The SMS Control allows simple messages to be sent from a Workflow either immediately, or at a specified date and time. The message's content can be dynamic and based on data collected during a record, or static.

 

It also allows sending messages to selected mobile apps such as WhatsApp, when using an appropriate Connector.

 

It can be configured so that the message content is either displayed to the agent as an editable window (as below), a read-only display, or is completely hidden.

 

 

 

This Control is part of the SMS Control pack, and will only be available if your System has the appropriate licence.

 

 

Add a SMS to the Page. The options and style can be configured in the Options tab and Styling tab of the Field Properties, and Validation can be applied if desired.

 

SMS Fields can be styled in a Stylesheet by referencing the control-sms class.

 

Once the SMS has been configured as desired, clicking the Advanced Options tab will allow the configuration of the actual message content:

 

 

 

Clicking the Begin configuration button will open the first step of the configuration wizard:

 

 

 

The options can either be populated with free-text, or they can be linked to Fields or Variables. If linked to a Field or Variable, then they will take the value held in the specified Field or Variable at the time the Send button is triggered.

 

 

 

The second page of the wizard then allows you to build the body of the message using a Text Editor:

 

 

 

Fields and Variables can be inserted into the text freely, and it can be formatted as desired (within the limits of the messaging provider's capabilities). The entire message could be static text, or it could be entirely defined by a Field or Variable, or anywhere in between.

 

The third page of the wizard then allows the configuration of when the message will be sent. The default is to send the message as soon as the Send button is clicked, but it can also be configured to send at a specific date and time.

 

 

 

If configuring the message to send at a specific time, then it must be specified via a Field or Variable that contains a date and time. The date and time have specific formatting requirements and will always be specified relative to the Intelligent Agent webserver's system clock, but it's suggested that the "YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm" format be used.

 

Once all options have been configured and saved, the Advanced Options tab will then display a summary of the Field's details:

 

 

 

For the SMS Field to actually work, valid messaging provider details must have been configured and saved into an SMS-type Connector, and the SMS Field must also be configured to use the configured Connector Name; in all cases, the utilised Connector must be active. Additionally, the SMS Processing Service must be installed and running.

 

Messages can also be sent directly with JavaScript.

 

If making use of any Fields or Variables in the body of the message, these need to be set prior to the Page that the SMS is located on. This is because any Fields or Variables used in the body of the message are evaluated and replaced with their corresponding value when the Page is loaded, as continuing to update it after page load could overwrite any changes made to the text by an agent.

 

When clicking the Send button, a "Sent" message appears for the agent. This actually means that the message has been moved into the message queue, and will be processed when the SMS Processing Service next polls the queue (according to the chosen send time).

 

When the message has been moved into the message queue successfully, the SMS will take on a value of "Sent", which can be used to control conditional behaviour based on the Field having been successfully triggered.

 

As with other button-type Fields, it is possible to require that a Page passes Validation before the button will activate. This prevents the message from being sent before all requisite details have been collected.

 

As with other button-type Fields, upon activation the button will then be temporarily disabled until the action has completed.

 

As with other button-type Fields, it is possible to trigger this by JavaScript or Update Links. Please see the .click() article for more information and an example regarding using JavaScript.