Managing mobile phone carriers

The "Text it to me" button and menu option in the Searching interface lets a library user send the information from an item found in a search (such as the call number, title, and author) as a text message to a mobile phone. It uses email-to-SMS gateways (such as "1112223333@vtext.com") to send these messages. Each mobile phone company has its own email-to-SMS gateway.

Mobile Phone Carriers lets you define the email address templates for the SMS gateways and select which ones to display in the "Text it to me" interface. By default, the Mobile Phone Carriers list includes the email-to-SMS gateway definitions for the most common mobile phone carriers. You can create and edit definitions as needed. When library users request a text message, Portfolio requests the user's mobile carrier and phone number. Portfolio then inserts the phone number into the carrier's email template and sends the message through the carrier's SMS gateway to the library user's phone.

	You must have the proper privilege assigned to your account in order to view Mobile Phone Carriers.

The mobile phone carriers that you define here are available to any profile that you have defined. You can enable or disable "Text it to me" in individual profiles when you add, edit, or copy a profile (for more information see Fields: Add/Edit/Copy Profile).

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Cell phone carriers in some regions (such as Australia) do not provide email-to-SMS gateways as a means of texting to phones on their networks. Because of this, the "Text it to me" functionality does not work in those regions; in those regions it may be possible to find a commercial Email-to-SMS gateway provider, which you could set up as a mobile carrier option for "Text it to me." If you are uncertain about the carriers in your area, check with them and test your implementation to make sure it works as you expect.

For more information, see these topics: