Você está na página 1de 3
 
SMS ALERTS FROM TOPDESK 
… is an information distribution coordinator. He is specialized in technical issues and optimizing processes.
PATRICK MACKAAIJ
Nowadays, most people have a mobile phone, and all mobile phones can receive SMS messages. This is why SMS is the perfect way to reach operators outside office hours, or to alert them to urgent calls, or to reach operators outside office hours. Such messages are also a good way to keep callers up to date on the status of their call.
TOPdesk’s Event Management module lets you send HTTP requests to SMS service providers. For this article, we will use MessageBird as our example. You send TOPdesk data from a card, such as the brief description or the caller’s telephone number, using an HTTP request. The SMS supplier sends the actual SMS message and processes any responses. MessageBird divides messages longer than 160 characters into several SMS messages, and charges credits accordingly.The following technical steps are required:1. Create a MesssageBird account: https://www.messagebird.com/en/user/create. The
rst three SMS messages are free. Use TOPdesk’s Action Explorer to create one or more
HTTP requests for your desired card. Enter the following data: server: api.messagebird.
com, port: 80, rst line: POST, URL and HTTP/1.1. (Test the URL in a web browser before lling it in.)
2. Indicate where the action should be active: Self Service Desk and/or the Operator’s Section.
3. Activate the action by clicking Active.
4. Create one or more events to trigger sending a message.
5. Link the event(s) to the action(s).6. Refresh the TOPdesk system settings and reopen a card to apply the change.
24 WORKING SMARTER
Photography:
Robin Kuijs
 
Controlling MessageBird via HTTP request
The HTTP request URL comprises the following elements:
MessageBird account login name and password
Recipient (or recipients’) telephone number
Message content
Message sender (can be a name or a telephone number)
Reaction type (for status information for the operator)
Method of sending (standard SMS, business SMS or text to speech)
 
You can try the following URL:http://api.messagebird.com/api/sms?username=[MessageBirdLogin
Name]&password=[MessageBirdPassword]&destination=061234567&body=Testmessage&sender=TOPdesk&responsetype=plain&gateway_id=2&test=true
To use the URL in TOPdesk, replace the values with TOPdesk insertion elds, remove ‘http://api.messagebird.com’ and enclose the URL within \U and \u. The HTTP request will then look as follows:\U/api/sms?username=[MessageBirdLoginName]&password=[M
essageBirdPassword]&destination=[Operator.Mobile_Number_
(Commercial)]&body=[Caller_(Registered).Formal_Addressing]([Caller_(Registered).Mobile_Number_(Commercial)]): [Brief_Description_(Details)]&sender=TOPdesk&responsetype=plain&gatew
ay_id=2&test=true\uIn this example, TOPdesk sends an SMS message to the operator’s mobile phone number. Other commonly used places in TOPdesk to register relevant telephone numbers are: Operator Group• Operator• Supplier• BranchContact for linked object
If necessary, create optional elds on the cards listed above to register
the recipient’s number.
Message delivered?
TOPdesk displays response codes if you select Show response in the HTTP request. It is possible to only display a reaction when the
response code is not equal to 01|OK (Are not present). This means
that you will only receive a response when a message is not delivered. It may be worth keeping an eye on this during testing when you
manually send SMS messages from the Operator’s Section. After
adjusting the HTTP request, it is not necessary to refresh the TOPdesk system settings or reopen the card.
Sending an SMS to a group
You can send an SMS message straight to several recipients by adding the telephone numbers, separated by commas. It is also possible to create a group within MessageBird and enter this as the recipient. You can determine which recipients are in a group. MessageBird is working on a functionality allowing people to add or remove themselves from a group by sending an SMS message. This lets operators log in at the start of their shift, and log out when they are off duty.
Processing message responses
You can assign
&inbox=true
 instead of
&sender
. If you do this, the responses to the SMS message will be sent to a general MessageBird
mobile number, after which it can be automatically forwarded. An example: if a call is sent to an Operator Group via SMS, the rst
response from an operator can be automatically sent to the caller or the Operator Group. You can forward responses to an email address,
URL or mobile number. If desired, you can adjust the set up so that the
sender immediately receives a response. This lets them know that their message was received.
 TIP:
 you can manually send an SMS message from a card in TOPdesk. To do this, create HTTP requests and indicate the context menus for which they are available under Special events. This is a useful step to verify whether or not the action works, even if you automate the trigger. When testing, you can include the
&test=true
 
