fmSMS now supports over 70 SMS Gateways

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We’ve just finished updating fmSMS to support 3 more SMS Gateways, bring the total number of supported SMS Gateways to over 70! The most recent additions were

  • ClickSend – a global SMS Gateway (head office in Perth, Australia)
  • directSMS – an Australian based SMS Gateway
  • Wholesale SMS – another Australian based SMS Gateway

If there are any SMS Gateways that you would like us to support please contact us and let us know the details – we’re more than happy to support as many SMS Gateways as possible.

Databuzz End of Year Xmas Sale – Last Days

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Just a reminder that the Databuzz End of Year Xmas Sale ends in just over 24 hours on the 31st December, 2015 (Australian Eastern Daylight Time). You can get 20% Off all fmAccounting Link (Xero Edition) and fmSMS Licenses

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fmSMS Gateways Update – Over 60 Supported Gateways

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We’ve just finished updating fmSMS to support 2 more SMS Gateways:

That brings the total number of supported SMS Gateways to over 60. If there are any SMS Gateways that you would like us to support please contact us and let us know the details – we can usually add a new SMS Gateway in a few hours.

FileMaker Developer Conference Show Specials – 10% Off

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Databuzz will once again be demonstrating at the annual FileMaker Developer Conference this week in in Las Vegas, Nevada. To celebrate we will be offering a DevCon show special for the entire week – all versions of fmAccounting Link and fmSMS will be discounted by 10%.

The discount will be applied automatically so no need to enter any coupons and it will run from July 20 – July 26, 2015.

You can purchase fmAccounting Link via the Databuzz website and fmSMS from the fmSMS.

If you’re attending the conference please stop by our booth and say hello and we can demonstrate our SMS and Xero integration solutions.

Using SMS Marketing to Drive Revenue

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There’s an interesting article on the Xero blog about using SMS marketing to drive revenue – How to increase sales on a budget.

The article illustrates how an Auckland hair salon came invested $45 on an SMS marketing campaign to their existing customers to promote another one of their services that generated $24,000 in short-term revenue and up to $451,955 in long-term revenue.

This demonstrates an effective and appropriate use of SMS marketing to your existing customers – something fmSMS integrated with your FileMaker solution was designed to do.

Telstra SMS API

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Earlier this year Telstra, Australia’s biggest mobile phone operator, announced a preview of their new APIs website. I was pleasantly surprised that the first API that they were previewing was an SMS API which they were making available to a limited group of developers. I quickly signed up for the preview and started working out how to add support for the Telstra SMS API to fmSMS – within a few hours I had it successfully sending messages and receiving replies. During the Preview Telstra were not charging for use of the SMS API, however there were a few limitations:

  • you could not send more than 1000 free SMS messages per month
  • you were limited to 100 messages per day
  • you can only send messages to Australian mobile phones

Telstra have recently opened up the SMS API Preview to all developers and it’s still free, subject to the same original limitations. We’ve released an updated version of fmSMS with support for the Telstra SMS API so you can take advantage of the free messaging to Australia numbers during the preview.

For more information about fmSMS and to download a trial version visit the fmSMS website.

Full details about the Telstra SMS API are available at:

Telstra SMS API

 

Installing 32-bit and 64-bit plug-ins in FileMaker Pro v14

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The recently released FileMaker Pro v14 is the first version of FileMaker Pro that can be installed and run as either a 32-bit application or a 64-bit application – on Windows you have to choose which version to install, and on OS X FileMaker Pro is installed as a single application bundle containing both 64- and 32-bit versions (you can choose which version to run via the Get Info window).

When using the 64-bit FileMaker Pro application you will need to ensure that any plug-ins you install are the 64-bit versions – 32-bit plug-ins won’t load with the 64-bit FileMaker Pro application. The same applies to the 32-bit FileMaker Pro application – it will only load 32-bit plug-ins.

How do you check which version of FileMaker Pro v14 is installed in order to install the appropriate version of the plug-in? FileMaker have added a new function to v14 for just this purpose – Get ( ApplicationArchitecture ). This function will return the following depending on the platform:

  • i386 for the 32-bit version of FileMaker Pro
  • x86_64 for the 64-bit version of FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Server, FileMaker WebDirect, and Custom Web Publishing
  • arm7 for FileMaker Go running on an ARMv7-based device
  • arm7s for FileMaker Go running on an ARMv7s-based device
  • arm64 for FileMaker Go running on a 64-bit ARM-based device

As plug-ins are only supported by FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Server you can ignore the FileMaker Go options. To install a plug-in for the appropriate version/architecture/platform you can write a script that incorporates the following:

