OPLIN is seeking libraries to test a new service that will allow libraries to send notification messages directly to patrons' cellphones via standard Short Message Service (SMS) instead of sending messages to their e-mail accounts.

Libraries that are interested in testing this service should be aware of these points:

  • Your existing Integrated Library System (ILS) must be capable of sending notifications to patrons' e-mail addresses.
  • To use the service, you should ask a patron if they wish to receive messages by cellphone instead of by e-mail; their normal text messaging charges will apply. If they want cellphone messages, you will enter their e-mail address in your ILS as @sms.oplin.org. For example, if the patron wishes to receive notifications at their cellphone number 614-123-4567, then you would put "6141234567@sms.oplin.org" in the e-mail field of their patron record. Notifications will now be "e-mailed" to their cellphone rather than to their normal e-mail address.
  • All notifications sent to patrons' cellphones will be cut off after 160 characters, which is the maximum length of a single cellphone message. The OPLIN SMS system can "find" the desired portion of your standard notification text in one of three ways, using *** as its delimiter:
    1. If you send a message to the server and no occurrence of *** is found, it uses the first 160 characters of the email notification text.
    2. If you send a message with one occurrence of *** it assumes you're using that as the "premature" end to your 160 character message.
    3. If it finds two occurrences of *** it uses whatever you have in between them, and takes the first 160 characters of that.
  • Patrons will not be able to reply to your messages. This is strictly a one-way notification service.
  • The OPLIN SMS system accepts notices 24 hours a day, but only sends text messages between 9am and 9pm. This is to allow libraries to continue sending e-mail notices in the middle of the night, without possibly waking up patrons who keep their phones on the night stand.

If you are interested in helping us test this system, all we need to get you started is the IP address of the server that will be sending the e-mails to our SMS gateway. This is most likely the IP address of your catalog server. Send that to support@oplin.org; as soon as we have that, you can begin testing.