parameter. The API will respond, but MessageBird will not
send the message – and will not charge any credits.
WORKING SMARTER 25
 
26 WORKING SMARTER
Editorial
Download this issue and more at www.scribd.com/TOPdeskThe
TOPdesk Magazine
covers subjects that are topical in the world of professional service desks in IT, facilities and other service providing organizations. TOPdesk Magazine is intended for managers, service desk employees, facilities organizations and electronic city councils – anyone who is involved with supporting clients on a daily basis. This concerns both the processes and the technology behind these services.
TOPdesk Magazine
 is a TOPdesk publication
Tel: +44 (0) 207 803 4200
Email: editorial@topdesk.com
Editor-in-chief:
Milou Snaterse
Editors:
Nienke Deuss, Timme Hos, Stefanie Klaassen, Milou Snaterse
Translators:
 Leah Clarke, Nicola van der
Velde
Contributors:
Nienke Best, Ron van
Haasteren, Fiona IJkema, Patrick Mackaaij,
Jordi Recasens
Layout:
Louise van der Laak
Photography:
 Menno van der Bijl, Aad Hoogendoorn, Robin Kuijs
Copy editor:
Nicola van der Velde
A print run of 7,500
Quarterly magazine
Languages: Dutch, English
Sending callers SMS alerts
You can enable callers to send an SMS message to operators. To do this, create an event that
triggers on the Call type eld. Add an entry such as ‘Urgent call via SMS’ to the drop-down list. You can add more information to the form using an additional comment on the rst line Call
Card via
Module Settings > Self Service Desk > Call Management
.
Business SMS for improved reception
If you pay a surcharge of 20 per cent, you can be even more condent that the SMS message
reaches the receiver’s mobile phone. Change
gateway_id
 to
1
 in order to have MessageBird send the message straight to the recipient’s telecom provider. To send the SMS as a spoken message, change
gateway_id
 to
8
. MessageBird sends the message using computerized text-to-speech. Soon recipients will be able to choose to listen to the message again. Until then, you can send (short) messages twice in
&body
.
About MessageBird
MessageBird’s prices incorporate incremented discount: if you purchase more messages, the price per credit drops from 13 to 6.5 eurocents. MessageBird can automatically send a
notication and create a new invoice once your credits drop below a specic threshold.
If you wish to screen off your server communication, or check whether a message was sent by MessageBird, you can whitelist MessageBird. For more information, please consult
MessageBird’s HTTP SMS API Technical Specication document. You can use your own MessageBird mobile number (VMN) to further automate the processing of received messages. You can nd more examples at www.messagebird.com/en/sms-explore.
In practice: Spar Netherlands
Spar Netherlands uses the SMS integration between the telephone exchange and the telecom provider to send SMS messages. Instead of sending SMS messages directly from TOPdesk, Spar
Netherlands has incorporated an extra step for more exibility. TOPdesk creates a task le for an SMS message for a specic form or card eld. If a specic le exists, the server triggers a script. This script sends an SMS message to a group of recipients, based on the name of the le.
The recipient can be a caller who has requested a password reset, but the message can also be sent to one or more branches in the event of a malfunction or recall. The lists of the recipients’
mobile numbers are exported from the CRM system on a daily basis.

Recompense a sua curiosidade

Tudo o que você quer ler.
A qualquer hora. Em qualquer lugar. Em qualquer dispositivo.
Sem compromisso. Cancele quando quiser.
576648e32a3d8b82ca71961b7a986505