More Than SMS
How Link in SMS Works
LinkInSMS automatically creates custom, user specific pages of HTML data that can be presented through a simple SMS message.
How Does Link In SMS Work?
LinkInSMS delivers a URL link within an SMS message.
The URL link in the SMS points to an HTML web page that was automatically created by LinkInSMS using the content from the sender’s email or from an API integration.
Each message will have an SMS message part and the URL link to the web page that was automatically created and hosted by LinkInSMS.
For example, the SMS message received from the business application or monitoring software could look something like:
The recipient would tap on the link to open the rich content displaying detailed instructions on how to handle the alert.
This allows a single SMS to communicate large amounts of data over the ubiguitous SMS network inexpensively and seamlessly.
Security
LinkInSMS has several security levels, which provide levels of security not available in standard SMS. These security levels assist in securely transmitting your mission-critical business information.
Here are 3 ways to use Link In SMS
Option #1: For a quick start, use our Email interface
Check out the demo of Link In SMS
Enter phonenumber@linkinsms.message-service.org in the “TO” field.
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- phonenumber for the USA and Canada is something like 5551231234, for example 5551231234@linkinsms.message-service.org. For Non-USA and Non-Canadian numbers, a +country code is required in the phonenumber. For example +6112312345@linkinsms.message-service.org. (The number does not need to be preregistered with LinkInSMS.)
- The “FROM” email address must be the same as specified in the subscription process – or is a special email address you provided us as a Send-Only email address.
- Type in anything you want in the subject field using less than 120 characters.
- The message in the email will be converted to an HTML Web page, up to 16MB, and a link to the page will be inserted in the SMS message.
- And then just send the email. The recipient will receive a link to the custom web page.
- Optionally, you can set an introductory message and you can set a wrapper for the message behind the link. These are examples:
- A message from the Support Group at Link In SMS. To securely view this message, tap here – %%linkinsms%%
- This information is from the Support Group at LinkInSMS.com
- Optionally, you can set an introductory message and you can set a wrapper for the message behind the link. These are examples:
Begin Using LinkInSMS
Option #2: Access LinkInSMS through the Customer Portal
You can send a single message and web page to a recipient by using the QuickSMS page in the Customer Portal.
Link In SMS broadcast
LinkInSMS allows you to send SMS messages and pages of customized data out to a whole list of recipients at one time. Some examples:
- Send out daily schedules to staff members.
- Daily send out stock prices for all customers portfolios
- Send out health alerts to people who have been in contact with an infectious individual.
- Send out fire warnings to people in danger of needing evacuation with links to evacuation plans.
To send out message like this, you either upload a list with all the needed recipient details via the portal, or you code your systems to send the recipient data using our API.
Personalizing Each Message to a List of Recipients
You can customize your message and web page for each recipient. This is done by including the required personal data in the recipient list you send us.
This is done by including custom recipient data in the list you send us.
So then when you send your message to these recipients the SMS would be something like:
Hi %%firstname%%. You have an appointment on %%customfield1%%. Please visit %%linkinsms%% to see your appointment details.
For the Web page part, there are two options for customising the resulting page:
- Send us shared web page content that should be merged with the custom data. Dear %%firstname%%.
You have an appointment at %%customfield1%% at our office at:
123 North Road.
Eastville.Please bring your checkbook
Other instructions…
Or, don’t send us a shared page. In this case, the contents of the LinkInSMS field in the list above will be used. This lets you send completely individual pages of data for each recipient such as weekly schedule tables, etc.
Message Personalization in Account Profile
As an additional feature, in your user profile, you can set LinkInSMS header and footer values, so that you can have a Logo and other links automatically wrapped around any LinkInSMS HTML content.
LinkInSMS API
Option #3: Use our API for Advanced Application Integration
Our API lets you directly send LinkInSMS messages directly from your business applications. Our system runs as a webservice accepting SOAP requests over HTTPS allowing your application to send messages, retrieve reports, manage user details and so on, directly from within your application.
Reporting can be handled via both pull or push. You can request the broadcast details from our system with the API, or we can simply push the result of each message to you with a simple HTTPS post request.
Our API documentation provides sample code that will make the implementation and integration easy. Businesses often have the interface up and running in a matter of one day! We have code samples for .Net, Java and PHP.
NEED HELP WITH THE API?
Our tech team is well versed in business applications that use an API for external communication. If you need help with the implementation, we can help! Usually a phone call, email or Skype chat will get you on your way!