Bulk SMS {GSMS}

This is a short overview on Bulk SMS and its use. This is an interface for the user to automatically create the file containing cell phone numbers and the messages that need to be sent to Foneworx (third party).

The following factors needs to be in place before bulk SMS can kick off. ITS creates the below mentioned setup, and the user then has the responsibility of updating them.

Step 1: {BATCH-7} FTP Directories

Column Name	Value Description
System	GEN
Function	Bulk SMS Transfer
Suffix	txt
Directory	Directory where the output will reside. This is on the application server.

Step 2: {GCS2-11} System Operational Definitions

Code	Subsystem	Description	Alpha, Date, Numeric	Alpha Field
DC	SM	Bulk SMS Default Cell	A	<default cell number>
DE	SM	Bulk SMS Default Email	A	<default email address for notification>

Step 3: {GCS2-18} B2B Parameters

Code	Function	Parameter Type	Parameter Name	Parameter Value	Sequence	Reference Type
BULKSMS	SEND	FTPPWD	x	FTP password for the FTP user	1	V
BULKSMS	SEND	FTPSVR	x	Name of the FTP server.	1	V
BULKSMS	SEND	FTPUSR	x	User name when doing the FTP	1	V

What is bulk SMS ?

It is a way of sending Bulk SMSs to

Students
Personnel
Any other set of numbers

Available Selections {GSMS-1} g2uapp

This option will provide the user with the following options allowing the user to navigate to the correct block to create the SMS file of his/her choice:

1.    Create or modify a SMS file based on Comment codes
2.    Create or modify a SMS file based on Status codes
3.    Create or modify a SMS file based on Student applications
4.    Create or modify a SMS file based on Student registrations
5.    Create or modify a SMS file based on Other criteria
6.    View log of SMSes sent

This block is based on the recipient table and will show a list of student numbers, cell phone numbers and whether an SMS has been sent or not. This will allow the user to see whether a particular student has been sent an SMS. The user will be able to query on a cell phone number, student number or sequence number.

{GSMS-2} g7hccc.pc SMS Transmission

This programme will create the ASCII file that will be sent to ITS for forwarding to Foneworx. The user will be asked to select a sequence number from a list of sequence numbers specified.

Before the programme writes a line in the ASCII file with the cell phone number and the message the student needs to receive, the cell phone number needs to be parsed and validated. A line is also written in a log report detailing the message, student number and cell phone number that the message has been sent to. If the cell phone number field is empty or the cell phone number is not a valid number, an error is recorded in the log report. When all the student numbers have been processed, the additional cell phone numbers fetched at the beginning of the programme with the message lines, need to be added to the ASCII file with the message.

At the end of the log report, the programme needs to list how many total records processed, how many SMSes sent and how many errors recorded. The report will also indicate if the SMS contains multiple lines - each line being an SMS on its own. For example, if there 200 characters in the SMS then 2 messages will have to be sent to each recipient. The report will indicate this as <number of recipients> x 2.

When the programme has finished processing all the students linked to a sequence number, the sent flag in the message will be updated to Y. It does not matter whether that there are errors when creating the ASCII file.

The programme has a Trial or Update option. If the user selects Trial, the programme will produce only the ASCII file and the log report. The tables in the database will not be updated. This will allow the user to see how many SMSes will be sent and how many errors there are. The tables in the database will only be updated when the user selects the Update option.

If a sequence number that is linked to an ASCII input file is selected, the programme will to import the numbers listed in the input file into the recipient table. The programme will be able to determine whether the number in the input file is a cell phone number or a student number. If the number is 9 digits or less, it is a student number otherwise it is a cell phone number. The student number needs to be inserted into the student number field in the recipient table. All other numbers need to be inserted into the cell phone number field.

When the programme has finished importing the input file into the recipient table, normal processing will continue. For all student numbers the programme will fetch the cell phone number from the address detail. Once this is completed, the programme will validate and parse the cell phone numbers before writing to the ASCII file and the log report .

The Generation Process.

History of Changes

Date	System Version	By Whom	Job	Description
12-Jan-2008	v01.0.0.0	Charlene van der Schyff	t152712	New manual format.
28-Aug-2008	v01.0.0.0	Vaughn Dumas	t152172	System owner proofread
24-Sep-2009	v01.0.0.1	Charlene van der Schyff	t161944	Insert links.