Bulletin Messenger

User Guide Content

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Introduction to Bulletin Messenger

Bulletin Messenger provides you with an immediate, cost effective and simple way to communicate to your staff, suppliers and customers directly to their text capable mobile devices.

The service offers a couple of simple ways to send SMS messages. In addition, it is easly integrated with your existing systems (using email or a simple API) to update or alert people with the added benefit that the message is received wherever the recipient may be.

Bulletin Messenger offers various interfaces to meet the needs of users

1. Via an easy to use web site
2. From their everyday email client such as Outlook or Eudora (or from existing email enabled automated servers and processes)
   • For example simply add @bulletinmessenger.net to the mobile number you want to send to (in International Format), and use this as the email address to send a short message. For example
     • contact@bulletinmessenger.net or
     • 64275123456@bulletinmessenger.net
3. Install simple widgets for various services such as Google, Yahoo! and Windows Vista.
4. Using a simple messaging API for basic integration into your systems

Mobile message recipients can then reply from their phone straight back to the original sender using patented
mTag^TM technology from Bulletin Wireless.
Advanced features are available using the power of the Bulletin Messenger address books and customised security settings*.

* Available for company accounts only, not for individual users.

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User Types

This service has different user types

1. Individual account/login
2. Company Accounts
   1. Company User
   2. Company Administrator
3. Email user

While messaging functionality is basically the same, each has different options available for account administration and security.

Individual Account: This is an Individual User account with little or no administration options, suitable to a user wanting SMS messaging using a prepay account. The Individual User can send messages via the web site and request their email address or domain be allowed to SMS by email. Any queries for this user should be directed to the service provider.

Company Accounts: There are two types of users for a Company Account.

Company User. This user has their own unique login and possibly a separate billing account, and may share address books or other information with other Company Users, but all administration is done by the Company Administrator. The Company Administrator should be contacted with any queries a Company User may have.

Company Administrator. Each Company Account must have a use which is the designated Company Administrator. In addition to the messaging features, this user has additional options for administering their company user accounts. Security, user user maintenance and reporting options are the main features and are detailed in the Company Administration section.

Email User: The Email user will not have any login details to the Bulletin Messenger website. Instead, their email address will be enabled for SMS via Email by their Company Administrator and they will be able to send and receive SMS via email only.

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Bulletin Messenger on the Web

The Bulletin Messenger web site is a messaging service that provides SMS messaging between a web browser and mobile phones.
All your messaging and configuration options are available at http://bulletinmessenger.net using the login details provided by your Company Administrator (CA) or by Bulletin Online.
If you have forgotten your password please contact us with your ID and product information.

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Web Browser Requirements

To access and use the website you need a browser (e.g. IE or Firefox) that

• supports cookies
• has JavaScript enabled

It is best viewed in on 1024 by 768 screen resolution.

Known Firefox Issue There is a known issue with the Firefox Browser when used with various extensions (Grease Monkey, CoComment, Firebug etc.) which may cause javascript errors in the Auto completer and Contact list. If you are experiencing issues - disable these extensions for Bulletin Messenger and Contact Bulletin Wireless.

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Sending Messages

To get to the main messaging page in Bulletin Messenger after logging in

1. click the Bulletin Messenger link in the left hand menu of http://bulletinonline.net, or
2. click the home link in the top menu of Bulletin Messenger, or
3. click the Send SMS link in the left hand menu of Bulletin Messenger.

Send SMS

For quick messaging enter a recipient mobile number (in International Format) in the 'Recipients' field and the message in the 'Message' field before pressing the 'send' button.
As you type the name or number in the recipients field, recent recipients and members of your current address book will be shown for you to choose.

The recipient list (Recipients) allows a comma separated list of numbers or contact names from your address books.
For example

john,6425484848,SALESTEAM

If you utilise the online address books then you can expand the Contacts panel to display them, or use the View Contacts button to pop up a new window showing your current address book. From either screen you can select your contacts and add ( ) them to the recipients list.

The Contacts/Groups list lets you to select contacts (individuals or groups) from any of your address books and to add ( ) them to the recipient list.

You can also view the members of a group and also select a subset of the group members by selecting it in the list and pressing the 'show members'( ) button to display a new window or view the entire address book ( ).

Although the service supports sending SMS via Email to mobile numbers, your administrator* may have configured the system to only allow messages to be sent to people in your address book using existing names or aliases.
An additional administrator setting is to lock address books so only the administrator can add contacts to the company address book. This setting will apply to both the Web site and SMS messages via email.*
These added levels of security aim to prevent system abuse. Contact your Company Administrator for more information if you are unable to access your address book.

* Available for company accounts only, not for individual users.

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Using Stored Data

When sending messages you have the option of inserting a signature, media or a message template (canned message).

