SMS gateway

ManageEngine SecureAI can deliver its notifications as text messages, which matters when an approval is time sensitive and the approver is away from a desk. The SMS gateway gives SecureAI a connection to the mobile network, through either a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) modem or a messaging provider the organization already subscribes to.

Return to the SMS gateway when your organization changes messaging providers, when provider credentials are rotated, or when text messages stop arriving. Which notifications go out as text messages, and to which mobile numbers, is set in the notification template that sends them.

How it works

When a notification template sends by SMS, SecureAI passes the recipient's mobile number and the message text to the configured connection. With a GSM modem, SecureAI opens the serial port named in the configuration and sends the message over it.

With a custom gateway reached over HTTP or HTTPS, SecureAI issues a request to the provider's endpoint. It substitutes the mobile number and the message into the parameter string through macros, then encodes the request as configured. With a custom gateway reached over SMTP, SecureAI composes an email to the address pattern the provider publishes and relays it through the mail server named in the SMS gateway configuration. SecureAI then compares the provider's reply, where the connection returns one, against the success and failure strings recorded in the configuration.

Prerequisites

Complete the following before you configure the SMS gateway:

• Log in with a role that includes the Server Settings permission under Administration. Of the roles supplied with SecureAI, Super Admin and Governance Manager include it.
• For a GSM modem, connect it to the SecureAI server over a serial cable and fit a SIM entitled to send text messages. Confirm the device supports the encoding your messages need, and note the serial port it is assigned.
• For a custom gateway, obtain the endpoint or address pattern your provider publishes, the credentials, and, over HTTP or HTTPS, the exact text it returns on success and on failure. Over SMTP, obtain the details of the mail server that relays the messages.
• Confirm that the SecureAI server can reach the provider host on the port it listens on through any firewall between them.

Configuration instructions

1. Naviagte to Settings > General Settings > Server Settings, then Email Server/SMS Gateway > SMS Gateway.
2. Select the value for the SMS Provider.
   • GSM Modem: A modem attached to the SecureAI server.
     • Enter the serial port the modem is connected to in the Modem Port Number field, in the form COM5, COM7, or COM8.
     • Click Advanced and enter the Modem Port Speed, Message Center Number, and Sim PIN Number where the modem or the SIM requires them. Leave each one empty where the device supplies its own value.
   • Custom: A messaging provider reached over a network. Select the Send SMS via value.
     • HTTP or HTTPS: A web request to the provider.
       • Select the value for HTTP Method that your provider accepts, then enter the provider's endpoint in the HTTP URL field.
       • Enter the query string or request body your provider expects in the HTTP Parameters field. Insert the recipient's mobile number and the message text as macros, so that SecureAI substitutes the values of each notification as it is sent.
       • Under Response from Provider, record what your provider returns.
       • Success Response: The text it returns on a successful send.
       • Failure Response: The text it returns on a failure.
       • Click Advanced to set how the request is formed. The following table describes what each value controls.

         Option	What it controls
         HTTP Request Headers	The headers sent with the request, such as an authorization header or a content type.
         Convert Message into Unicode	Whether the message is converted to Unicode, which providers require for scripts the default alphabet does not carry.
         Encode message	Whether the message text is encoded before it is sent.
         Allow new lines in message	Whether line breaks in the message are retained.
         Encode Method	The encoding applied, either URL Encode or Base 64.
         Encode Type	How much of the request is encoded. Message Only encodes the message text, Values Only encodes the parameter values, and All encodes the whole request.

     • SMTP: An email that the provider converts into a text message.
       • Enter the address SecureAI sends emails from in From Address field, and the address pattern your provider publishes in the To Address field.
       • Enter the values your provider requires in the Subject and Content fields, inserting the message text as a macro where the provider expects to find it.
       • Click SMTP Server Settings and enter SMTP Server, SMTP Port, Username, and Password for the mail server that relays these messages.
       • Select the value for Connection Security, matching it to the port on which the mail server listens.
         • SSL and TLS: Encrypt the session with the mail server.
         • NONE: Leaves the session unencrypted.
3. Click Send Test Message, enter a Mobile Number and a Message, and click Send. Confirm that the message reaches that number before you rely on the configuration.
4. Click Save Changes.

Tips

• The mobile numbers that receive a notification are set in the notification template that sends it. Change the template if the wrong people are being texted, and change the SMS gateway only if nothing is arriving at all.
• A template that draws the recipient from the user's mobile number attribute reaches only those users whose directory record carries one. Check how well that attribute is populated before treating a silent notification as a gateway fault.
• Record the success and failure strings exactly as your provider returns them. A near match leaves rejected messages reported as delivered, which is worse than an outright failure because nobody knows to investigate it.
• Where a provider offers both a web interface and an email-to-text address, use the web interface. The SMTP connection adds a second mail server to the path and gives SecureAI nothing to check the outcome against.
• Keep provider credentials out of the parameter string where the provider accepts an authorization header instead. Rotate them on the provider's schedule rather than leaving them in place indefinitely.
• Send a test message after every change the provider makes on their side. Endpoints, credentials, and sender identifiers are rotated more often than most teams expect, and the first sign is usually an approval that nobody acted on.
• Reserve text messages for notifications that must be seen quickly rather than sending a second copy of everything. Sending the same notification twice raises costs and teaches recipients to ignore alerts.