Setup instructions for sending SMS from the calendar of Lotus Notes
In this guide you can read about how to
provide SMS technology to your corporate IT system with the help of an SMS
gateway software. To achieve SMS functionality you need to configure your system
to be able to send SMS messages from the calendar of Lotus Notes.
Please check our video tutorial.
SMS functionality helps organize your business processes in an
effective way. With a powerful SMS gateway software you can setup a stable and
reliable SMS system.
This SMS communication system makes it possible to send SMS messages from
the calendar of Lotus Notes. If you create a reminder in this calendar
then it is possible to send your reminder in SMS messages to mobile phones.
Ozeki NG SMS Gateway can read calendar entries with the help of a built-in
"Database user". As Lotus Notes uses a unique database it needs to use
NotesSQL. NotesSQL makes it possible for Ozeki NG SMS Gateway to read data
from the database via standard ODBC connection.
If you decide to add SMS extension to the calendar of Lotus Notes you
will gain a well-functioning system which help to improve your customer and
business relations. With this reminder system you will not miss any
important dates or meetings as you will get reminder messages about your
important events. Furthermore, you can send notifications or reminders to any
recipients. To do so you just need to provide the requested phone numbers of
the mobile phones. Then the reminder message will be forwarded in a given time.
You can determine the exact time of message sending before you set the
properties of the reminder. In this installation guide you will find more
instructions on how to setup an SMS system.
Prerequisites
In order to setup this solution you need to find a way
to connect your system to the mobile network. You can do this
by using an Internet connection or you can
setup a wireless connection by attaching a GSM phone/GSM modem to your computer. To help you make a
decision, we have prepared a webpage for you:
Internet based SMS connections vs. GSM modem based (wireless) SMS connections.
Depending
on what you select, you need the following prerequisites.
Prerequisites for Internet based connection to the Mobile network
If you wish to connect your system to an SMS service
provider over the Internet you need the following components:
Figure 1/a - Prerequisites for Ozeki NG SMS
Gateway IP SMS connection
In this case you need to find an SMS service
provider who can reach the mobile phones in your area. This SMS
service provider should be able to provide SMS service through
the Internet. To find such a provider, you can check our
website where we list some of them:
SMPP SMS Service providers.
Once you have found such a provider, you need to sign up for
their service to get the connection parameters. You can use these parameters
to configure your Ozeki NG SMS Gateway software.
Prerequisites for wireless (GSM modem) connection to the Mobile network
If you wish to connect your system to the mobile
network wirelessly, you need a GSM modem or GSM phone, that you
can attach to your computer with a data cable. In this case your Ozeki
NG SMS Gateway software will operate this phone and will send and receive
SMS messages wirelessly. To setup this connection method, you need the following
components:
Figure 1/b - Prerequisites for Ozeki NG SMS
Gateway GSM modem connection
Your checklist (for GSM modem connection):
*The SIM card will come with a plan, that will
determine how much money you will spend on each SMS.
System architecture
With Ozeki's solution you can add SMS extension to Lotus Notes.
It functions as follows: In case of the calendar function you can configure
your software to send notifications about important events to one or more mobile
phones. You need to provide the time of the notification and also the addresses
of the recipients. The body of the message can be your calendar entry in
Lotus Notes or you can compose a short notification message. It will be
forwarded
to Ozeki NG SMS Gateway which reads it and sends a notification message to
the given recipients. As Lotus Notes uses a unique database you also need Lotus
Notes SQL. This will make it possible to connect over ODBC. This process can
be examined in Figure 2.
Figure 2 - Ozeki NG SMS Gateway - solution
for how to send SMS from the calendar of Lotus Notes
Configuration guide
If you wish to send SMS messages from the calendar of
Lotus Notes please follow this guide!
To create a reminder message first you need to generate an
ODBC connection. This connection will be connected to your database. Then you
also need to configure Ozeki NG SMS Gateway. In the calendar you have to
create a reminder. This entry can be sent in SMS to a given mobile phone.
Step 1. Install and configure Lotus NotesSQL.
First you need to
download Lotus NotesSQL. Then follow the setup instructions and install it
to your computer.
If you finish installation, update your System Environment Variables
in Start menu/My computer/Properties/Advanced/Environment Variables. You need
to click on "Edit" in "System Variables" window. "Edit system variables"
window appears. Now add your Lotus Notes Path to "Path Variables". There is a
given "Variable value" in the box. Now type the following after the
end of this value: C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Notes and click on
"OK" (Figure 3).
Figure 3 - System variables
After this you also need to create a new Lotus Notes ODBC
connection. You can do so if you go to Start menu/Control panel/Administrative
Tools. Here you find "Data sources (ODBC)" option. An "ODBC Data Source
Administrator" window appears. Here select the "System DNS" pane and click on
"Add..." (Figure 4).
