ and click on ‘Edit’ and then choose ‘Y’ to activate this function. Press ‘OK’ and then close.

Setting up Confirmations

To enable SMS handling for confirmations, log into configuration and go to the ‘Property’ menu and select ‘Delivery Method’ and then ‘Confirmation’ from the sub-menu.

Click on the ‘Text Msg.’ tab and then on the right hand side select ‘Delivery.

Now you will have a screen similar to this:

The following fields need to be entered:

Partner/UserID : This who the sms is from, for instance your hotel name, please note that 11 characters is the maximum.
Service Type/Server : Is not required but needs an entry so simply type in 1
Service ID/Account : This is your Text Marketer API username (see above)
Password : This is your Text Marketer API password (see above)
The URL which needs to be entered is :http://www.textmarketer.biz/gateway/
The URL parameter needs to be TEXT – this maybe XML by default, so select the TEXT option in the drop down.

The timeout should be left at 10 and a maximum of 30

The format should be cut and pasted from this:

<URL_NAME>?username=<SERVICE_ID>&password=<SERVICE_PASSWORD>&message=<CONFG_MESSAGE>&orig=<PARTNERID>&number=<TO_MOBILE>

Now you can create the actual message your customers will see which is on the Text Msg tab itself, as a starting point paste this in:

<html><body>Confirmation <ConfirmationNumber> for <ResortFullName> for arrival on <ArrivalDate> for <NumberOfNights> night(s). Call Tel:+44 (0)1654 236542.</html>

This will in its present state return:

Confirmation 123456 for MY HOTEL NAME for arrival on January 20, 2012  for 4 night(s). Call Tel:+44 (0)1654 236542.

Should you wish to add extra words – you can type in the spaces to change the wording and if you need to add fields pulled from OPERA then click on the Tags button and add the field you wish to use – remembering that you are limited in size to up to 612 characters.

If you do copy in the above – make sure you change the phone number – always make sure that at the start before any words you have <html><body> and then at the end you have </html>

You can then click on preview to see a sample of the message and then make amendments.

Should you need assistance with setting up the message wording then please contact your Micros-Fidelio Account Manager.

Setting up for Guest messages

You can also enable SMS handling for guest messages by going to confirmations, log into configuration and go to the ‘Property’ menu and select ‘Delivery Method’ and then ‘Messages’ from the sub-menu. Check that the Delivery is already setup – this should pull from the confirmation setup.

Really there should be no need to amend this as this will simply return the message the user types into the guest booking in OPERA.

Setting up for Queue Room messages

Some hotels may use the Queue Rooms functionality in OPERA and you are now able to send a text to the guest when their room is ready. Log into configuration and go to the ‘Property’ menu and select ‘Delivery Method’ and then ‘Queue Rooms’ from the sub-menu and then ‘Queue Reservations’ from the next menu. If this Queue Rooms function is not in use please contact your Micros-Fidelio Account Manager to arrange activation.

As before the Delivery is already setup – this should pull from the confirmation setup. Then check the message – you wish to send customers when their room is ready.

The below can be copied in and then amended:

<html><body><GuestTitle> <GuestLastName>, your room is now available. Please stop by the front desk to complete your registration. Thank you. </body></html>

As before remember not to remove the <html><body> at the start and make sure it ends with </body></html>, the rest can be exactly the wording you want but must be below the maximum characters which is generally 160 characters. Should you wish to add fields from OPERA like above with the guest’s last name, just click on Tags as before and add in the fields.

Sending a Confirmation

Users will find sending a confirmation via SMS no different than sending an email or printing a confirmation. Simply locate the reservation and then from Options>confirmation put an X in the Txt Msg column next to the person who needs to receive the confirmation. If no mobile number exists a box will appear asking you to enter a new mobile phone number and then press OK. To check the number a text will go to the user can scroll across the confirmation screen to phone number and then edit or remove where necessary.

Then to send just click on ‘Send’ and then after a moment the PENDING status will change to ‘SUCCEEDED’ and you can close the screen.

Sending a Message

Guest messages are entered into OPERA from a variety of locations, but once on the message screen the user should type in the relevant message – upto 160 characters – and then tick Text Msg.

They then need to press OK and the mobile number the message is to be sent to will appear and they can edit or add as required and then a successful message will appear.

Sending a Notification for a Queue Room

If Queue Rooms is active in OPERA, from Front Desk>Queue Reservations – the user can select the guest that they wish to contact to advise that their room is ready, click on the Text Msg button on the right and then confirm the number as before, and OK and the message will be sent. The guest can then be taken off the queue and processed as normal.

Popularity: 8%

Thorntons, the chocolate people, have used Text Marketer’s SMS API to add a useful new service to their mobile site. Anyone ordering chocolates can now opt to receive an SMS order confirmation.

Rather cunningly, they also give you an option to receive a text reminder next year about the event. Using an SMS API to add text features to the Thorntons website is all about giving the consumer a richer and more tailored service.

SMS alerts get through to consumers like no other communication channel and the Mobile Marketing Association recently reported that over 97% of messages that are sent are actually read.

Adding a text alert service to a system or website using an SMS API is very straightforward indeed. With a full set of documentation and specific code examples, many customers have integrated their service with the SMS API in just a few minutes.

Support for the SMS API is available from our experienced team of technical staff who are always available to help out if needed. Setting up an account is free and we’ll give you as many text credits as you need for testing. If you’d like to speak to us, please feel free to pick up the phone, you’ll find our details on the contacts page.

Popularity: 6%