Mail and SMS Plugins

Owned by Isabelle Avery (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Jan 04, 2023 by Charlotte Dakin-Norris
4 min read

Introduction

The mail and SMS plugins enable users to receive alarm and status message over email or via message on their mobile phones. The mail plugin needs access to an SMTP server which in turn will require internet access. The SMS plugins also require internet access because these use cloud-based services to deliver the SMS messages.

At the moment only two SMS providers are supported, both offer international messaging but one is more cost effective for the UK and other for the US.

Additional SMS plugins can be added as required. The selected service must offer an internet gateway through which SMS can be sent. Most online services offer this capability either through direct web calls or through their own SDK. Please contact Navtech Radar if you would like more information.

Contents

Highways Mail for ClearWay™

The Highways Mail Plugin enables Alarms and Status Updates to be sent as e-mail alerts to external devices. To include this plugin in a ClearWay™ system:

  1. When installing Witness using the ClearWay™ Setup wizard, customise the Choose Components page by selecting Email from the Integration Plugin options. Then, complete the rest of the setup.

     

  2. Once Witness ClearWay™ has launched, select Mail Plugin under the Integration Configurations folder, in the Configuration Tree.

     

  3. Enable the Config Function, then select Edit in the Configuration Panel to configure the email options:


    Enable Plugin: Select to toggle the Plugin on and off.

    Priority: Define the minimum priority of Alarm that sends off an alert.

    Name: The name of the Plugin.

    Host: The server host for the outgoing email account.

    Port: The port for the outgoing email account.

    Use TLS: Transport Layer Security is a cryptographic protocol designed to provide communications security over a computer network. This must be selected when sending an email to or from an Office365 account.

    Send Timeout (s): The Send timeout period.

    User Name: The username for the outgoing email account.

    Password: The password for the outgoing email account.

    From: The outgoing email account.

    To: The receiving email account or accounts. The user can add multiple email addresses that must separated with a comma or semicolon.

    Send Stat Updates: Select to include Carriageway Status updates in the email alerts. Specifically, any change to a Queue status or an Empty Carriageway status.

  4. Select Save.

     

  5. Select Test Email in order to check that the Plugin has been correctly configured and is now functional.

     

  6. A test email should arrive shortly in the receiving inbox.

     

  7. The receiving inbox will now receive an email alert for every alarm equal to or greater than the designated priority.

SMS

To include this plugin for either Witness programme:

  1. When installing Witness using the wizard, customise the Choose Components page by selecting SMS from the Integration Plugin options. Then, complete the rest of the setup.

     

  2. Once Witness ClearWay™or AdvanceGuard® has launched, select SMS Plugin under the Integration Configurations folder, in the Configuration Tree.

     

  3. Enable the Config Function, then select Edit in the Configuration Panel to configure the text message options:

    Enabled: Select to enable text message notifications.

    Name: The name of the plugin.

    Provider:

BulkSMS: A UK based provider.

TextMarketer: A US based provider.

Username: The username supplied by your provider.

Password: The password supplied by your provider.

Recipients: Enter the recipients mobile numbers. International numbers are acceptable but will require the correct area codes. A comma should separate numbers if there are multiple recipients.

Alarm Priority: The minimum priority of alarm that will be sent as a notification.

Send Alarm Raised: Select to receive notifications when alarms are raised.

Send Alarm Cleared: Select to receive notifications when alarms are cleared.

Send Alarm Acknowledged: Select to receive notifications when alarms are acknowledged.

Send Health Alarms: Select to receive notifications when system health alarms are raised.

SMS Providers

Witness requires a third-party to support SMS integration, and it is necessary to choose and sign up for an SMS provider. There will be an external cost attached to this. Currently, two SMS providers are integrated into Witness:

BulkSMS

https://www.bulksms.com/products/sms-api.htm

According to BulkSMS, their SMS provider can:

  • Review "detailed reporting of all sent and received SMS messages."

  • "Build scalable solutions easily."

  • "Enable Sender IDs."

  • "Design software to interact and integrate with our system."

  • "Send messages using Unicode character sets."

  • Utilise "2-way messaging both locally and internationally."

TextMarketer

https://www.textmarketer.co.uk/

According to TextMarketer, their SMS provider offers:

  • "No set up fee, monthly fee or contracts - just powerful, affordable simple SMS."

  • "Extremely low prices and free unlimited UK support for you and your customers."

  • "High quality direct Tier 1 network connections."

  • "Quick and simple" integration - "you'll be up and running in minutes."

 

Safety is everything.