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

["Dominic J. Eidson" <sauron () the-infinite org>]

My recommendation as of late has been to use WCTP with a TAP backup. 
(using qpage at $WORK)

This way you get the faster delivery/rate of WCTP, with an OOB fall-back 
should it be needed.

Most pager companies (and presumably many cell providers) provide 
interfaces for one/both of the above.


 - d.

On Wed, 16 Apr 2008, Patrick Shoemaker wrote:

> Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:33:40 -0400
> From: Patrick Shoemaker <shoemakerp () vectordatasystems com>
> Cc: nanog () merit edu
> Subject: Re: Postmaster @ vtext.com (or what are best practice to send SMS
>     these days)
>
>
> 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

--
Dominic J. Eidson
                                     "Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai-menu!" - Gimli
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