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SMS

Submitted by Guest on Wed, 22/12/2021 - 09:43

OpenVPMS supports SMS via provider-specific plugins, or using email-to-SMS gateways.

SMS Plugins

Clickatell

A plugin is included for Clickatell that enables SMS statuses to be tracked. This requires:

  1. a Clickatell account
  2. a Clickatell REST API integration
  3. plugin support enabled, if required
  4. the plugin to be installed; and
  5. configured

1. Clickatell account

Clickatell accounts can be obtained at https://www.clickatell.com/sign-up/

2. Clickatell REST API Integration

To create a Clickatell REST API:

  1. Go to https://portal.clickatell.com/
  2. On the left panel, click SMS - Configure SMS
  3. Click Create new integration
  4. Enter a Name and Description
  5. Under API Type, click REST
  6. Click Next, and fill out any additional features.
  7. Save the integration.
  8. Make a note of the API Key. This is required by the plugin.

NOTE: Two-way messaging can be enabled but the plugin is unable to receive replies.

3. Enable Plugin Support

Plugin support is provided in Administration - System - Plugins.

See the corresponding help for instructions on enabling plugins.

4. Install the Clickatell plugin

To install the plugin:

  1. Go to Administration - System - Plugins
  2. Click Install Plugin
  3. Upload the Clickatell plugin from <OPENVPMS_HOME>/plugins/clickatell-openvpms-plugin.jar
    For OpenVPMS 2.3, the plugin is named clickatell-openvpms-plugin-2.3.jar
  4. once uploaded it should appear in the list of plugins as Clickatell OpenVPMS plugin, with a status of Active
  5. Log-out/in. This is required as the plugin archetypes aren't visible

5. Configure the Clickatell Plugin

To configure the plugin:

  1. Go to Administration - Organisation
  2. Click New - Clickatell
    Fill out the fields: 
  • API Key - the API key generated by 2.8 above
  • Country Prefix - the country code, e.g. 61 for Australia, 44 for the UK, etc
  • Area Prefix - the digit used to prefix the area code, i.e. 0 for Australia
     

A description of the remaining fields is available at Administration - Organisation - Clickatell.

  1. Click Apply
  2. Locate the Practice
  3. Click Edit
  4. In the SMS field select the Clickatell configuration
  5. Make sure the Service User is set to an active administrator
  6. Click Apply
  7. Log-out/in. This is required as the Practice change only takes effect on login.

Email-to-SMS gateways

 

For email-to-SMS gateways, the Practice must be configured with a Mail Server.
This Mail Server should not be configured to add footers to outgoing emails, as they may be appended to SMS messages. This can:

  • increase the cost of sending an SMS
  • cause the SMS provider to discard the message, if it is too long

Having done that you can proceed with the SMS setup discussed below.

Two email-to-SMS gateways are supported out of the box:

To sign up, go to: https://www.smsglobal.com/mxt-sign-up/
SMSGlobal allows you to send a small number of test messages for free after you register.

Now use Administration - Organisation - SMS Configuration: SMSGlobal Email2SMS

  • Clickatell mail-to-SMS gateway (http://www.clickatell.com )
    This is only available for Clickatell users who registered prior to 2016.
    For newer users and additional features, the Clickatell plugin above should be used.

Clickatell allows you to send a small number of test messages for free after you register but sends a preformatted SMS until you pay.
To sign up:

After signing up, logon and click the 'Manage My Products' tab. Then click 'SMTP [Email to SMS]'  link the click "Submit and Get API ID". The API ID is needed when configuring OpenVPMS.

Now use Administration - Organisation - SMS Configuration: Clickatell SMTP Connection
 

If you want to use another provider, then you should be able to do so using the Generic Gateway. You will need some knowledge of the gateway message format requirements and xpath expressions.
See Administration - Organisation - SMS Configuration: Generic Email Gateway

 

The SMSGlobal and Clickatell configuration screens hide the underlying detail, and indeed it is possible to configure an SMSGlobal or Clickatell gateway using the Generic configuration screens.  Similarly, it is possible to create a tailored screen for another vendor.  If you want to do this see here.

Once configured, these must be linked to the practice:

  1. Locate the Practice
  2. Click Edit
  3. In the SMS field select the SMS configuration
  4. Make sure the Service User is set to an active administrator
  5. Click Apply

 

 

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