SMS Service

With the SMS Service feature, customers can utilise SMS as a powerful communication tool through integration with alert forms.

Summary

This feature gives users the ability to access SMS capability directly from OFS Fusion-Manager, with no need to set up external services, manage credit balances, or any other technical hurdles.

Overview

As with other services, SMS has its own tab in the Fusion Manager Services menu. 

Once the feature has been enabled, the SMS tab in the Services menu will be accessible. The new interface for creating a service only requires the following information:

• Country Code

• Recipient phone number

• Backup email address

• Message

The backup email address is used in cases where an sms fails to be sent, and includes a subject indicating why the sms failed.

As with other services, string templates (eg: ) can be used to include dynamic variable data from associated alert forms when triggered.

Once created, the Update & Test button can be used to confirm that all information entered is valid.

The scheduling tab is no different to other services. 

Service Limits

From v11.8, OFS is providing SMS service to customers as an included service. The ability to send SMS messages to OFS users is designed to send critical alerts which require immediate attention, and messages are limited per-recipient-per-day accordingly.

This is aligned with the idea of sending actionable intelligence to users - if a factory stakeholder was sent 100 SMS messages a day, they're unlikely to change their behaviour accordingly. This is a known phenomenon called alert fatigue and should be avoided at all costs.

In step with this thinking, a global limit is set per server. Typically this will allow a handful of messages per-number per-day but you should contact your OFS representatives to check your specific limit or if a change is required.

Once the message limit is reached for a given recipient, an additional limit reached sms will be sent to the phone number, informing the recipient of how long until the service will be able to send messages again. Any subsequent messages will be sent to the backup email address.