In this article you will find information on how to configure Ozeki NG SMS gateway and Microsoft Outlook 2007 to be able to send SMS messages. A detailed instruction guide and video tutorials also help you configure this solution.

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


Send SMS from Microsoft Outlook 2007 (part 1/2, configure your modem)


Send SMS from Microsoft Outlook 2007 (part 2/2, configure your system)

To communicate with your employees, colleagues, customers or business partners you can use SMS technology. It is possible to send SMS messages from your corporate IT environment to mobile phones. To achieve this function you need to install Ozeki NG SMS Gateway software to your computer.

Microsoft Outlook has a new feature called Outlook Mobile Services. This application makes it possible to create and send SMS messages in Outlook. As SMS technology eases several communication processes, it is widely used in companies to improve communication. Ozeki now offers a solution to implement SMS sending in Microsoft Outlook 2007. Ozeki NG SMS Gateway is a powerful software which makes SMS sending possible in practice.

With this solution you can forward your calendar entries, reminders and even e-mail messages to your mobile phones. In this way you will always be well-informed and never miss important meetings and events. These messages also can be sent to other people, employees, partners, etc. Using an SMS gateway software also makes bi-directional communication possible. This means that a text message is sent from your computer (from Outlook) is received on a mobile phone. The user of the phone can reply to this text message and this reply will be sent to the sender's mobile phone.

System requirements

First of all, for sending SMS messages from your Outlook you need to setup a connection with the mobile network. For this purpose you have two options: you can setup an Internet connection or you a wireless connection by attaching a GSM phone/GSM modem to your computer. (More information: Internet based SMS connections vs. GSM modem based (wireless) SMS connections)

1. Internet based connection

Components for connecting your system to an SMS service provider over the Internet:

Figure 1/a - IP SMS connection checklist


2. Wireless (GSM modem) connection

For this connection you need the following components:

Figure 1/b - Prerequisites for Ozeki NG SMS Gateway GSM modem connection


Checklist (for GSM modem connection):

SIM Card - You can get this from your local mobile network operator.*
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
Microsoft Outlook 2007

*The SIM card will come with a plan, that will determine how much money you will spend on each SMS.
Ozeki NG SMS Gateway can be obtained by
opening the download page:
Download Ozeki NG SMS Gateway!

How your SMS system works

Figure 2 explains how SMS messaging from Microsoft Outlook 2007 works:
First you need to compose your message in Outlook. Microsoft Outlook 2007 connects to Ozeki NG SMS Gateway over web service. With the help of it, the message will be forwarded to the SMS gateway which will process it and send an SMS message to the given mobile phone with the text of your message. If there is an IP SMS connection between your gateway and the SMS center of a mobile service provider then you can receive a reply to your SMS. 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. This process can be examined in Figure 2.

Figure 2 - SMS messaging in MS Outlook 2007 with Ozeki NG SMS Gateway

Installation guide for MS Outlook 2007 SMS solution

Step 1. Create a certificate

Microsoft Outlook 2007 is prepared for sending SMS messages. The name of this function is Outlook Mobile Services (OMS). It is able to send SMS messages over webservice but first you need to setup an encrypted channel.

You can use OMS only over HTTPS (encrypted) channel. To create an encrypted channel you need a certificate which 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. First you need to 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 need to create a self-signed certificate then 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 (Figure 6).

Figure 6 - Install root certificate

Step 2. Configure Ozeki NG SMS Gateway

Start the configuration interface of Ozeki NG SMS Gateway. First you need to login with your username and password. Now 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: for example "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 follows: "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 of the SMS gateway, you can see the provided address.

Step 3. Configure Outlook Mobile Service for SMS messaging

First start Outlook. You need to create a new mobile service account. So click on "Tools" menu and select "Account settings" menu item.
An "Account settings" window appears. Here select "E-mail" tab and click on "New...".
In the appeared window select "Other" option and choose "Outlook Mobile Service (Text Messaging)� and click on "Next" (Figure 11).

Figure 11 - Account settings

Next you need to provide values which you gave at Ozeki NG SMS Gateway. Into "Web Service Address" field: "Listening address", into "User ID" field: your username, and into "Password" field: your password, which you have defined in Ozeki NG SMS Gateway.
Then you need to click on "More settings" (Figure 12).

Figure 12 - Provide values

In the appeared window type a phone number into "Your Phone Address" field.
This phone number will appear as the sender's phone number and you can receive responses to this number also (Please note that this option is only available in case of IP SMS Connection) (Figure 13).

Figure 13 - Provide a phone number

Then click on "Test account settings" to test your settings. If you provide data successfully then there is a possibility to send a message to your phone number. To do so click on "Yes" in the appeared window.

Then you need to exit and restart Outlook to start operate with it properly.

Finally, in Ozeki NG SMS Gateway you can see the sent test message in "Outbox" messages (Figure 14).

Figure 14 - Sent message

Thank you for reading this guide about MS Outlook 2007 SMS solution!

If you wish to add SMS functionality to your corporate IT system please go to download page to download Ozeki NG SMS Gateway >>>

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