SMS (or "Text Messaging") is a rapidly developing communication channel used by many organizations where their PIER communities use cell phones widely. When properly configured, vital messages (typically limited to 140 characters of text) can be delivered to those phones through their service providers even when connection strength is low or intermittent. 

Proper configuration requires elements on the PIER Site, as well as agreement from the cell phone users to receive messages from the Site. We use the term "opt-in" for that agreement, which is dictated by Federal "CAN-SPAM" act legislation.

Benefits can also include certain "gateway" capabilities for sending text messages to PIER.

Site Configuration

PIER maintains a "Short Code" telephone number that can be shared among all sites. While an organization can purchase a separate short code and have that integrated with their PIER Site(s), most organizations use the 84469 code.

Each PIER Site is required to have a "keyword" established that is unique across the PIER System. This keyword is required for SMS Distributions and their responses, as well as for "Gateway" interfaces for SMS Messages sent to the PIER Site.

Contact PIER Systems to configure these two items for each Site.

Directory Configuration

Contact Directory definitions include a flag with each of the 3 Phone fields labeled "SMS Opt-In". This is a designation that is used when initiating the "opt-in" process.

User Configuration

By default, SMS Messages are sent to the "opted in" phone numbers associated with Contacts (which are held in Contact Directories and may be referenced by Contact Groups). If non-SMS capable numbers are marked as "opted in", charges will be incurred when attempting to send messages to these numbers, even though the phone devices are unable to receive them.

For this reason, we recommend as a best practice to establish specific phone field(s) (Phone 1, Phone 2, Phone 3) to use for SMS capable numbers. Then Contact Directories can be set to automatically opt-in the particular phone number field(s) when adding a contact with a number in the particular field(s). This will prevent unintentional charges from occurring due to invalid SMS numbers.

Secondly, each phone number needs to be "opted in" for each site. It is important to note that a phone number may be recorded under multiple Contacts, and even on multiple PIER Sites. For example, if Charlie and Sally share an SMS capable phone number in their contact information for a given Site, a single "opt" status will be maintained for the number, not for each individual contact. However, - if that phone is also registered with another PIER Site (Charlie is also on another site), - there will be a separate "opt" status maintained for the phone number on that Site.

The standard opt-in procedure is an industry requirement, and includes 3 messages. The first is to REQUEST an opt-in (from PIER), the second is to receive an APPROVAL (from the phone), and the third is to confirm with a START message (from PIER). It's a noble idea to reduce SPAM, but it's a hefty process and there are dollar costs for each of the three messages, -  for every phone (for each site).

In order to initiate the procedure, go to Settings>>Contacts>>Send SMS Opt-In Requests, and select a Contact Directory. The phone fields marked in the Contact Directory specification as "SMS Opt-In" will "checked" by default.

Each Contact record lists phone numbers associated with it and the "opt" status for each number is also shown. The status will be one of the following:

• Opt-In - set this value when you would like PIER to begin the process of opting this number in
• *Opt-In Requested - PIER has begun the opt-in process (*not settable)
• *Opted-In  - the phone number has been opted in (*not settable)
• Opt-Out - the phone number has been opted-out
• Not SMS - this is not an SMS phone

Issues and Anomalies

Occasionally there will be Contact records with overlapping phone numbers, and the SMS flags can appear in unexpected places. As an example, you may organize all of your SMS phone numbers into the Phone1 field. Charlie may have his Phone1 in "Opted-In" status. However if Sally includes Charlie's number in her Phone2 field, then her Phone2 will also show the "Opted-In" status.

At least one cell phone company commonly blocks out short codes without the customers informed consent. If this is the case, they will not receive SMS messages from PIER until the block is removed by the customer with the phone. If you believe this to be the case, text the word "HELP" to 84469 and wait for a response. If no response is received, contact the telephone vendor and ask for removal of the block for that (PIER) short code.

Distribution

Documents typically have several parts which will include variations in their content.  The "Text" tab will contain only the written information, - no formatting or graphics. This part may also be used for Text-to-Voice (phone) distributions, with both duration and expense considerations as common concerns. There is a character counter at the bottom of the Text tab.

If a document is larger, contains graphics or significant formatting in the "HTML" part (see Documents), - it is worthwhile to consider visiting the Text tab, disabling the content generation (the automatic link), and editing the text version of the message to an appropriate size (perhaps 140 characters). Often this Part of the message is very terse (even utilizing "text speak" for the content (or "4 the content")). Typically these messages merely relate the primary point and refer the reader back to the web site for more compete information.

If a message is longer than a particular cell phone carrier allows, then the message will likely be broken into several segments and delivered using several messages.

The reply number for a Text message will be the PIER Short code (84469), or in some cases the short code purchased by your organization and configured specifically with PIER personnel.

When the Site Configuration has a "keyword" set, the "SMS (Text Message)" option will be displayed in the Methods section of the Send - Distribute window. For any phone number associated with any recipient on the list, if that phone number is in the "Opted-In" status, they will be sent a text message. (If the message is larger than the maximum number of characters, multiple messages may be sent.)

SMS and Gateways

In addition to receiving and processing messages for the "opt-in / opt-out" operations, PIER can be configured to receive SMS messages and generate Inquiries or Documents for the Site. Information available for the "contact" is limited to just the phone number from the caller ID, and information for a document or an inquiry is limited to the text in the SMS message.

For further discussion, please refer to the Gateways document.

Additional Information

• Glossary - PIER Terminology - Selected Industry Terms
• People - Users and Contacts : Contact configuration includes SMS. PIER Users' phone numbers validate their credentials
• Documents: Text "Parts" of Documents are sent for SMS, and SMS Messaging can be used for creating documents
• Distributions : How distributions work in general
• Inquiries : Inquiries can be received and answered via SMS
• Gateways : SMS Gateways can be configured to create Inquiries or Documents
• SMS - Frequently Asked Questions : PIER FAQ document