Send SMS text messages from MS Outlook 2010 to improve your corporate communication. To use this function of Outlook, you need to install a powerful SMS gateway software such as Ozeki NG SMS Gateway on your computer. This software product makes it possible to send SMS messages from your computer to mobile phones.

Download: OMSTools.zip (63 Kb)
Download: makecert.exe (55 Kb)
Download: HttpConfig.exe (17 Kb)

Video: Send SMS from MS Outlook 2010 (part 1/2, configure your modem)
Video: Send SMS from MS Outlook 2010 (part 2/2, configure your system)


Send SMS from MS Outlook 2010 (part 1/2, configure your modem)


Send SMS from MS Outlook 2010 (part 2/2, configure your system)

Solution overview

Efficient communication is an essential demand in companies dealing with numbers of customers and business partners. They need to keep contact with these customers and business partners and beside this fact they need to be well-informed all the time to be competitive. These features can be achieved by sending SMS text message from an application such as MS Outlook 2010. It makes efficient communication possible but cannot ensure fast response options and availability via SMS. For example, if there is no Internet connection in the office the communication flow will be blocked. Or you cannot be sure that the recipient of your e-mail message is in front of his computer in the critical moment.

SMS technology is the solution as it makes it possible to send messages from Outlook to mobile phones. MS Outlook 2010 has a new feature among its services and it is called Outlook Mobile Service. To use this function first you need to install a powerful SMS gateway software on your computer to ensure SMS functionality. Ozeki NG SMS Gateway is a software product that is able to meet with these requirements. With the implementation of this solution you will be able to forward your incoming e-mail messages or calendar entries from Outlook as SMS messages to mobile phones and there is a possibility to receive SMS messages from mobile phones to your computer as e-mail messages.

This solution will help you further improve corporate communication and ensure continuous availability. In this way you can get your reminder messages even if your are on the move. You will be up-to-date on all of the important matters due to SMS technology. Furthermore you can easily inform your customers and business partners about important dates, meetings, events. So, for example, it is possible to send them a reminder message about an approaching meeting. It is due to the fact that you can specify multiple recipients for the outgoing messages.

With the implementation of this solution you will be able to build an effective, secure and well-functioning SMS system based on Ozeki NG SMS Gateway that will help improve corporate communication and ensure continuous availability. This article will provide you a step by step installation guide but before you start to build your system, please check the prerequisites of Ozeki NG SMS Gateway.

Prerequisites for this solution

To implement this solution, you need to connect your system to the mobile network. For this purpose you can use Internet connection or a GSM phone/GSM modem attached to your computer (this way you will have a wireless connection). The following webpage gives you all the information to decide which solution suits your requirements best: Internet based SMS connections vs. GSM modem based (wireless) SMS connections. You need the following prerequisites, depending on your choice.

Internet based connection:

For connecting your system over the Internet to an SMS service provider, you need the follows:

Figure 1/a - IP SMS connection checklist

First of all, you need a service provider, who can reach the mobile phones in your area and enables you to connect to their SMSC through the Internet. The following website lists some of them: SMPP SMS Service providers. After you have chosen a service provider, you need to sign up for their service. This will you will get connection parameters that can be used to configure your Ozeki NG SMS Gateway software.

GSM modem connection:

For a wireless connection, you need a suitable GSM phone/GSM modem that can be attached to your computer with a data cable. This way, Ozeki NG SMS Gateway software will send and receive the SMS messages wirelessly, using the GSM modem. To create this connection, you need the following prerequisites:

Figure 1/b - GSM modem connection checklist

Please make sure you have the following items to create a GSM modem connection:

SIM Card - You buy one from your service provider.*
Modem - - Use a Wavecom, Siemens or Multitech modem.
Data cable - Comes with the modem
Computer - Recommended: Intel P4 3Ghz, 2GB RAM, 500MB HDD, Windows OS
Ozeki NG SMS Gateway - Download it from http://www.sms-integration.com

* The cost of an SMS message is determined by the price plan you have chosen when you have purchased the SIM card from your GSM mobile network operator.
Ozeki NG SMS Gateway can be obtained by
opening the download page:
Download Ozeki NG SMS Gateway!

How the SMS system works

Once you composed a message in MS Outlook 2010, MS Outlook 2010 connects to Ozeki NG SMS Gateway over webservice to forward the message to the SMS gateway software. Then the gateway processes the message and sends out as an SMS message to predefined mobile phones.

NOTE: In case you use IP SMS connection between your gateway and the SMS center of a mobile service provider, you can receive a reply to your message. It is possible because the SMS gateway is able to set the phone number, which was provided in Outlook, as the phone number of the sender. In this way you can get the reply to your mobile phone. Figure 2 demonstrates this process.