  1. use the Get (ApplicationVersion) function to determine whether you are running under FileMaker Pro/Pro Advanced, FileMaker Server or the Web Publishing Engine
  2. also use the the Get (ApplicationVersion) function to determine the version of the FileMaker client you are running
  3. if the client is FileMaker Pro/Pro Advanced and the version is less than 14 you can simply install the 32-bit version of the plug-in using the Install Plug-In File script step – you can check the installed version using the Get(InstalledFMPlugins) function
  4. if the client is FileMaker Pro/Pro Advanced and the version 14 or higher you can use the Get ( ApplicationArchitecture ) function to determine is it is a 32-bit or 64-bit installation and then use the Install Plug-In File script step to install the appropriate version
  5. if the client is FileMaker Server and the version is 13 or higher you will need to install the 64-bit version of the plug-in. For FileMaker Server v12 you need to install the 32-bit version of the plug-in. Remember to check the options in the FileMaker Server Admin Console under the Database Server > Server Plug-Ins tab to enable FileMaker Server to use plug-ins and update them via the Install Plug-In File script step.

Plug-in vendors will typically supply 3 versions of each plug-in:

  1. the Mac OS X version of the plug-in – this is a single binary plug-in (file extension .fmplugin) containing both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the plug-in
  2. a Windows 32-bit plug-in (file extension .fmx)
  3. a Windows 64-bit plug-in (file extension .fmx64)

You can store each of these plug-in files in separate container fields to be referenced by the Install Plug-In File script step, once you have branched for your FileMaker client, version and architecture.

If you’re using plug-ins with FileMaker Server’s Web Publishing Engine you’ll need to install these manually on your server – see the FileMaker Server Help guide for details on where to install these (the Custom Web Publishing Engine has been a 64-bit process since FileMaker Server v12.0v2).

This FileMake Knowledge Base article has more information about FileMaker Pro v14 and 64-bit operating systems – FileMaker Pro/Advanced and Windows 64 bit operating systems.

fmSMS and FileMaker Pro v14

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We’re pleased to report that fmSMS v3 is compatible with FileMaker Pro/Pro Advanced v14 that was released today. We haven’t encountered any issues so far in our testing and have been able to send single and bulk messages successfully.

If you encounter any issues with fmSMS v3 and FileMaker Pro v14 please let us know.

Databuzz to Exhibit at the 2015 FileMaker Developer Conference

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FileMaker Inc. have recently released the schedule for the 20th anniversary edition of the FileMaker Developer Conference (DevCon) to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada from July 20-23, 2015. We’re excited to announce that we will be once again exhibiting at the conference, and this year we have 2 products to demonstrate (a 100% increase on previous years!).

As we have in past years we will be demonstrating fmSMS, our award winning 2 way SMS solution for FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Go and FileMaker Server (including support for FileMaker WebDirect). fmSMS allows you to send an SMS from FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Go and FileMaker Server to almost any mobile phone in the world, reaching over 800 networks in more than 200 countries. You can get more information about fmSMS from the fmSMS website.

This year we will also be showcasing FileMaker integration with the Xero online accounting software. Xero is easy to use online accounting software that’s designed specifically for small businesses and is a great match for FileMaker Pro to help you run your business. We can help you integrate your existing FileMaker solutions with Xero, or if you would rather do this yourself we also have a new product called fmAccounting Link (Xero Edition). fmAccounting Link (Xero Edition) lets you upload and download Contacts, Invoices, Payments, Bills, Timesheets and more between FileMaker and Xero. You can get more information on fmAccounting Link (Xero Edition) from the fmAccounting Link (Xero Edition) product page.

 

If you’re coming to the conference please stop by and say hello and we can demonstrate how you can send and receive SMS/TXT messages using FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Go and FileMaker Server. We hope to see as many of you there as possible and look forward to answering your questions about FileMaker, SMS integration and Xero.

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fmSMS Developer License Now Available

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Databuzz is pleased to announce that a Developer License for fmSMS v3 is now available from the fmsms.com website. The Developer License allows FileMaker developers to integrate fmSMS with an unlimited number of their client solutions. fmSMS is completed unlocked allowing developers to either embed or integrate fmSMS into their client solutions – we have an Integration Guide that covers both scenarios.

We now have 3 different licenses available for fmSMS:

  1. Workgroup License: this allows you to use fmSMS at a single Company at one location
  2. Vertical Solution License: this allows you to integrate fmSMS with a single vertical solution that your company sells
  3. Developer License (v3 only): this allows you to integrate fmSMS with an unlimited number of your client solutions

Full details including pricing are available on the fmSMS Purchase page.