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IPSentry - Alert - Pager - Alpha (TAP/SMS) Configuration
The Alpha (TAP/SMS) pager configuration provides you with the ability to send textual (and meaningful) messages to pagers and cell phones during the alert cycle.
Before configuring Alpha pager alerts, you will need to get the following information from your paging service.
TAP Compliant
Make sure that your service provider offers a TAP compliant dialup terminal
for sending alphanumeric messages. If they are not TAP compliant, this
feature will not work without customized scripting - and event then, it is
questionable depending on the requirements of the paging service. You
may need to look at email alpha paging as an alternative.
Get the TAP Paging Terminal Number
Your service provide needs to provide you with a phone number that will
allow a connection with their paging service. This number will NOT be
the same as numeric or voice paging numbers and when dialed manually should
result in only a modem handshake tone sequence as an effort to connect.
If you dial the number provided and receive anything other than modem
signals, that is not the correct number.
Confirm the Paging Terminal Settings
Make sure that you have the correct baud rate or modem connect speed to use
when connecting. This is normally 1200 or 2400 bps. Very seldom
is the speed requirement above this.
Make sure that you have the correct data settings (E71 is standard but may
be N81).
Confirm your Pager ID
The Pager ID you will use can vary greatly among various providers.
You may be required to use anything from your full actual pager number, a
PIN number, to only a part of your PIN or Pager number.
For example, locally I was originally required to use the last 7 digits of
my pager number. After a few months of successful pages, the messages
were getting lost. After speaking to 5 different people at my paging
company, I found out that I now had to use the last 7 digits of a special
PIN (not to mention that the alpha dialup number had also changed).
The accuracy of the information provided will ultimately depend on the
quality of the support person with which you speak.
Confirm Password requirements.
Fortunately, very few providers require a password entry. Of those
that do, they will most likely emphasize this fact while discussing the
configuration.
Maximum Message Lengths
The default of 80 characters per message was in place due to the cost of
sending messages and the amount of data being processed. In most cases
now, a message length of 255 characters and greater is no big deal for
providers. Just make sure that you know what the maximum message size
is and that you enter that value.
Who did you speak with?
Believe it or not, this is VERY important. If the configuration is all
botched up, you can contact this person to verify the settings and avoid the
lengthy explanation of "Why you want the settings" - they already
know.
Mention IPSentry
While support persons may not have heard of IPSentry (or myriad other paging
packages available). Mentioning IPSentry may enhance the accuracy the
results due to the fact that your paging company is in the business of
providing a timely and efficient service to their customers. If they
can quickly provide you with the information required for use with IPSentry
in a timely and expedient way, they will do so.
After: Let us know about the service.
We are building a database of wireless paging services and their
requirements for sending pages integrated with IPSentry. Once you have
configured IPSentry to function with your provider, please feel free to send
us a report of any problems you encountered, and possibly how they were
solved - this will help us to provide more efficient support to other
customers who might not be able to work out the problems that you have
already solved.
Although the link is not yet available, this database will be used to post
information regarding pager services and configuration details on our site.
Dial Number
Enter the phone number of your paging service in this field.
Remember, this is the TAP Terminal number to which your modem will establish a
data connection for the transmission of your pager message.
TAPI Device Considerations
When setting the "Use TAPI Device" option, pay close attention to the format of the entry. Ideally, the phone number entered in this field should reflect the properly formatted phone number for your locale. eg: North America: +c (aaa) ppp-ssss Where c=country code, a=area code, p=prefix, s=suffix .
Any settings that have been applied to special dialing rules for the location selected under Modem/Port Settings tab will be utilized when this number is dialed.
Direct to COM port Considerations
When using Direct to Com, the contents of this field are sent AS-IS to the communications port immediately following the AT command found in the Dial String field under the Modem/Port Settings tab. No conversion is performed on the contents of this field.
If you are required to dial a 9 for an outside line, you will need to specify that in this field. Similarly, if you are required to use an accounting code after dialing, that too will need to be specified.