Signature

If you have a signature configured for your account, you may insert it into the message by activating the 'signature' link.
You can configure your signature and set it to automatically append to every web message by clicking the edit button ( ).

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Canned Messages

These preconfigured Message Templates may be inserted into the message by simply selecting the message you want, from the new window that is displayed after you activate the 'Canned Messages' link.
These messages are setup under the Message Templates menu or by clicking the edit button ( )

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Media

If you have media uploaded and stored in for this service (using the My Media menu link), then you can choose which media to attach to your message.

URL Link

When using this option a link to the media item is included in a normal SMS message. This is recommended when you do not know if the recipient has a handset that can support GSM Service Indication (WAP Push) messages.
When the user receives the message, they have the option of

• opening the link on their handset using the phones WAP browser, or
• they can enter the URL on a computer to view the content

WAP Push / Service Indication Message

This option sends a Service Indication message (WAP Push) supported by GSM phones.
This type of message will open a WAP page containing your media using the phones Web Browser. Only use this option when you are certain that the recipient is able to receive and open this type of message.
Also note that users will not be able to reply to your message when sent using WAP Push.
In both cases, messages are sent as SMS and the format in which the message is received is determined by that particular handsets configuration and network setup.

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Schedule

If you would like to schedule a message to be sent in the future, fill in the recipient and message fields as normal and press the Schedule button.

1. You will be asked to select the date and time you would like the message delivered,
2. then to confirm the delivery time.

Once you have confirmed the scheduled message you can delete it from the scheduled message list under Scheduled menu.
Messages times are based on your configured time zone. You can change this timezone setting at any time in the Messenger Settings menu link or by clicking the timezone message displayed throughout Messenger.

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Count...

Before sending your message, you may like to know how many people it could be sent to.
The count recipient link processes your recipients and counts the unique ones (each mobile number will only get your message once). For large groups or recipient lists this may take a moment or two.

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View Contacts

In the expanded contacts panel, use the Show Members button ( ) option to see all the contacts in the current address book (same as clicking the View Contacts button).
For large address books this could take a few moments to display.
Use the options in the Show Group screen to select a subset of the members and add them to the recipient list of your message.

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Recent Messages

A list of recently sent and received messages is displayed and refreshes regularly, giving you the option of clicking through to the message detail or sending another message to the sender/recipient ( ) or forwarding ( ) the message content on.
Messages you have received are displayed with an icon ( ) and emailed messages (in and out) are indicated with "E".
Keep an eye on the delivery status of your sent messages and any new replies that come into your account.

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Contacts

The Contact list can now be hidden if you do not use the online address books.

When the Contact panel is displayed you can change the address book, view group members and add contacts/groups with a double click or using the button.

Show Members

In the expanded contacts panel, use the Show Members button ( ) option to see the members of a Contact group (those in UPPERCASE) selected from the Contacts/Groups list. This screen shows the members of the group and their details.
Use the option in the Show Members screen to select a subset of the members and add them to the recipients list for your message.

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View Contacts

In the expanded contacts panel, use the Show Members button ( ) option to see all the contacts in the current address book (same as clicking the View Contacts button).
For large address books this could take a few moments to display.
Use the options in the Show Group screen to select a subset of the members and add them to the recipient list of your message.

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Bulk Sender

If you have a list of recipients (in International Format) that you would like to SMS just once then the Bulk Sender option may suit
your needs. This option is available from the Bulk Sender menu link or the Address Books page.
The Bulk sender is an alternative to importing the list of numbers.

When using the Bulk Sender the recipient file should contain one recipient number per line in the file.
For example

64251234567
61491236985
44854212124
14082225555

The application will prompt you for a file location and message content then it will validate the file before asking for confirmation.

Warning The service must not be used for unsolicited SPAM or marketing messages. Users that do so may have the service restricted or cut off.

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My Contacts

The online address books allow you to add contacts you send messages to on a regular basis.
Company address books may be created and managed by an admin account and they may choose to share them throughout your organisation*.

Because address book entries can be used as part of an email address, they must conform to those standards and restrictions. Accordingly they must not include any spaces or various
special characters such as brackets. When adding entries to your address books, remove or replace any spaces with dots "." or underscores "_", for example: instead of 'Corporate Sales' use 'corporatesales', 'corporate_sales' or 'corporate.sales'.

An alias may be assigned to a group or a contact as a short cut that is useful when sending SMS messages from your phone using the group messaging feature.

It is essential that all address book entries are unique. This means that you can not have more than one 'john' in any address book either as a group name or alias or as a contact name or alias. This helps avoid confusion when sending to 'john' or using email to send to john@bulletinmessenger.net.
* Available for company accounts only, not for individual users.

