fmSMS Updated for Telstra Messaging API v3

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fmSMS, our FileMaker solution for sending and receiving SMS messages from the Claris FileMaker Platform, has been updated to support the Telstra Messaging API v3. The Telstra Messaging API v2 was switched off on 31 August 2024 and all users should now be using the v3 API.

You can download a trial version of fmSMS to test with the Telstra Messaging API v3 Gateway from the from the Databuzz website. You can try out Messaging API v3 with Telstra’s no-commitment free trial and send up to 100 messages to up to 10 recipients with no time limit, no obligation and no billing information required.

More information on using the Telstra Messaging API v3 Gateway with fmSMS is available on our support site.


fmSMS Now Supports SMS Express SMS Gateway

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fmSMS, our FileMaker solution for sending and receiving SMS messages from the Claris FileMaker Platform, has been updated to support the SMS Express SMS Gateway based in Australia.

The Guni SMS Gateway delivers SMS messages to Australian and and New Zealand mobile numbers – with SMS Express You only pay for SMS. Everything else is free.

You can download a trial version of fmSMS to test with the SMS Express SMS Gateway from the from the Databuzz website. You can signup for a free trial with SMS Express and receive 10 free SMS credits to start testing (no credit card required). More information on using the SMS Express Gateway with fmSMS is available on our support site.

fmSMS Now Supports Sending WhatsApp Templates with the Vonage Messages API

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Earlier this year we updated fmSMS, our FileMaker solution for sending and receiving SMS messages from the Claris FileMaker Platform, to support sending messages to WhatsApp users via the Vonage Messages API. We’ve just realised a minor update to this integration to now also support sending WhatsApp Message Templates using the Vonage API for WhatsApp.

WhatsApp divides messages into two different types: Template messages and Session messages. These determine when you can initiate a message to a WhatsApp user.

WhatsApp has a concept of a 24 hour customer care window, during which a business can freely message an end user. The 24 hour window can be initiated in two ways:

  • An end user sends a message to the business
  • A business sends a templated message to the end user. The 24 hour window starts as soon as the end user replies.

Templates must be approved by WhatsApp before they can be used to send messages to an end user. When the 24 hour window expires, a new 24 hour customer care window must be initiated again. Being able to send WhatsApp Message Templates is important if you wish to initiate new conversations with your customer.

You can download a trial version of fmSMS to test with the Vonage Messages API from the Databuzz website. More information on sending WhatsApp message with the Vonage Messages API and fmSMS is available on our support site.

fmSMS Now Supports Guni SMS Gateway

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fmSMS, our FileMaker solution for sending and receiving SMS messages from the Claris FileMaker Platform, has been updated to support the Guni SMS Gateway based in Australia.

The Guni SMS Gateway delivers SMS messages to Australian mobile numbers – their 2000+ customers are increasing sales, improving customer engagement, simplifying customer support and reducing no-shows with Guni’s easy-to-use SMS Gateway & MMS Gateway, 2-way messages, appointment reminders and API integration.

Guni also support sending MMS messages and fmMMS, our FileMaker solution that lets you send and receive MMS messages from the Claris FileMaker Platform, has also been updated to include support for the Guni MMS Gateway.

You can download a trial version of fmSMS to test with the Guni SMS Gateway from the from the Databuzz website. You can signup for a free trial and receive 30 free SMS credits to start testing (no credit card required). More information on using the Guni Gateway with fmSMS is available on our support site.

fmSMS Now Supports Sending WhatsApp Messages with the Vonage Messages API

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fmSMS, our FileMaker solution for sending and receiving SMS messages from the Claris FileMaker Platform, has been updated to support sending messages to WhatsApp users via the Vonage Messages API. This is the second SMS Gateway that you can use to send and receive WhatsApp messages with fmSMS – we previously added support for sending WhatsApp message using the Twilio Gateway back in 2019.

More than 2 billion people in over 180 countries use WhatsApp to stay in touch with friends and family and with WhatsApp Business you can communicate directly with your customers. You can send notifications, customer service messages, and essential information your customers need on WhatsApp.

fmSMS also supports testing using the Vonage Messages API Sandbox – this allows you to test sending WhatsApp messages for free whilst you are developing an integration with WhatsApp. It also works with free trial version of fmSMS.

You can download a trial version of fmSMS to test with the Vonage Messages API from the Databuzz website. More information on sending WhatsApp message with the Vonage Messages API and fmSMS is available on our support site.

fmSMS Now Supports Tall Bob SMS Gateway

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fmSMS, our FileMaker solution for sending and receiving SMS messages from the Claris FileMaker Platform, has been updated to support the Tall Bob SMS Gateway based in Australia.

Tall Bob provide a complete mobile messaging platform, delivered with clever functionality, rich interactivity and unprecedented insights. Tall Bob also support sending MMS messages and we’ll be releasing an update to fmMMS with support for the Tall Bob Gateway shortly.

You can download a trial version of fmSMS to test with the Tall Bob SMS Gateway from the Databuzz website. More information on using the Tall Bob Gateway with fmSMS is available on our support site.

fmSMS Now Supports TextAnywhere SMS Gateway

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fmSMS, our FileMaker solution for sending and receiving SMS messages from the Claris FileMaker Platform, has been updated to support the TextAnywhere SMS Gateway based in the UK.

