Sometimes certain situations happen when there is a need to coordinate the actions of employees, send company's news to the customers and notify them about alterations without excessive spending on a corporate communication. Also the same important is the use of a tool for SMS notifications when critical events appear at important objects, for example, a notification about exceeding a safe temperature in a server room, sudden server shutdown, or entry of unauthorized individuals to an object, and many others.
A connection between a NetPing SMS gateway with a Zapier platform allows organizing a possibility to receive information from emails to cell phones as SMS notifications. NetPing SMS is an independent network device that works as an SMS gateway and allows sending SMS notifications and execute SMS commands that are sent via the Ethernet/Internet network. Zapier is a system platform for the exchange of data between web applications using software that supports more than 300 applications. Zapier may be used to connect different cloud services and automation of repeated processes. Zapier eliminates a necessity to pay a developer for a mutual integration of services that have crucial meaning for business. In addition, the platform allows configuring a free account and deal with configuring connections between applications in several minutes.
Let us consider a simple case when a connection between a NetPing SMS gateway and a Zapier platform is configured to convert e-mails into SMS. A scheme works the next way:
- a user sends an e-mail to a previously configured Zapier e-mail address;
- using a specially configured consequence of actions, Zapier runs an HTTP API command for a NetPing SMS gateway, which has a phone number (or a list of numbers) indicated and a text retrieved from a received e-mail;
- a NetPing SMS gateway that initiates sending an SMS notification while processing incoming HTTP API command.
A solution is very simple to implement and can be easily performed because a connection of equipment and software with a minimal number of settings is used.
Requirements
To implement this solution, there is a need to have:
- a NetPing SMS gateway with a previously installed SIM card;
- a configured sequence of actions (Zap) «Email + Webhooks» in a Zapier platform;
- an access to a NetPing SMS gateway from the Internet. The information about how to do this can be found in the article «How to Make NetPing Accessible from the Internet?»;
- a working e-mail client
NetPing SMS Configuration
Set a NetPing SMS device into a working condition according to corresponding sections of a user guide and a firmware description:
- install a working SIM card with a positive balance in the slot for a built-in GSM modem;
- configure all necessary parameters to work in the Ethernet network.
Zapier Configuration
To use a Zapier platform, there is a need to sign up. To do this, there is a need to click the button «SING UP FOR FREE» if you wish to get a totally free trial access to features of the platform for 14 days:
And fill in a standard sing-up form:
After signing up, you get an access to the features of Zapier with a multiple support of various applications for creating automation rules. To configure Zapier for our described task, there is a need to click the button «MAKE A ZAP!», which is located at the top part of a web interface of a service:
In a window for creating a consequence of actions that appears (Zap) there is a need to enter the text «Email» in the field «Choose a Trigger App» and choose the item «Email by Zapier» from a drop-down menu:
Then choose «New Inbound Email» and click the button «Continue»:
The next step is to specify a name of a Zapier e-mail address, where e-mails will be sent to convert them to SMS notifications:
The last step of the first part of Zap configurations is the need to check the work of newly created e-mail address in Zapier. To accomplish this, there is a need to send a test e-mail notification in the example to the address: netpingtest1.o3wjtl@zapiermail.com. After a successful completion of the test, a platform will allow continuing the configuration further:
The second part of settings is necessary for Zapier to send an HTTP API command to the NetPing SMS gateway on the received e-mail notification with the destination number/numbers and a text of a message, which are going to be inherited from an e-mail. To do this, there is a need to enter the text «Webhooks» in the field «Choose an Action App» and choose the item «Webhooks by Zapier» from a drop-down list:
To choose a user request by clicking the item «Custom Request» and proceed to the configuration of this request:
Configure user's Webhooks request according to a screen shot represented below:
where:
Method – is Post, it is designed for requesting. While requesting, a web server receives data enclosed into a body of a message;
URL – is Uniform Resource Locator. In the example «http://2.94.71.231:8080/sendsms.cgi?utf8» is used (in this example, 2.94.71.231:8080 is an external IP address and access port to NetPing SMS through the Internet, in our case we will have our IP address and port);
Data – are data that are necessary to substitute to the URL request (HTTP API command) from an e-mail notification. [«Step 1 Subject»] – is a subject of an e-mail notification. A subject will have destination numbers for sending SMS. «Step 1 Body Plain» – is a text of an e-mail notification;
Basic Auth – are credentials for authorization for the gateway NetPing SMS
At the final step of configuration, we get the example of parsing the HTTP API command, which will be sent to the gateway NetPing SMS for consequent sending of SMS.
Now there is a need to enter the name of Zap, for example, «E-mail to SMS», and enable Zap by setting a checkbox to «ON» and clicking the button «Finish»:
Result
As a result of described configuration, we receive the next:
- When sending an e-mail notification from an ordinary e-mail client to the address in the example netpingtest1.o3wjtl@zapiermail.com:
- The destination number, which is indicated in the subject of an e-mail will receive an SMS notification:
