Alternative to Email-to-Phone SMS/MMS delivery (T-Mobile issue - for now)

[TooOldToKnowBetter]

T-Mobile's (and perhaps other carrier's) email-to-phone is not reliable and may go away. One explanation of the problem I've heard is that the FCC has mandated that carriers scan these messages for spam. The systems are not up to the task. I'm in search of something that will reliably send SMS/MMS messages from Blue Iris. (Is Telegram the answer?)

What follows is part of an email that I sent to Blue Iris support. Ken's response was:
I think some customers use something called telegram. I personally have not researched this. The phone apps and push notifications have pretty much deprecated the need for SMS

I would search or post to the use forum to learn what others are using.

Message to Blue Iris support:

I am a T Mobile customer and their SMS/MMS support is probably going away and is currently not working. At present alerts from my BI Gmail account are not going through (bounced with server temporarily unavailable and one of 451 4.2.0, 452 4.1.0, or 550 5.1.1 errors).

When it did work, the alerts were frequently delayed.

I also get emails on alerts, but the SMS/MMS alerts are much more useful.

Other T Mobile customers are having similar issues with their "automated" messages sent to tmomail.net.

This T-Mobile article indicates that their tmomail.net support may eventually go away ("non-consumer" is a confusing term, but it includes BlueIris SMS/MMS alerts), see excerpt:

The e-mail to text gateway is a legacy system that may eventually be decommissioned in the future. It is designed for low volume consumer traffic only and cannot handle a significant volume of messages. For that reason, all non-consumer messaging is prohibited on the e-mail to text gateway, and even high volume consumer messaging may be blocked as it can impact the system's ability to handle messages for all customers. If you need to send non-consumer or high-volume consumer messaging, work with an aggregator as their connections can handle these message volumes.

They do allow SMS messages from approved aggregators.

There are a range of independent reputable companies offering messaging services on the sanctioned path that may suit your needs. We recommend you reach out to Kaleyra, Infobip, Sinch, Vibes Media, Twilio, or Cisco directly.

I tried to find references to people who used these services and a quick search only found Twilio, which has a low cost per message. The problems with all the systems that I looked at: the messages would probably need to be sent via an API and the BI user would need to set up an account with the provider and have that account info known to BI.

Have you any thoughts on this issue? I have an idea that other carriers will also be limiting their SMS/MMS capabilities.

 

[wittaj]

Lots of threads about this.

It has been happening awhile with every mobile provider and there are many threads started with someone experiencing what you are.

You can confirm that BI and email sent them, so you know it is a mobile provider issue.

See this thread from a couple months ago. It appears Verizon in particular is rolling out blocking these types of messages on a permanent basis.

Using the test feature, their algorithm knows you pushed a button, but for the automated alerts, they know that was computer generated and are locking those up.

Best is to move to Pushover ($5) app as every mobile provider is tightening their spam algorithm. It may start working again for months, and then just stop. And then work again.

I used to use the SMS method as well, but the pushover app is way better and more immediate and consistent.

You could try another email provider or mobile provider, but it will happen with them as well. All you will have done is kicked the can down the curb using a different email account.

Gmail disabled MMS to vzwpix.com


Send Pushover notifications with pictures and hyperlinks

 

[TooOldToKnowBetter]

Thank you so much!!! Exactly what I needed.