Q100070: [Connections] SMS

The SMS Connection is a definition which tells a module, how to connect to and communicate with a specific SMS service provider. Connections can either be entered directly into the parameter in the module, or can be managed through the global connections tool. If you will be using the same connection in different modules, it is much easier to manage the connection information by creating a single global connection. Whether you use a locally defined value in each SMS module, or use the global definitions for your SMS modules, the format of the connection value is the same for both.

If you use the global connection manager, you will see that as soon as you create a new entry, it will provide you a template for starting your SMS Connection definition. It would look like the example below.

Provider=<ProviderName>;Number=<SendingNumber>;Account=<AccountId>;Auth=<AuthorizationToken>;

Here we see that there are multiple values specified in this single parameter. Each value is a single name-value pair. You should notice that each of the name-value entries consists of a name on one side, followed by an equals sign (=), followed by the value, and finally terminated by a semicolon. Thus if we breakdown the example above, the list of name-value pairs might appear a little more legible if we look at them this way.

Provider=<ProviderName>;
Number=<SendingNumber>;
Account=<AccountId>;
Auth=<AuthorizationToken>;

Formatted this way, it is much easier to read. The name is on the left of the equals sign, while the value is on the right. Where each value is, you would edit it to use the value which is specific for the SMS service provider and account that you want to use. The meanings of some of these settings may be slightly different for different SMS service providers, so you may need to refer to the section in this article for your chosen provider. The first setting in the template is Provider. To set yours correctly, remove the placeholder text <ProviderName> and use the name of the provider that you have chosen from the table in the next section. Note the exact spelling is critically important for all setting names and values.

Service Providers

In order to be able to use SMS messaging, you need a service provider which is able to perform the communications on the mobile telephone network. Note: Currently the [SMS] Send Message module only supports a single provider, but this is likely to change soon. The list of providers below will be updated with additional service providers in upcoming updates. Note that provides may have various pricing for their services, and you will need to consult their website or account representative to determine pricing and cost for your level of usage.

Provider: Twilio

If you choose Twilio as your provider for SMS services, then setting up the connection for your Twilio account will be described in this section. When you create an account with Twilio as your provider, you are able to create one or more sending phone numbers to send SMS messages with. Select one number to use with a specific SMS Connection. This number must be formatted in the standard ITU E.164 format as you will see in the example below. The Account setting will need to be set to the value for your Twilio AccountId. The Auth setting will need to be set to the value for your Twilio AuthorizationToken. Our example connection value would look like the below value, and of course, the values used in this example is not a real account and you must use the values from your own account.

Provider=Twilio;Number=+12125551212;Account=ABCdef123ABCdef1233;Auth=Xyz456Mnop789Xyz456Mnop789;