Re: Postmaster @ vtext.com (or what are best practice to send SMS these days)

[Patrick Shoemaker <shoemakerp () vectordatasystems com>]

My solution is to use a modem / POTS line hanging off the nagios box 
along with the qpage daemon to send alerts out through a TAP gateway. If 
you need the specs and 800 number for Verizon's TAP gateway I can send 
it offlist.

http://www.dynowski.com/blog/2006/05/19/using-nagios-with-quickpage-a-sms-tap-gateway/

This is important not only to avoid the inconsistency of the vtext 
email-sms gateway but to get an alert out in case of a major network 
disruption that breaks email functionality.

Patrick Shoemaker
President, Vector Data Systems LLC
shoemakerp () vectordatasystems com
office: (301) 358-1690 x36
mobile: (410) 991-5791
http://www.vectordatasystems.com


David Ulevitch wrote:
> We've noticed that 1234567890 () vtext com is no longer a very reliable 
> form of delivery for alerts from Nagios, et al.  It seems as our volume 
> of alerts has risen, our delivery rate has dropped precipitously.
>
> We don't expect much trying to actually reach a postmaster for vtext.com 
>   so I thought the better question would be to ask what the current best 
> practice is to get SMS alerts out?
>
> Back in the day, I remember a company I worked for had something called 
> a TAP gateway.  Is that still a good route?  I've also been told to 
> check out an SMS gateway/api service called clickatell.com  -- anyone 
> using them to delivering timely notifications?
>
> Is the best thing to do to try and get a programmable cellphone in a
> datacenter?
>
> What else are operators doing to get the pages out when things go wonky?
>
> -David