Forward E-mail to SMS

A common use case for Auron Omni is forwarding e-mail messages to SMS.

SMS notifications have the advantage that most mobile phones vibrate or buzz on new SMS messages but not on new e-mail messages.

If you want to forward an e-mail to multiple recipients, please have a look at this How-To. If you want to e-mail an SMS to a phone number, have a look here.

To follow this example, please first download and install Auron Omni.

This example walks through the configuration of the following items:

• An e-mail channel to receive e-mail messages
• An SMS channel to send SMS messages
• A forwarding trigger to forward e-mail to SMS

You can find more information about channels in this knowledge base article. You can find more information about triggers here.

Setting up an e-mail channel

To receive e-mail messages in Auron Omni, you need either an IMAP channel or a POP3 channel. IMAP is generally the easiest to set up.

In this example we use IMAP to connect to a Gmail account.

Start creating an IMAP channel by following these steps:

1. Open the Auron Omni Manager application
2. Open the Configuration section in the tree view on the left
3. Click New Channel in the view on the right
4. Select IMAP Receive E-mail from the list of available channel types
5. Click Create

Create IMAP channel

Clicking Create starts the IMAP channel wizard. Follow the wizard to configure your IMAP settings. If you are unsure which mailbox to select, choose INBOX. This is the default mailbox that contains incoming messages.

Setting up an SMS channel

To send SMS messages, you need an SMS channel. This can be a GSM, SMPP, or HTTP channel.

For most small applications, GSM is often the most straightforward option. It requires a GSM modem with a SIM card connected to your PC via USB.

Another common option is HTTP. This is often more convenient because no GSM hardware or SIM card is required. SMS messages are sent over the internet.

In this case we use SMPP. This works similarly to HTTP in that it connects to a provider over the internet. SMPP is commonly used for high performance and high reliability setups. In this example we use the free Auron test and demonstration gateway.

Start creating an SMPP channel in Auron Omni Manager by following these steps:

1. Open the Configuration section in the tree view on the left
2. Click New Channel in the view on the right
3. Select Auron Test Gateway from the list of available channel types
4. Click Create

The settings for the test and demonstration gateway are already preconfigured. You can click Next and then Finish to complete the channel setup.

Create Auron Channel

Review channel settings

Your channel list should now look like this:

E-mail forward channels

Setting up a forwarding trigger

A trigger is a small JavaScript, VBScript, or SQL script that runs when a message is received or changes state.

You can build a trigger from scratch, but Auron Omni includes many script templates. These templates help you quickly set up common scenarios. After creating a trigger from a template, you can easily adjust the script.

Start creating a new trigger in Auron Omni Manager by following these steps:

1. Open the Triggers section in the tree view on the left
2. Click New Trigger in the view on the right
3. Select Forward Trigger Template from the list of available trigger templates
4. Click Create

Create forward trigger

This starts the forward trigger wizard. The wizard generates the base forwarding script for you.

The forward trigger wizard

Forward wizard page one

On the first page you select the scripting language. This is useful if you want to modify the script later.

Forward wizard page two

On the next page you select the From channel and the To channel. Messages from the From channel are forwarded to the To channel.

This trigger can also be used to forward SMS to e-mail or other combinations.

Forward wizard page three

On the last page you define the message format using static text and placeholders.

You can click the plus buttons to view available placeholders and insert them directly.

In this example every e-mail forwards to +31612345678 and includes the full plain text body of the original message.

You can also use placeholders such as %SUBJECT% if you want to dynamically build the destination number from the e-mail content.

Click Finish when you are done.

Enable trigger

You now see the trigger in the trigger overview. The trigger is disabled by default so it does not affect existing configuration.

Enable it by selecting the checkbox next to the trigger and test it.

In conclusion

You can now test this trigger by sending an e-mail to your mailbox. Auron Omni receives it and automatically forwards it to your mobile phone.

You can extend the trigger script to add more logic. You can also create multiple forwarding triggers by running the wizard again.