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Contacts

Groups and Contacts are listed for each address book the user has access to. Groups do not have mobile phone numbers associated with them and are displayed in CAPITALS. Contacts have a phone number attached to them and are displayed in lowercase for quick recognition. Click through to the details of the contacts/groups as needed.

From any of the contact pages you have options to create contacts, groups or personal address books.

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Create Individual Contact

1. Choose which address book you want to create the new contact in
2. enter the name (remember spaces are not allowed)
3. mobile number
4. and, if necessary, the alias

The new user may be assigned to any existing groups in the address book.
You also have the option of adding some tags or properties to the Contact such as position, location department or organisation. These tags are displayed in your contact lists such as the Show Groups page.

If you cannot add to your address book contacts or groups, contact your Administrator as they may have set higher security settings.

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Create Group

1. Choose which address book you want to create the group in
2. enter the name (remember spaces are not allowed)
3. and, if necessary, the alias

Any existing users in the address book may be assigned to the new group.

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Address Books

The Manage Address Books page allows you to import and export address lists and set which address book is accessed by default (e.g. on the send message, create contacts and create groups pages).

New address books may also be created and you can click through to the bulk sender page for one-off messaging.

Company address books can only be created by the company administrator*.

* Available for company accounts only, not for individual users.

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Company Address Books

To share your contacts with other users in you company they need to be in a Company Address Book. Only the Company Administrator has the rights to create and manage Company Address Books and they are able to give other users access to read them.
For Company Administrators

1. My Contacts | Address Books
2. Create New Company Address Book
3. Name the Company Address Book and Save
4. Add Contacts to the Company Address Book (tip: make the new address book the default address book to speed up the process of adding new contacts/groups)
5. Give your other users access to the new Company Address Book
   1. Options | User Logins
   2. Select user
   3. under Company Address Book Access check appropriate company address books and Save

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Exporting Address Books

Choose the address book you want to export and follow the instructions. To export the entire address book simply press the 'save' button and choose the location for the file to be saved.

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Importing Address Lists

There are two methods of importing address books. The first is a manual process done via the website. The second can be automated to upload and refresh (deleting existing contacts and adding new ones from a file) an address book.
Each process takes a slightly different file format as detailed in the following sections.
If you are wanting to send to a list of recipients one time only (or the list changes regularly) then use the Bulk Sender option on this page.

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Manually Importing Address Lists

When importing an address list it is important that the file meets the following criteria.

1. Comma delimited format (CSV)
2. Header row with the applicable values of "number", "name", "alias", "group", and "group alias"
3. Each row must have the same number of fields
4. Each name and alias (contact and group) must be unique
5. Phone numbers must be valid numbers that the system can send to
6. Names and alias values must meet validation requirements (no spaces and less than 30 characters for names and 4 characters for aliases)
7. To import a file, browse to the location where you have your prepared list of contacts or numbers and then press the 'import' button.

Confirm that the file looks correct and either choose to import the list into a new address book or choose one of the existing ones before pressing 'save'.
If there are any errors the system will notify after the import.
If there are any duplicate names then the system will update the existing name with the new phone number and will not notify of an error.

File Structure
At the minimum, the file to import will look something like the following with only numbers specified

Number
0497565432
0492776143
0492776242
049219878763
04921887863
04921828763
04918828762
0498828762

This can be enhanced with names and group information, for example

Name,Number,Group
John.Stamos,0497565432,
Nicky.Tomb,0492776143,
Thistoo,0492776242,home
Zeeble,049219878763,Work
Overseer,04921887863,Work
Jenny,04921828763,Play
Christine.in.Accounting,04918828762,Work
Support_phone,0498828762,Work

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Alternative Import Method

This form will allow you to perform the import process manually so you can check your data before automating the process.

User Credentials - Use the same User ID and Password that you use to access the service.
* Address Book ID
The Address book ID is a unique number assigned to each address book and will remain the same even if the address book name changes. However, if you delete the address book then that ID will no longer be valid.
You can locate this address book ID on the address book details page. If you need assistance contact Bulletin Wireless Support with your account details (login ID and password).
If the User ID does not have write access to the selected address book then an authentication error will occur.

File Structure
The file to import will look something like the following

Name,Number,Group
JohnStamos,0497565432
Nicky Tomb,0492776143
Thistoo,0492776242,home
Zeeble,049219878763,Work
Overseer,04921887863,Work|Play|home
Jenny,04921828763,Play
Christine in Accounting,04918828762,Work
Support_phone,0498828762,Work

Each line in the file should refer to ONE contact name. Names and Groups will be cleaned of characters that are not allowed in the fields such as spaces and various punctuation characters. Contact names and groups will also be truncated to 30 characters and adjusted as necessary to meet the database requirements, so it is important that the address book contacts in the website are checked before messaging.

