[Evergreen-general] SMS Messages Not Being Received

Mon Apr 8 13:07:44 EDT 2024

Hi,

One thing to keep in mind is that Evergreen's core text messaging
functionality was created more than 10 years ago when the wireless service
provider market was much less complex. We now have carriers that use
multiple networks, each with its own email gateway. Does the typical patron
know which network their discount carrier may happen to run on? Some
carriers don't even provide an email gateway, or make it very difficult to
find. If I were to write up development requirements for this feature in
2024, they would be entirely different from what they were in 2011ish.

NOBLE is planning to move to a third-party text messaging service soon.
Although I can't speak to how this provider works yet, in my previous job,
I used a service that relied on Twilio, and it was a much better
experience. Patrons didn't have to worry about getting the precise carrier
listed. It did not fix the sending / receipt for every single text message,
but it did handle text messaging in a modern way with sophisticated error
reporting letting us know the reason for the failed delivery, which helped
staff better manage these errors.

Kathy
--
Kathy Lussier
she/her
Executive Director
NOBLE: North of Boston Library Exchange
Danvers, MA
978-777-8844 x201
www.noblenet.org

On Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 12:50 PM Lolis, John via Evergreen-general <
evergreen-general at list.evergreen-ils.org> wrote:

> I don't know about anyone else's mileage, but in the past few weeks I've
> had reports of even personal text messages failing delivery.  T'would be a
> shame if we end up chasing our tails trying to fix something we have no
> control over.  I'm not saying this is definitely the case, but it bears
> consideration.
>
> John Lolis
> Coordinator of Computer Systems
>
> 100 Martine Avenue
> White Plains, NY  10601
> tel: 1.914.422.1497
> fax: 1.914.422.1452
>
> https://whiteplainslibrary.org/
>
> *“I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that
> can’t be questioned.”*
> — Richard Feynman
> <https://click.fourhourmail.com/5qure95xkf7hvvo93wh2/7qh7h8h05vr4zrtz/aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnL3dpa2kvUmljaGFyZF9GZXlubWFu>,
> theoretical physicist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965
>
>
> On Mon, 8 Apr 2024 at 09:17, Elizabeth Davis via Evergreen-general <
> evergreen-general at list.evergreen-ils.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi Jon,
>>
>> We went with Unique’s MessageBee.  We manage is on the consortium level
>> so there’s no customization for individual libraries, but it’s been working
>> great.
>>
>>
>>
>> *Elizabeth Davis* (she/her), *Support & Project Management Specialist*
>>
>> *Pennsylvania Integrated Library System **(PaILS) | SPARK*
>>
>> (717) 256-1627 | elizabeth.davis at sparkpa.org
>> <katherine.dannehl at sparkpa.org>
>> support.sparkpa.org | support at sparkpa.org
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Evergreen-general <
>> evergreen-general-bounces at list.evergreen-ils.org> *On Behalf Of *JonGeorg
>> SageLibrary via Evergreen-general
>> *Sent:* Friday, April 5, 2024 6:13 PM
>> *To:* Evergreen Discussion Group <
>> evergreen-general at list.evergreen-ils.org>
>> *Cc:* JonGeorg SageLibrary <jongeorg.sagelibrary at gmail.com>
>> *Subject:* Re: [Evergreen-general] SMS Messages Not Being Received
>>
>>
>>
>> Elizabeth, what 3rd party service did you end up using and how well has
>> it been working for your libraries?
>>
>> -Jon
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 5, 2024 at 11:29 AM Elizabeth Davis via Evergreen-general <
>> evergreen-general at list.evergreen-ils.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Will
>>
>>
>>
>> We’ve had several issues with most of the carriers on SMS issues.
>> Sometimes SMS messages were throttled, and patrons would get them days or
>> weeks later if at all.  Some carriers just stopped sending them totally.
>> Sometimes the messages to a specific carrier would deliver for one library
>> in the consortium but not others.  We tried changing from sending SMS to
>> MMS with no luck.  Also we were getting asked to add new carriers that
>> don’t have gateways and so we were unable to provide SMS service to those
>> patrons.    In the end we moved to a third-party option to deliver SMS
>> notifications.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *Elizabeth Davis *(she/her), *Support & Project Management Specialist*
>>
>> *Pennsylvania Integrated Library System (PaILS) | SPARK*
>>
>> (717) 256-1627 | elizabeth.davis at sparkpa.org
>> <katherine.dannehl at sparkpa.org>
>> support.sparkpa.org
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__support.sparkpa.org_&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=LRHEWfG7tKtoSjGM1XBmJX5tlkBCMt3lnyKxcaVacsw&m=dwrYBC8O0BMnqZB2_wBS0yeMRrM7MXdRr1RsCIfpP_FWgATVvcKJ-V7A_fxhtQn4&s=a-DVfDIJ6SZYJnpG5nLk4H2X6ZNXrw3WxhvfBiNNhIk&e=>
>> | support at sparkpa.org
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Evergreen-general <
>> evergreen-general-bounces at list.evergreen-ils.org> *On Behalf Of *Szwagiel,
>> Will via Evergreen-general
>> *Sent:* Friday, April 5, 2024 2:13 PM
>> *To:* Szwagiel, Will via Evergreen-general <
>> evergreen-general at list.evergreen-ils.org>
>> *Cc:* Szwagiel, Will <william.szwagiel at dncr.nc.gov>
>> *Subject:* [Evergreen-general] SMS Messages Not Being Received
>>
>>
>>
>> Good afternoon,
>>
>>
>>
>> We have recently been receiving a number of reports from different
>> libraries that patrons are not receiving SMS notifications, particularly
>> those for holds.  Evergreen is sending the messages like it is supposed to,
>> so we are thinking that some carriers may be flagging the messages as
>> spam.  Based on the reports we have received, it appears to be most common
>> with AT&T.
>>
>>
>>
>> For anyone else who might have experienced this in the past, did you have
>> any direct interactions with the carrier/s, and if so, what were the steps
>> that needed to be taken to prevent this from happening in the future?
>>
>>
>>
>> Thank you.
>>
>>
>>
>> *William C. Szwagiel*
>>
>> NC Cardinal Project Manager
>>
>> State Library of North Carolina
>>
>> william.szwagiel at ncdcr.gov | 919.814.6721
>>
>> https://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/services-libraries/nc-cardinal
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__statelibrary.ncdcr.gov_services-2Dlibraries_nc-2Dcardinal&d=DwMFAw&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=LRHEWfG7tKtoSjGM1XBmJX5tlkBCMt3lnyKxcaVacsw&m=0H4t3hQJflpFt0ea7x85qUiTVDQWbYqh6Dz0QJdoxJOUX_T6PrvwY7VnJnpC2V-2&s=qM9rGoZZzkmnBg-dhc0vkdPvc6yTj-v0trgYzDKOFOo&e=>
>>
>> 109 East Jones Street  | 4640 Mail Service Center
>>
>> Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-4600
>>
>> The State Library is part of the NC Department of Natural & Cultural
>> Resources.
>>
>> *Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the North
>> Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.*
>>
>>
>>
>>
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