An example of dialing 9 for an outside line and an accounting code 2 seconds after dialing the number would result in the Dial Number being set to: 9,5551212,,999
This also assumes that the modem considers a comma to be a one second delay. On some modems, it may be considered a 2 second delay and on others more or less. You will need to consult your modem AT Command settings reference to ensure that the modem is configured properly.What's this TAPI: (null) message?
You will notice at the bottom of the pager configuration window a box that contains either TAPI: (null) or TAPI: (+1 (xxx) xxx-xxxx) or another phone number.
The purpose of this field is to show you that the values you have entered in the dialing fields will result in an accurate dialing of the number.
TAPI: (null) simply means that if IPSentry were to attempt a page through a TAPI device with the settings you have entered, no number would be dialed. This can be due to an invalid phone number, invalid pager ID, invalid custom code. This can even be due to the length of the dialing string being too long.
The most common problem is the invalid entry of the Dial Number field. Try entering the number in international format as noted above +c (aaa) ppp-ssss.
This is ONLY relevant when you have selected "Use TAPI Device". If the message persists after editing the various fields try using the "Direct to COM" settings since the requirements set forth in the configuration may not be able to be handled by TAPI dialing commands. (Usually associated to numeric pager settings)
Connect Timeout
This field represents the number of seconds IPSentry should wait for a
successful connection. We recommend a value between 45 and 60 seconds.
The time to consider is the total number of seconds required to dial the number
and establish a modem negotiation connection.
Error Retry Count
If the paging notification fails, you can specify how many times IPSentry should
retry the pager alert before giving up and continuing on with other alerts and
monitoring tasks. This value represents the number of RETRIES that will be
attempted such that a value of zero (0) will signify that no retry to deliver
the pager notification should be attempted.
Pager ID
This field will vary depending on your paging service requirements. (See
notation #4 above).
The Pager ID may be your actual pager number or a part of it. This can be
a PIN that has already been assigned or just a part of that. This can also
be some completely different identifier. You will need to contact your
pager provider for details on this value.
Password
If your paging service requires a password to send text messages, you will need
to enter that value here. In most cases, no password is required and this
field can remain blank.
Text Message
Enter the textual message that should be sent to the recipients alpha pager.
The contents of this message are sent through the IPSentry
keywords processor to
replace any keywords with appropriate values before sending.
Once all keywords have been replaced, the message may be truncated to the length
specified in the Max Length field. ** Be sure to put the most important
information at the beginning of the message. This will allow you to
identify the cause of the page without scrolling on your pager and avoid the
truncation of important information due to the max length restriction.
Max Length
Some pager services limit the size of a message that can be sent to a mobile
device. Due to the fact that a message that exceeds this length may be
rejected by the paging system, IPSentry first truncates the message to ensure
that at least the first (n) characters are sent on the alert. It is better
to receive part of a failure alert than no alert at all. Again, check with
your paging service to verify the maximum message length that they will
transmit.
Note: This is also useful for services that charge a fee for long messages
allowing you to limit costs by keeping messages under this limit.
Force Uppercase
Checking this option will cause the entire message to be converted to upper
case. Some international paging systems have been found to convert
lowercase values to special characters or simply ignore them completely.
This setting provides you with the workaround as well as a means to send
messages to device that only support upper case letters.
New Script (button)
For specialized paging functionality, use this button to load the IPSentry quick
script editor and create a new script. (See IPSentry
Scripting )
Edit Script (button)
For specialized paging functionality, use this button to load the IPSentry quick
script editor and edit the currently selected paging script. (See IPSentry
Scripting )
Script File
For specialized paging functionality, this list contains all of the currently
available paging scripts located in the PGScript directory under IPSentry. (See IPSentry
Scripting )
Modem/Port
Settings
The Modem/Port Settings tab provides hardware and modem configurations options
required to access the modem and deliver the page successfully.
Regardless of whether you are using DTMF or TAP/SMS pagers, these settings must
be accurate.
Depending on whether you are using the Direct to COM Port setting or the Use
TAPI Device setting, certain fields will be available.
SCREEN SAMPLES
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