Automation
This process can be automated on Linux using curl

curl -k -F 'username=foo' -F 'password=bar' -F 'abid=1234' -F 'file=@test.csv' https://www.bulletinmessenger.net/abimport.jsp

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What is an Alias?

It is important to note that an address book alias is used as the email address. An Alias is a short code for a CONTACT or GROUP.

1. An Alias must be unique in to the Account. Eg. a contact cannot share the same alias as another contact OR with a Group for the same account. This also includes Company Address Books.
2. An Alias must not be longer than four characters
3. An Alias may contain any number or letter. Spaces or special characters such as ':', '@', '#' etc are not allowed
4. An alias is not case sensitive (Eg 'eric' is the same as 'Eric', 'ERIC' and 'eriC')

   IMPORTANT It is possible that two accounts use the same alias for different people. This means that these email addresses, unlike other email addresses, may not be unique. The message sender determines the correct recipient.

   Valid Aliases	Invalid Aliases
   Matt	sv c (contains a space)
   Jon1	Team Jacob (too long)
   svsc	a.t (contains a period/dot)

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Blocked Numbers

You can add numbers that have requested to stop receiving messages from you or your users, or block numbers that you feel your users should not be sending messages to. Any number you add can be removed by you.

You may also see numbers here that you can not edit. These numbers have been added by the service provider due to a direct request from the recipient. Please contact the service provider if you feel that these numbers should not be blocked and they will contact the number owner for confirmation they still want to receive your messages.

Delete each number that you want to be able to receive messages in the future and save your updates.

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Messages

The service keeps a log of all the messages sent and received along with recipient details. It also shows these messages together in the context of replies that have been sent your messages.
For replies, the original message and other details are also displayed to provide context.

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Sent/Received

Email originated messages are marked with an 'E' in the message lists against the To/From details.
You can also view the status of any message and click the icons to Reply or Forward messages.
Clicking on the message body takes you to a MESSAGE DETAIL page for that message where you can also reply, forward or delete the message. This screen also gives you a breakdown of the delivery status of messages sent to multiple recipients (eg. groups).

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Sent

You can filter your sent messages using the options on the message log page or from the recent message list on the main send message page.
Clicking the message content takes you to a detail page where you can see various details for that message.

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Status Codes

Depending on the Network the messages are sent to, some of the following Status messages may or may not appear.

NOTE: The service provider reserves the right to charge for all messages sent via the system regardless of the delivery status.

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Received

This screen filters the message log to show only the replies you have received.
For details of replies click the message to see the original message and other details to provide context and options.

Select View Other Replies to see a list of other replies to the same message.

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Replies to Messages via email

If an SMS recipient replies to an email message with an SMS from their phone, the reply will be sent back to the originating email address. In addition to this email, the reply will also be logged in the web message log.

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Message Details

Depending on whether you are viewing an outgoing message or a received one, the message detail page will give you different options.
Sent Messages show the recipients grouped by their status. This means you can quickly see those recipients that have not had confirmed receipt of the message and even send a message to all those that have received it. You can also click through to see all the replies to an outgoing message.
Incoming messages, such as replies, show the details of the original message so you have it in context and also allows you to click through to see other replies to the same original message.

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Scheduled

Any scheduled messages you have configured are displayed here and can be deleted as necessary. Once the message has been sent and is pending delivery or has been delivered it is removed from this screen and logged as a Sent message.

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Message Templates

Message Templates (aka Canned Messages) are a feature that allow you to use personal, company* or system 'templates' for sending messages from the website (select them on the create message page).

Each account may configure ten of their own canned messages and the CA may also configure another ten company messages for use by all users within the company.*

* Available for company accounts only, not for individual users.

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Options

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Messenger Settings

Most of your account settings are maintained and managed in BOS and shared amoungst your subscribed serviced. However, some of them are specific to Bulletin Messenger and these are managed on the Messenger Settings page.

Encoded Credentials

For additional security when using the API the service uses a SHA1 hash of the your password and sends over SSL.
When using the API ensure you use the encoded credentials as displayed here, or you will receive an authentication error.
For more information see the API documentation.

Timezone

Change the time zone to alter the way times and dates are displayed in the web site. This does not alter the time displayed on SMS messages (on the handsets) but will give you freedom to be able to view the website in a local timezone.

Addresses Enabled For SMS via Email

If the account is allowed to send SMS via email then any addresses verified and assigned to this account are also listed on this page.

Mobile Shortcuts

Mobile shortcuts allow users to avoid repeatedly typing numbers in International Format when messaging. By configuring it here once, a national format prefix will be replaced with the configured international prefix. For examples of some translations that are already configured for New Zealand and Australia see the system mappings.

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My Media

This page allows you to upload and view the media you have chosen to share with mobile recipients.
You can browse for the following types of media items and upload them. Each item needs a unique Alias (ID) when it is saved.

• GIF
• JPG, JPEG
• MID, MIDI
• MP3
• 3GP

You will be given the opportunity to optimise the media for mobile delivery. If optimised, it may result in poorer quality and/or lack of functionality (e.g. animated GIF files will become static images). Do bear in mind that users will be downloading the media via mobile internet which they may incur costs for.

You can send media directly from this library by pressing the (F) icon by the item. This will open the Send Message page and let you choose the method you want to use (defaults to an embedded URL in the SMS message). Delete an item by pressing the (X) icon. It is important to note that when you delete a media object that it will no longer be available to anyone including the recipients you have sent it to.

IMPORTANT By uploading, sending, linking to and sharing media you accept legal responsibility for such media. The service provider reserves the right to remove any media and to disable accounts without notice. Breaches of copyright will result in immediate action.

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Signature

To set a signature click the icon next to the insert option on your main messaging page.
You can create a custom signature for your account that is used when the message is sent via the web site.

This signature may be inserted into outgoing messages when created via the website or they may be appended automatically to every message.
Messages sent via email ignore this setting and your signature will NOT be appended to the SMS message.
The service may also strip your standard email signature from the contents of the email. This means that the recipient may not know who sends a message to their phone, although they can contact the service provider to find this information. The service uses accepted Internet standards to determine where an email signature is included, looking for '-- ' (dash dash space).
It is recommended that SMS messages sent via email include your name and contact number in the subject line or at the top of the message.

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Display

To change your display options click the icon in the recent message list or the Display Settings link in the message log pages.

This page allows you to choose how many recent messages to display on your 'send message' page and in the message log (sent/received) pages. The screen refresh rate option affects the send message page. The service will check for updates to messages and message status changes at the selected interval in seconds. Use 0 (zero) to disable.
Ensure you press the 'save' button after any changes.

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Sending SMS messages via email

Before using email to send SMS messages, ensure your address is enabled in the system. Valid addresses are listed on the Website on the options page. If you can not access this page, contact your administrator and ask them to check if your email address is configured.
Administrators should contact Bulletin Wireless with details of the email addresses or domains that they want registered for SMS via email.

This email will be sent, as an SMS message, to the New Zealand Mobile number 02715414141 and the number matching the 'supp' alias in this users address book.

If your email address is enabled or if it is covered by a licence for your entire domain, then messages can be sent from any RFC compliant email client depending on the license and settings such as

1. IP Authentication (Company)
2. Close Address Books (Company or Account)
3. Email to contacts only (Company or Account)

One benefit of this service is that it uses software you are familiar with to send SMS messages. Simply compose your email as you normally would and send to your contacts and their replies will come back to your email.
The main limitation is that each message is limited to 160 characters, including the subject line.

The steps to send SMS via email are the same as sending a normal email

1. Open your Email Client (Outlook, Thunderbird, Hotmail, Gmail etc)
2. Enter the Recipient Addresses in the space provided
3. Enter the Subject of the Email (or leave blank)
4. Write your Message
5. Send the Email

   Warning Only the first 160 characters of the subject plus the message will be sent to the mobile device so get to the point quickly.

   With this system, the SMS recipient may not know who sent the message so it is suggested that you add your name and a contact number so you can be contacted if required (replies by SMS will go back to your email address but the person will not be able to call the number that the SMS appears to come from).

   With group emails, it is suggested that Bulletin Messenger addresses be entered in the BCC field. This will stop other recipients from attempting to send email messages to addresses they may not have access to. See the trouble shooting section for more information.

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Sending Messages using your Phone

Group messages can be sent from your registered handset using address book aliases. This feature gives you the power to send messages from your handset to hundreds of recipients with one simple SMS message

All Mobile Originated (MO) messages need to be sent to 447800200501 (only available from phones registered against an active account).

To send a MO message, compose an SMS on your phone in the following format

• GM [space] Alias [space] Message

For example

GM team Weekly meeting delayed, see noticeboard

In the above example GM indicates to the service that you are sending a G roup M essage. Team is the alias for a Group in the online addressbook and the message to be sent to all the members of this group is Weekly meeting delayed, see noticeboard

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Sending via an API

HTTP API

A lightweight API provides the simplicity that you're looking for when wanting to enable your applications to send SMS messages. Sending a message is as easy as POSTing a web form.
The following limits are in place for this API.

1. Only one recipient per connection. If you need to send to multiple recipients then you will need to loop through your recipient list sending to one each time.
2. Message Status is not reported back via the API. The status will be updated and can be viewed by logging in to Bulletin Messenger or by requesting a list of recent messages using the available feeds.
3. Replies are not handled by the API. Replies can be viewed by logging in to Bulletin Messenger or by requesting a list of recent messages using the available feeds.
4. Message length is ignored by the API and messages are not split into parts.

   If your needs exceed these limits then consider using Bulletin Connect which offers a carrier grade API using a setup that is very similar to that described here but without the restrictions. See the Feature Comparison Matrix for information on what features are available in each of the Bulletin messaging API's.

HTTP Overview

The HTTP API interface is composed of ONE method only

1. to send a single message

To use the API simply post method parameters to the Bulletin Messenger server in the same way that a browser would submit a form.

To do this method parameters are first HTML form encoded and then submitted in an HTTP POST. This is simple and well supported in almost all development environments.

N.B. The number and order of parameters may vary. While the parameter names described in this document will not change, additional parameters may be added to the API from time to time.

Bulletin Messenger API URL

Sending Messages

Use secure HTTPS POST to send messages to https://www.bulletinmessenger.net/api/1/sms/out.
Recognised URL encoded parameters for sending messages are:

Name (case sensitive)	Description	Required?
userId	User name for authentication (same as used for logging into the website)	YES
password	A SHA1 hash of your account and password details. Failure to provide this will result in an Authentication error even if you provide the password. See the SHA1 Password Hash section for more information on generating the hash or login to http://bulletinmessenger.net and view your Messenger Settings for the correct string to use.	YES
to	Destination Number or Addressbook item (contact or group)	YES, one item only
body	Message Payload	YES

Bulletin Messenger will respond to each and every HTTP request with one of the following result codes.

The userId and password are supplied to you by Bulletin Wireless when you sign up for a Bulletin Messenger account. You may pass them to the server as form encoded parameters, or in the HTTP Authorization header in Basic format.

The to parameter is the destination Number (MSISDN or Addressbook item such as a Contact or Group. For numbers, include the country code but do not include leading zeros, spaces, brackets or other formatting characters. To send a message to multiple recipients POST multiple times or configure groups in your online Addressbooks.

The body parameter is used to pass the message. Messages can be up to 160 characters long. The allowable character set may vary depending on the destination network. In general characters from the GSM default character set are safe (see GSM 03.38). If you send longer messages they will be logged as POSTed but only the first 160 characters will be sent. Note, this may change at anytime and result in longer messages being delivered without warning.

Receiving Messages

You can not receive individual messages/replies using the API. Access the http://bulletinmessenger.net web site to view your incoming messages or use the Message Feeds to access message logs using your code/application.

Receiving Message Receipt (status information)

You can not receive individual message receipts using the API. Access the http://bulletinmessenger.net web site to view the status of your messages or use the the Message Feeds to access message logs (including status information) using your code/application.

SHA1 Password Hash

The Bulletin Messenger API requires a SHA1 hash of the password. Failure to provide this will result in an 401 authentication error even if you provide the correct password.

You can copy and paste the correct hash from http://bulletinmessenger.net in your Messenger Settings.

To generate the SHA1 hash for the API you can use any appropriate library (eg the javascript one here) and follow these steps.

1. Generate an SHA1 hash of your account password
2. encode as base 64 (refer to this as password-hash)
3. Generate an SHA1 hash of account username + password-hash (no spaces),
4. encode as base 64 (refer to this as the api-hash)

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Receiving mobile originated SMS messages as an email

SMS2Email

Any SMS sent to +447800200501 with your account ID (login) as the first word will be forwarded to your registered email address. You can then reply to this from your email address (if it is configured to send SMS by email) or, the easiest way, by logging into Bulletin Messenger.

For Example, if your account ID (login) is fishfood and your registered email address for Bulletin Services is jbunny@email.net. The following SMS is sent to +447800200501 from +64219992202

fishfood how much is too much food for the hungarian mishy goldfish?

will result in an email delivered to jbunny@email.net

From: 64219992202 [64219992202@bulletinmessenger.net]
To: jbunny@email.net
Subject: SMS2Email

how much is too much food for the hungarian mishy goldfish?
-- 
To reply to this message log into http://bulletinmessenger.net

the message will also be listed in your online Bulletin Messenger message log.
If your email address is authorised to send SMS by email then you could reply directly to this email.

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Company Administration

Administration

The admin options are only available to company administrator (CA) users. It provides access to options for such things as reports, limits and email address configuration.

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Accounts

The Account Maintenance page shows a list of user logins configured company wide.

Useful Information The first time the Company Administrator logs in, the only account showing will be the Company Administrator Account.

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Limits

The CA may set some messaging limits for their company. This limits apply across all accounts within the company. For example, with three accounts and a message limit of 500 then when the combined total for all three accounts reaches 500 no further messages may be sent.

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Reports

The reports allow reporting on all messages sent through your account

1. Click on the REPORTS link at the top of the screen
2. Select the period and starting date
3. Select the Report Type
4. Once the reports are run you have the option of exporting them as CSV files if you require.

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Account Summary

The data shown on this page is for information only and cannot be edited.

Use this page to see which accounts addresses have been allocated to, and to browse to an account that you want to view in further detail or modify.

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Security Options

IP Authentication

The company administrator is allowed to choose whether mail from certain mail servers can only be processed. This IP Authentication can be turned on at any time and when it is on, only mail from the listed IP addresses (mail servers) will be processed. All other email will be dropped without notification.
To assist you, each time a new server (IP address) is used an email is sent to the CA (only one email is sent per IP address). The address and the sender details are also logged ann displayed in the Message log section of the security page. To add an existing IP address to your Authenticated list simply click the IP in the message log and it will be added. To add a totally different IP to you list, enter it in the proper format and press the add IP button.
To delete an IP address from your Authenticated list, check the corresponding box or boxes and then press the delete button.
If you have any questions about IP addresses, mail servers or how to prevent email 'spoofing' and other fraudulent activities contact your IT helpdesk.

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User Administration

Close Address Books

This setting applies to all messaging functionality. It stops users from adding to their personal address books or sending to recipients using a phone number rather than an address book contacts.
This option overrides other User security settings such as 'Email to contacts only'.
If the Company security settings impose a closed address book, then that will override any user account settings whether it is enabled or disabled.

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Setup SMS via Email

This section allows you to configure access to the service via email.

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Activate SMS via Email for this account

Although the service supports sending 'email' to phone numbers, your administrator may have configured the system to only allow messages to be sent to people in your address book using existing names or aliases.

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Email to contacts only

To prevent users from sending to numbers that have NOT been configured in one of their available address books check this option. Users will then need to add the contacts to one of the address books and will not be able to send to a number eg 61490123456@bulletinmessenger.net.

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Addresses assigned to this account

The email addresses that will be billed to this account are listed here.
If you have a configured domain or IP address, you may import a list of email addresses to reduce data entry.
You also have the option of adding and deleting addresses from these lists as your needs change.
Only verified addresses may be assigned to an account. Check the 'Summary' screen to check the status of any addresses

Useful Information This Company Admin Account is unique because the Default Billing/Reply number must be the Company Administrator's Billing Number.

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Advanced Features

The service offers additional Web and advanced security features. Your system administrator may configure the system to suit their requirements. Some of the features include

• Locked address books
  SMS (web and email) to preconfigured recipients only
• Email to contacts only
  requires recipients to be defined in your Online Address Book and sent to by name or alias
• IP Authentication
  SMS via email is only available from certain locations

See the following sections for more information on the Advanced Features

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Domain or Email Address Setup

Uou can configure email addresses to send messages to SMS capable mobile devices. To configure addresses (see following section for address types) follow these steps.

1. Decide which addresses the organisation wants enabled. If the organisation is the sole user of a domain (eg, yourcompany.com) then consider enabling this domain and then the CA is able to filter access as needs change. Alternatively configure those individual email addresses that are required Each subdomain (eg some servers send from @server.yourcompany.com.au) needs to be explicitly configured.
2. contact Bulletin Wireless with your account details (login ID and password) and the list of addresses you would like configured.
3. The addresses will be entered in the system against the company and an automated email will be sent to each address notifying them that they are able to SMS by email.
4. The address will be automatically assigned to the Administrator account (unless otherwise requested) so it can be used immediately.

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Address Types for SMS by email

The email to SMS service is available for the following address types

• Domain Name, or
• Single Email Address, or
• IP Address

A Domain Name allows SMS messages to be sent from email addresses within the registered Domain. This is the most commonly requested type of licence and allows the Company Administrators to easily manage their users' access without talking with the service provider each time a change is required.
An Email Address allows SMS messages to be sent from a single registered email address.
Each lower level domain must be registered separately. E.g. nz.bulletinwireless.com is NOT covered if only the bulletinwireless.com domain is registered.
An IP Address allows SMS messages to be sent from any email address that uses the mail server specified at the registered IP address. This type of license is not used much and is not generally recommended. You should be fully aware of IP and network routing issues and discuss your requirements with the service provider if you have any doubts.
The addresses will be automatically assigned to the CA account so it will be able to be used immediately for SMS messaging. See the section on Trouble Shooting if SMS messaging is not available after an address has been verified.
By logging into the website, the administrator may distribute the addresses to their other accounts (if configured). For example a Domain or IP licence may be changed from a 'catch all' where all addresses are allowed (the default) to use a specified list of accounts within that domain. This is done by removing the domain from the CA account and either importing or manually adding the individual addresses to specific accounts as required.
If your company subscribes to the SMS email service you will be able to assign any of the verified licences to this account once it is first saved.