Figure 2 - MS Outlook 2010 SMS solution with Ozeki NG SMS Gateway

How to configure MS Outlook 2010 SMS solution

Step 1. Create a certificate

Microsoft Outlook 2010 has been designed to be able to send SMS messages. The name of this function is Outlook Mobile Services (OMS). It is able to send SMS messages over webservice. To use this SMS functionality first you need to setup an encrypted channel.

It is required because you can only use OMS over HTTPS (encrypted) channel. To create an encrypted channel you need a certificate. This certificate can be self-signed or it can come from an external issuer. You can create a self-signed certificate with the use of makecert program. So at first create a main self-signed certificate and then create a certificate for the encryption of the connection. It needs to be signed with the certificate which was created at first.

In practice you need to do the follows: go to Start menu and select Command Prompt (All program/Accessories/Command Prompt). Now go to the directory of OMS Tools (Figure 3). You also need to download and extract the following program: OMSTools.zip

Figure 3 - OMS Tools directory

If you create a self-signed certificate, type into Command Prompt the follows to get your IP address:

ipconfig


To create a self-signed certificate you need mkcert script. Type one of the following commands into Command Prompt:

mkcert <IP address>


or

mkcert <FQDN>


This will be signed by the certificate that has been created at first where "Server" is the name of the server on which Ozeki NG SMS Gateway will run.

If it is done close Command Prompt with "exit" command.

If you have created the certificates, you need to set them. You can do this with the use of HttpConfig.exe
Now start HTTPConfig utility and bind your certificate to a port. You can do this if you select "SSL" tab in HTTPConfig program and click on "Add". A window appears, type your IP address into "IP Address" field. Then into "Port" field type the port number on which you wish to provide OMS with Ozeki NG SMS Gateway. By clicking on "Browse" you can select the previously created certificate (Figure 4).

Figure 4 - SSL configuration

Select this certificate and click on "Apply" (Figure 5). You can leave other fields unchanged and finally click on "OK".

Figure 5 - HTTP configuration utility

Then you need to install root certificate so click on "Install Certificate" in "officesms" (Figure 6).

Figure 6 - Install root certificate

Step 2. Configure Ozeki NG SMS Gateway

Now start the configuration interface of Ozeki NG SMS Gateway. First you need to login with your username and password. Then you need to create a new user in the SMS gateway (Outlook Mobile Service User). To do this, click on "Add new user or application" (Figure 7).

Figure 7 - Add new user or application

Select "Outlook Mobile Service" and click on "Install" next to it (Figure 8).

Figure 8 - Install OMS

Next provide an application name for this user: in our example it is "Ozeki_OMS" (Figure 9).

Figure 9 - Provide a name

Click on "OK" twice.
On the left hand side, "OMS settings" appears. Click on it and provide "Listening Address" (Figure 10):

https://<HOST>:<PORT>/<PATH>


Figure 10 - Listening address

In our example it is the following: "https://192.168.139.131:8443/oms". If it is done, click on "OK".
If you click on "Events" on the left side of the interface, you can see the provided address.

Step 3. Configure MS Outlook 2010

In MS Outlook 2010 you need to create a new mobile service account. To do so, start MS Outlook 2010 and go to "File" menu then click on "Account Settings" (Figure 11).

Figure 11 - Account settings

"Account Settings" window appears and click on "New" option on "E-mail" tab (Figure 12).

Figure 12 - New account

In the appeared "Add New Account" window select "Text Messaging" option and click on "Next" (Figure 13).

Figure 13 - Text messaging

In the next window provide the "Service Provider URL", your "User ID" and your password (Figure 14).

Figure 14 - Account information

After you have provided the necessary data click on "More Settings" (Figure 15).

Figure 15 - More settings

Now provide a name by which you wish to refer to this account. In our example it is "MyPhone". Then specify your phone number and click on "OK" (Figure 16).

Figure 16 - Configure service options

Step 4. Test the system

By clicking on "Test Account Settings" a test message can be sent to the predefined phone number (Figure 17).

Figure 17 - Test account settings

If you have done your account settings properly a window will notify you about this fact. If you click on "Yes" on this window a test message will be sent to your mobile phone (Figure 18).

Figure 18 - Test the settings

After the configuration click on "Finish" and close MS Outlook 2010.

If you take a look at the "Outbox" folder of Ozeki NG SMS Gateway you can see that a test message has been sent out (Figure 19).

Figure 19 - Sent message in Ozeki NG SMS Gateway

Conclusion for MS Outlook 2010 SMS solution

MS Outlook 2010 with Ozeki NG SMS Gateway is the best solution if you wish to improve corporate communication and ensure availability. With this solution you can simplify corporate messaging by forwarding important e-mail messages or calendar entries from Outlook to mobile phones as SMS messages. As SMS technology is simple but very effective, the implementation of it will result in considerable time saving and reduce IT costs. With this solution you can build a stable SMS system based on Ozeki NG SMS Gateway and you will get high quality service.

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