We have a linux box with smstools on it and a wavecom SMS modem plugged into it.  We send emails to the box in the format 0215551234@boxname.netspace.net.nz and the subject gets sent as a txt to the number.  Was as easy as anything linux to set up, so not hard but some clue required.

We initially did this so we could get alerts when our external connectivity went down, but now use it for general service monitoring and some (non-critical) authentication services as well.

Still relies on the txt message getting sent by Vodafone though, and as there's no ACK on a txt it's not guaranteed, but has been fairly reliable over the years.  The SMS modems seem to die after 3 years, but apart from that it's been great :^)

If anyone is using anything more reliable I would be very interested to hear about it too.

Cheers,
Gerard

On 17/04/2007 11:18 a.m., Jasper Bryant-Greene wrote:
On this - we have found SMS to be a bit unreliable lately, with messages
being delivered hours late or not at all. I am aware that SMS does not
provide "guaranteed delivery" - what methods are others on this list
using to send alerts reliably?

Cheers
Jasper

On Tue, 2007-04-17 at 11:10 +1200, Philip D'Ath wrote:
  
We looked briefly at one of the free Vodafone services like this.  There
was a rate limit of something like 10 messages per day (don't recall
exact number), and then the excess get dropped.  In our case we went for
Vodafone's commercial service to make sure we got all our monitoring
TXT's.

-----Original Message-----
From: Samuel Collinson [mailto:scollinson@quicksilver.net.nz] 
Sent: Tuesday, 17 April 2007 11:01 a.m.
To: Dan Clark
Cc: NZ Network Operators Group
Subject: Re: [nznog] Email to SMS gateway

A friend of mine at Vodafone tells me it costs 20c per message 
received.  However, it is not a promoted service and may be discontinued

at any time.


Dan Clark wrote:
    
I have investigated options in the past with these types of service, 
you may need to check that your not getting charged per message 
received, as this is now possible with the opt-in type of service.
Well worth trying though no doubt.

Dan

On 4/17/07, *Clark Mills* <c.mills@auckland.ac.nz 
<mailto:c.mills@auckland.ac.nz>> wrote:

    Hi all.

    I read this on one of our internal mailing lists, thought it might
    be of
    interest / use.  We use something like this for server monitoring
    but it's not
    so good if your email server / network is down, aside from the
    potential
    lagginess [SP?] that sometimes occurs with the SMS service.

    Still, it may have some value to you.

    Of course if any information below is wrong, please let me know.

    Cheers...  Clark


      
========================================================================
=========
    
    [forwarded & edited]

    If you are on Vodafone, you can 'register' you phone by texting
    the letter R to
    the number 901.  You should then get back a 'you are registered
    etc' welcome
    message.

    Once your phone is registered anyone/thing can send you a txt by
    using an email
    address such as:

         6421123456@sms.vodafone.net.nz
    <mailto:6421123456@sms.vodafone.net.nz>

    Where your mobile number is presumed to be 021-123456.

    As far as I know, there is no charge for this service.

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