Select Email to contacts only, if user's may only send to address contact book. This limits the account to sending SMS messages to people that they have previously added to their online address book. If the user setting, Close Address Books, is selected, then that will override this option and automatically stop the user from sending to any phone numbers.
If the Company security settings impose an address book only restriction, then that will override any individual user account settings.
Add any available addresses that you want to assign to this particular account. If the address you want to assign is not shown in the list then it may already be assigned to another account in your company. Check the Summary page to view your current assignments.

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Importing Email Addresses for a particular login/cost center

You may import a list of email addresses to assign to a particular account. The file that you import must only contain full email addresses that belong to the domain you are importing against. If you are importing against an IP address then any email address will be imported if it is not already in the system.
The system will not import addresses that already exist and may fail if the file is invalid.

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My Account

This section of the navigation menu gives you access to your Bulletin Online Account settings

My User Details

Access and update your account details such as

• Contact name and contact details
• Your mobile number which will need to be confirmed if you change it

My Billing Account

Your Billing Account gives you access to subscription services where you can subscribe to new ones or cancel existing subscriptions. You are also able to view your transaction history and make a payment if your are on a prepay account.

Make A Payment

Prepay account holders can use one of the secure payment engines to top up their account. Available payment methods differ between countries but generally Paypal is available. If you do not have a Paypal account you can still make a credit card payment using their payment facility.

System Notifications

This screen allows you to view messages generated by the Bulletin Online system. Things such as low balance warning, cancellation requests and password requests are logged here for your records.

Change Password

If you need to change your password (and we recommend you do so regularly) then you can do so here. Note that this password change will impact all your Bulletin services and will alter any API credentials you may be using. Ensure you update any systems to use the new settings.

My Subscriptions

Listed under this section of the menu are links to the Bulletin services you are currently subscribed to and you can use these links to access your messaging services.

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Help

This section of the navigation menu should be the first stop if you have any questions. It provides links to the relevant User Guide and FAQ's as well as links to contact Bulletin Wireless for any questions not answered in the documentation.

User Guide

Each service has an online userguide that should assist you in getting familiar with the service.

FAQ

Common questions and answers are available here. You may not be the first person to ask so check here and if we haven't answered your question then contact us.

Terms of Use

Bulletin Online has a licence agreement that all users of the services must abide by. By using Bulletin services you agree to these terms and conditions.

Contact Support

If you have any questions not answered in the User Guide and FAQ then use this online form to get in touch. You can also get in touch if you need assistance, want to make a suggestion for improvement or want to report a bug.

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Billing and Payment Options

Bulletin Messenger offers several ways to pay for messaging and subscription to the service depending on your requirements and message volume.
For corporates and organisations an invoice relationship may suit (standard credit criteria apply).
For personal users Paypal is available to top up your account for messaging and subscription fees.
Subscription fees are automatically deducted from your available funds at the end of each month and messages costs are deducted as you send messages.
All your transaction history (fund debit and credits) is available via your Billing Account.

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Invoice

Contact us if you would like to establish a invoice relationship with Bulletin Wireless or if you have specific questions about your invoice (please include your invoice number and company name in all communications).

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Prepayment

PayPal users can top up their Bulletin account at any time. Deposited funds will first be applied against any outstanding subscription fees.

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Payment Alternatives

Please contact Bulletin Wireless if you have a query about alternative billing or payment methods and we will endevour to assist you..

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Trouble Shooting

This section should be used to narrow down the reasons for any issues that may occur with the service. If these steps to not assist you in resolving your issue please see the 'Support' section of this document for information on who to contact.

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Bounced Emails

Messages may be 'Bounced' back to the sender for a number of reasons. Contact your Service Provider if your messages start to be 'bounced'.

• System Limits have been reached. This setting is for the entire (web and email) system for your Company. The limits may be for the number of messages per day or per hour.
• The email to SMS feature has been disabled for the Company.
• SMS via email functionality is not enabled for the specific login.
• Incorrect details stored in the online Address Book. Login and confirm the phone number is correct for the Alias you are using.
• Messages to phone numbers are bounced. Your Security settings may not allow you to send SMS to phone numbers, the recipient will need to be configured in your online Address Book.
• Network Limitations. Some networks cannot receive SMS messages from the system. Changes to these Network limitations will occur over time.
• Replying to a Group Email, from your email client, (Reply To All) that included some email to SMS recipients in the To or CC fields. This will send an Email to the system, which will try and assign it to your account so it can use the Alias or Phone number. If this Alias match fails the message will get bounced.