Prerequisites

Before adding a Send Text MessageClosed The Send Text Message tool is used to create and send data-driven, personalised text messages to customers, employees, prospects, suppliers, and so on. Sending can be automated to guarantee the timing of the text messages. task step, ensure you have met the following:

Installing the Microsoft Message Queue

Use the ConfiguratorClosed You use the Configurator to install third-party software that may be required by available tools. Connection to required agents are also configured here. Note that you can only launch the Configurator if logged into the machine with Administrator rights. to install the MSMQ if you have not already done so.

Microsoft Message Queuing Server Feature Configuration Check

The MSMQ feature of the Windows operating system is used by the Send Text Message tool to process messages sent by the Send Text Message tool. It is this that provides resilience to the Send Text Message feature.

By default, this is not installed on Windows servers. You must click the Install button to fulfil this prerequisite. Note that if you have installed the Message Gateway Agent first, this prerequisite may already be fulfilled.

This feature is only for installation onto the BPA Platform server.

Microsoft Message Queuing HTTP Feature Configuration Check

The HTTP feature of the MSMQ is required by the Send Text Message tool to communicate with the Message Gateway Agent.

By default, this is not installed on Windows servers. You must click the Install button to fulfil this prerequisite. If the computer hosting BPA Platform is missing other components required by the HTTP feature, you are prompted to install these too. Note that if you have installed the Message Gateway Agent first, this prerequisite may already be fulfilled.

This feature is only for installation onto the BPA Platform server.

Microsoft Message Queuing Triggers Configuration Check

The Triggers service of the MSMQ is required by the Send Text Message tool to notify BPA Platform (via the Event Log) of any failed messages.

By default, this is not installed on Windows servers. You must click the Install button to fulfil this prerequisite.

This feature is only for installation onto the BPA Platform server.

Installing and Registering the Message Gateway Agent

Use the Configurator to install and register the Message Gateway Agent if you have not already done so.

Microsoft Message Queuing Server Feature Configuration Check

The Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) feature of the Windows operating system is used by the Message Gateway to process messages sent by the Send Text Message tool. It is this that provides resilience to the Send Text Message feature.

By default, this is not installed on Windows servers. You must click the Install button to fulfil this prerequisite. Note that if you have installed the Send Text Message tool first, this prerequisite may already be fulfilled.

This feature is only for installation onto the BPA Platform server.

Microsoft Message Queuing HTTP Feature Configuration Check

The HTTP feature of the MSMQ is required by the Message Gateway to communicate with the Message Gateway Agent.

By default, this is not installed on Windows servers. You must click the Install button to fulfil this prerequisite. If the computer hosting BPA Platform is missing other components required by the HTTP feature, you are prompted to install these too. Note that if you have installed the Send Text Message tool first, this prerequisite may already be fulfilled.

This feature is only for installation onto the BPA Platform server.

Registering the Message Gateway Agent

In the Configurator, go to Tool Specific > Send Text Message > Message Gateway Agent > Configuration and click Register to complete the process.

Connecting to Your ToucanText Account

You must create a connection to your ToucanText account. You do this in the Send Text Message – Global Configuration interface. You open this interface from the resources tree — expand System > Tools > Output and double-click Send Text Message in the items list.

If you do not have a ToucanText account click Sign-Up. This redirects you to the ToucanText website where you can create the account to retrieve messages from. In order to complete the registration process, you must have a valid email address and mobile number to hand.

Click Add.

Add a unique Connection name.

Choose the relevant text message Provider from the drop-down — note that the parameters differ slightly depending on the chosen provider. The example above is for the default and recommended provider of ToucanText.

In Server Details, you either:

► Enter either the hostname or the IP address of the BPA Platform server hosting the ToucanText Message Gateway
► If the gateway is located on the same computer as this instance of BPA Platform, select Local Computer

By default, text messages are sent from "ToucanText". To change this, enable Use source address (sender title/display name), and enter the new "sender" in the box below. This can be a valid mobile number or a string up to 32-characters long.

Enter the credentials (API Username and API Password) of the ToucanText account used to send text messages.

Use Test to ensure the message gateway can be connected to using the provided credentials. Note that a text message balance check is performed at the same time.

For more information, go to Connecting to the Text Message Provider.

Where Should I Use a Send Text Message Step?

The Send Text Message tool is an Output category tool, therefore would typically be used as the last step of a task, or as near to end as can be.

Example

The following example shows a process flow using a Send Text Message step:

Send Text Message - Example Task

This could be from a school where parents are alerted to certain events, such as, a "snow day" or special assemblies.

This task monitors emails for the keyword "Snow" via the Email Trigger (SMTP)Closed The Email Trigger (SMTP) tool triggers a task to run based on the contents of incoming or outgoing mail sent via an SMTP mail server. tool. When one is received, the task is triggered to run. The text message contents are already stored in the Format as TextClosed The Format as Text tool creates single or multiple text documents, using information provided by Input tools such as the Database Query (ODBC) tool. It requires no global settings. step. The Send Text Message step consumes the document produced by the format tool and sends the text messages.

For more information about creating tasks, see How to Create a Basic Task.

Adding a New Task Step

To add a new Send Text Message step to an existing task:

  1. Open the relevant task (if creating a new task, see How to Create a Basic Task).
  2. Either:
► Click and drag the Send Text Message icon from the Task Browser to the task Design area.

–OR–

► From the task's Design tab, right-click on empty space and select New > Output > Send Text Message.
  1. In the General tab, Name this task step and, if required, choose a document to send.

    The General tab is used to Name and describe (Description) this task step.

    Tip: If this task instance makes use of two or more Send Text Message steps, ensure the Name used is unique for each individual step.

    ►Read documents from a source — Enable this parameter if document data from a Format task step is required when creating the text message.
    ■Document Source — Contains all available documents from Format steps previously created in the task; note that the document format is displayed after the step name.

    For more information, go to the main General tab topic.

  2. Go to the Connection tab and choose the relevant email server created previously.
  3. Go to the Main tab and configure the text message details.

    Send Text Message - Step Configuration - Select Recipients

    Click the image to view full size.

    Click To and add the recipient's number. Use task variablesClosed Variables are created and used extensively throughout and can either have fixed values or values that are dynamically populated when a task is run. Task variables are only available for the specific task they are created for. Users with Task Administrator rights can create task variables. or recordset columns to make use of dynamic content that populates the number at run-time.

    You can choose whether the text message consists of:

    ►Message Only — Enable this option to create the text message in the space provided. Variables, recordset columns, and step properties can be dragged in to create dynamic data.
    ►Document Output — If a document from a previous task step is being consumed, enable this option to use the consumed document as the text message. Note that this does not allow you to add extra text to the text message.

    For more information, go to the main Main tab topic.

  4. Go to the Options tab and select the relevant error handling options for this task step.

    The Options tab allows you to define how errors in this step are handled at task runtime.

    If an error occurs, you can decide whether the step should Continue processing, or terminate the step immediately (Abort Step).

    If the step is aborted, you can choose to Continue processing onto the next step in the task, or terminate the whole task immediately (Abort Task).

  5. Click  to save the task step.