TextAnywhere are one of the UKs leading SMS providers, supporting businesses of all sizes. fmSMS had previously supported the Mediaburst, Clockwork SMS and FastSMS Gateways which have since merged with TextAnywhere.

You can download a trial version of fmSMS to test with the TextAnywhere SMS Gateway from the Databuzz website.

Twilio Now Supports Message Scheduling for SMS and MMS

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When we first released fmSMS one of our favourite features was the ability to submit an SMS to a Gateway and have them deliver the message at a future date and time. This was great if you wanted a message to be delivered to the recipient at a specified date and time, not at the time you sent the message to the Gateway.

For example you might want send appointment reminders the evening before the appointment to remind the customer about the appointment tomorrow. For appointment reminders for a Monday appointment you would have to send the messages on a Sunday or have some server schedule setup to create and send these messages. Message Scheduling allows you to introduce more sophistication to your messages based on business requirements, such as scheduling them to be sent before, during or after business hours depending on the nature of your messages to promote customer engagement. It also eliminates the need for complex server schedules to be running each day.

Twilio, one of our recommended Gateways that we have partnered with for many years, has never supported message scheduling for SMS and MMS as well as WhatsApp messages. Based on developer feedback over the years they introduced Message Scheduling as a Public Beta earlier this year and as of August 24, 2022 Message Scheduling is now globally available.

We’ve just released updates to both fmSMS and fmMMS to support messaging scheduling when using the Twilio Gateway for both regular SMS/MMS messages as well as WhatsApp messages. fmSMS v4.2.11 and fmMMS v 1.18 now support scheduling messages. If you’re not already using Messaging Services with your Twilio account you will first need to create a new Messaging Service as you need to include a Messaging Service SID when sending a request which includes the message scheduling parameters.

You can get all the details on the fmSMS Twilio Gateway page and the fmMMS Twilio Gateway page. Scheduling a new message is a simple as selecting the required date and time you wish to send a message:

fmSMS Now Moving to Databuzz Website

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Back in 2008 when we released our first FileMaker solution – fmSMS – we decided to launch a new website just for this product. We didn’t have any fancy eCommerce sites back then – we just used PayPal to handle the payment processing and we manually processed all the orders and emailed the files to the customer. Over time we added new functionality to the website and introduced WooCommerce to handle online orders and automatic fulfilment.

What we didn’t anticipate at the time was that fmSMS would not remain our only commercial FileMaker solution that we sell – today we have 9 FileMaker solutions that we sell and support, and plan to release a few more in the next 12 months. It no longer makes sense to maintain 2 online stores for our products, where fmSMS has it’s own site and all the other products are on the main Databuzz website.

Today we are decommissioning the standalone fmSMS website and moving the content into the main Databuzz website where it will sit alongside all our other products. We’ve also been hard at work over the past few months updating our Support site for fmSMS where you will now find a list of FAQs and our Getting Started Guides. Each SMS Gateway will now get a dedicated article in our Knowledgeable covering details specific to each Gateway, such as setting up Webhooks.

We haven’t migrated all the Orders from the backend across, but existing customers can always contact us if they need to redownload fmSMS again or the Webhooks files.

Send and Receive MMS messages to WhatsApp users using fmMMS

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With over 2 billion people in more than 180 countries using WhatsApp to communicate with friends, family and businesses WhatsApp is a communications platform that you can’t ignore. What started as an alternative to SMS now supports sending and receiving a variety of media including text, photos, videos, and documents.

The WhatsApp Business Platform allows companies to message their customers directly within the WhatsApp messaging platform. For example companies can send appointment reminders, shipping alerts, order notifications, product demonstration videos, verification codes, boarding passes, and more. Millions of businesses around the world are now using the WhatsApp Business platform to communicate with their customers. Using the WhatsApp Business API you can respond to customer initiated messages or initiate messages to customers once you have secured their opt-in using customisable message templates which can be text or media-based.

When we released v4 of fmSMS (our solution for sending and receiving SMS messages using the Claris FileMaker Platform) back in 2019 we included support for sending SMS messages to WhatsApp users using the WhatsApp Business API with Twilio. Twilio was one of the first SMS Gateways that fmSMS supported so it made sense to extend support to WhatsApp users using the Twilio API – you can see a short video demonstrating this here.

When we were developing fmMMS – our solution for sending and receiving MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) Messages using the Claris FileMaker Platform – we also wanted to include support for sending MMS messages to WhatsApp users using Twilio. Here’s a screenshot from fmMMS showing an outgoing message with a single media file attachment:

Here’s how that message appears in the WhatsApp app on an iPhone (also showing a message sent in reply):

We’ve put together a short video demonstrating sending and receiving MMS messages between FileMaker and WhatsApp in action (you can also watch this directly on YouTube here):

If you would like to discuss sending SMS or MMS messages to WhatsApp users from your FileMaker solution please get in touch for a free initial consultation to discuss your requirements.