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SMS Alarms - the SMS Works

Tom Bradley
  • Updated

The SMS Works -

Introduction

the SMS Works is a service that allows you to turn incoming SMS / txt messages into Email Alarms for use with SureView Response

Requirements

  1. You will need to register for an account with the SMS works
  2. You will need to add a Reply Number to your SMS Works account: Login to your account and click add Reply Number (numbers are added within 24 hours)
    To add non-UK phone numbers you will need to email support@thesmsworks.co.uk and request the specific country for the phone number.

    Note: There is a small monthly fee from SMS Works for the Virtual reply number
    (see https://thesmsworks.co.uk/incoming-sms for more details)

Configuration

In Sureview

Initial Setup

In the initial setup you will configure an alarm decoder for the SMS email alarms. This will allow you to match alarms based on the sender's phone number. You only have to do this once.

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  1. Login to SureView Response
  2. Go to Alarm Setup
  3. Click Alarm Decoder
  4. Click "Add Alarm Decoder"
  5. Enter the following details
    Field Value
    Title the SMS Works
    Response Regex [Ff]rom\s(?<rc>\d+):
    Event Regex [Ss]ubject:\s*(?<ec>.+)
    Default Area Your top level area/tenant
    Default Action Plan An alarm can (optionally) be associated with an Action Plan. This will provide the operator with a set of instructions that they will be required to follow when processing this alarm.

    This field allows you to choose the default action plan to be used with SMS Alarms (optional - you can leave this blank)

    It can be override at the individual alarm level.
    Default Grouping

    This allows you to decide how you want multiple instances of this alarm to be grouped (by default) when it goes into the Alarm Processing Queue. The options are:

    By Area - Recommended
    Multiple separate alarms that are triggered for the same Area will be grouped together for the operator to process as a single event.

    By Alarm
    Multiple instances of this specific alarm will will be grouped together for the operator to process as a single event.

    Not Grouped
    This alarm will never be grouped with any other. Each time it's triggered it will come into the Alarm Processing Queue as a separate, individual alarm event.


    It can be override at the individual alarm level.
    Default Priority

    This is the default priority for your SMS alarms. It's an indicator of important this alarm is. The higher the number, the more important the alarm.

    Note: Priority 1000 (one thousand) and above should be reserved for your most serious alarms that require immediate attention from your operators

    Note: This is the default value only, you can override at the individual alarm level.
    Events

    leave blank

     

  6. Once finished press Save
  7. Copy the email address generated for this alarm point - this is what you will use in "the SMS Works"
    Note: all alarm points associated with your "the SMS Works" decoder will share the same email address

Individual Alarm Setup

In the Individual Alarm Setup you will configure individual alarm points based for the SMS alerts based on the phone number of the sender.
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  1. Login to SureView Response
  2. Go to Alarm Setup
  3. Go to the Smtp Alarms tab (if not already selected)
  4. Click Add Alarm
  5. Complete the following fields
      Description
    Alarm Name
    (Required)    		 The friendly name for this alarm. This is the name that will be shown to the operator when it is triggered.
    Area
    (required)    		 What Area is this alarm associated with.
    Linked Cameras
    (Optional)    		 You can link this alarm with specific cameras so that the cameras you choose popup automatically when an Operator opens this alarm. (See Video Device Setup)
    Action Plan
    (Optional)    		 An alarm can (optionally) be associated with an Action Plan. This will provide the operator with a set of instructions that they will be required to follow when processing this alarm.

    Leaving the Grouping blank will use "the SMS Works" default Action Plan that you configured in the "Initial Setup" instructions
    Alarm Decoder

    Select "the SMS Works" as your Alarm Decoder

    Note: You must have completed the "Initial Setup" instructions on this page before this will be available.
    Response Code

    Enter the phone number of the device or person that will be sending this SMS Alarm

    Note: This box only appears after you have selected "the SMS Works" Alarm Decoder
    Priority
    (Required)

    This is an indication of how important this alarm is. The higher the number, the more important the alarm. 

     

    Leaving the Priority blank will use "the SMS Works" default priority that you configured in the "Initial Setup" instructions

    Note: Priority 1000 (one thousand) and above should be reserved for your most serious alarms that require immediate attention from your operators
    Grouping
    (Required)

    This allows you to decide how you want multiple instances of this alarm to be grouped when it goes into the Alarm Processing Queue. The options are:

    • By Area - recommended
      Multiple separate alarms that are triggered for the same Area will be grouped together for the operator to process as a single event.

    • By Alarm
      Multiple instances of this specific alarm will will be grouped together for the operator to process as a single event.

    Leaving the Grouping blank will use "the SMS Works" default grouping that you configured in the "Initial Setup" instructions
    Auto Handle

    This allows you to set alarms to be automatically handled (saved into the history but not shown to the operator)

    Recommended "No"

In the SMS Works

(see https://thesmsworks.co.uk/incoming-sms for more details)

  1. Sign up for an account at https://thesmsworks.co.uk if you don't already have one
  2.  Login to your account
  3. Click add Reply Number (numbers are added within 24 hours
  4. To add non-UK phone numbers you will email support@thesmsworks.co.uk and request the specific country for the phone number.
  5. Numbers are added with
  6. Once they have confirmed. Log in to your SMS Works account https://thesmsworks.co.uk/account
  7. Go to "Reply Numbers"
  8. Click Edit next to the generated reply number
  9. Paste the email address generated in the "Individual Alarm Setup" instructions above. It should looks similar to Ag34r8vwqt@us.sureviewops.com
  10. Enter the Reply number tag "Sureview"
  11. Press Update

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Receiving Alarms In Sureview

Once you have finished configuring SureView and The SMS Works you'll start receiving alarms for any SMS sent to the SMS Works phone number.

If GPS coordinates are included in the sms alarm (latitude,longitude) this will automatically be plotted onto the SureView map

 

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You can expand the alarm to open the full SMS details by clicking on the down arrow then clicking the email / envelope icon

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