Figure 4 - System DSN
Now select a driver for
which you want to set up a data source: Select Lotus NotesSQL Driver. Click on
"Finish" (Figure 5).
Figure 5 - Select a driver
In the "ODBC Lotus Notes Setup" window, which automatically
appears, you need to provide a data source name: "LotusReminder". Under this
box there is a "Description" option, here type "Lotus Reminder". To select
your Domino server you need to type in your password. Then select:
"vmxpeng/vmxpeng" (Figure 6).
Figure 6 - ODBC setup
You
also need to select your database: Now select your email database because
it will be the database of your calendar entries also. It needs to be
"mail\user.nsf". If you click on "Options" of Notes SQL, you can select
your username ("user/vmxpeng") and type your password in (Figure 7). Click
on "OK". Now the connection is ready.
Figure 7 - ODBC options
Step 2. Setup Ozeki NG SMS Gateway
To setup Ozeki NG SMS Gateway, select the "Manage/Configure"
option of Ozeki NG SMS
Gateway. Login with your admin user. To create a new database user click on "Add
new user or application" in the right hand side of the interface of Ozeki NG SMS
Gateway in "Users/Applications" pane (Figure 8).
Figure 8 - Add new user or application
Select "Database user" in the list and
click on "Install" next to it (Figure 9).
Figure 9 - Install the application
In the "SQL installation application" window you need
to provide a name for the database user: "LotusSmsReminder". Click on "OK"
(Figure 10).
Figure 10 - Provide a name for the
application
Now setup the database connection. In
"LotusSmsReminder-Configuration" window select the "Database connection" pane
and change Connection string type to "ODBC" and the connection string to
"DSN=LotusReminder;" (Figure 11).
Figure 11 - SMS reminder configuration window
Now open
"SQL for sending" pane. In "Polling" tab change the "SQL select statement
used for polling messages" to the following statement (Figure 12):
SELECT ApptUNID AS id,'' AS sender, Body AS receiver, Subject AS msg, ''
AS msgtype, '' AS operator FROM Appointment WHERE Categories = 'sms'
AND AppointmentType = '4' AND ((StartDate = '$currentdate' AND StartTime
<= '$currenttime') OR StartDate < '$currentdate') |
Figure 12 - Poll option
Still in "SQL for sending" pane, select "Sending" tab and
type the following statement for SQL update. This statement will be used if
polling process has been successful (Figure 13):
UPDATE Appointment SET Categories = 'sms - sending' WHERE ApptUNID = '$id'
|
Figure 13 - Sending option
The category of the reminders always shows the current status
of SMS messages (it shows if it is sent, not sent, delivered, undelivered).
Select "Sent" tab and type the following statement
(Figure 14):
UPDATE Appointment SET Categories = 'sms - sent' WHERE ApptUNID = '$id'
|
Figure 14 - Sent option
Select "Not sent" tab and type the following statement
(Figure 15):
UPDATE Appointment SET Categories = 'sms - not sent' WHERE ApptUNID = '$id'
|
Figure 15 - Not-sent option
In "Delivered" tab type the following statement
(Figure 16):
UPDATE Appointment SET Categories = 'sms - delivered' WHERE ApptUNID = '$d'
|
Figure 16 - Delivered option
In "Undelivered" tab type the following statement
(Figure 17):
UPDATE Appointment SET Categories = 'sms - undelivered' WHERE ApptUNID = '$id'
|
Figure 17 - Undelivered option
Now go to "SQL for receiving" pane and uncheck the
"Use this database connection for receiving messages" option as you cannot
receive SMS in this database connection. Click on "OK" (Figure 18).
Figure 18 - Uncheck the option
In the "LotusSmsReminder" (SQL) window which is on the left
side of the gateway's interface click on "Events". Here you can see if
the database connection is successful.
Step 3. Create a new SMS reminder
You can provide the exact time when you want to send your
SMS reminder.
To create a new SMS reminder you need to start Lotus Notes.
Login with your username and password. To create a new reminder open the
Calendar of Lotus Notes. Click on "New" and select "Reminder" (Figure 19).
Figure 19 - New reminder
In the
"Subject" line type your message. You also need to provide the exact time of
the reminder. Then provide the category of the reminder: "SMS". In the
"Description" field you can provide the phone numbers of recipients. In case
of more than one recipients separate the phone numbers with semicolons. Finally,
click on "Save and close" option at the upper left side (Figure 20). In the
calendar you can check the generated reminder.
Figure 20 - Reminder settings
Now open Ozeki NG SMS Gateway and login with your username
and password. On the right side, select LotusSmsReminder and in the outbox
you can check your reminder SMS as it is ready for delivery (Figure 21).
Figure 21 - Sent reminder
If you click on the reminder in the
calendar of Lotus Notes you can see that the category of the reminder
has changed to "SMS-sending" from "SMS" (Figure 22).
Figure 22 - SMS sending
Thank you for reading this guide
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