ipsc-matches.net - sms notification, in place/in addition to email??

O

omen

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hey all,

(I'm not interested in Twitter, so don't ask)

I spoke with a couple of people who don't have email on their phones (for whatever reason, this isn't to debate if that's a good or bad idea), so obviously miss out on most new matches - by the time they see the email notification at home, in the evening, the matches are usually full.

It occurred to me that most (all?) cell phone providers (like Telus, Fido, etc) offer email to sms gateways, so I could give the option for people to get short and to the point msgs via that route, in place of (or in addition to) email notification, going to their "main" email address... Even if people don't have email on their phones, they'll get text msgs, sent VIA the email to sms gateway (for telus, for example, your sms email address is phoneNumber@msg.telus.com ) - and will have the option of going to the website via their office PC, or whatever...

Just wanted to see if there are other people here who might benefit from this... For now this would be only for the new match notifications, not any of the other email msgs (like waiting list signup, etc).

Thanks

P.s. did I say no Twitter already? I did? Ok, and no Facebook either .. :)
 
The sms would be a great idea. Though for email to sms, last time I've tried it at rogers, they sent an sms with text "you've got an email, reply with "something" to read" and you couldn't even see whom that email were from. It wasn't free either, but that is fine.

We hear you about Twitter/FB, but those are handy services to get a free notification over an email or sms.
 
Twitter would rock. just imagine how the anti's would get their panties in a knot if you were using Twitter to advertise shooting events!
 
s**t I don't even have a cellphone but I guess its a good idea for those that are wired lol :D:D:D:D:D:D
 
Snapshot said:
Away with twitter and facebook, bring the SMS notifications.
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Did you just missed what omen wrote?

All you need to do is to find out what is sms email address is on your wireless provider and change your email on ipsc-matches site. You will likely get some additional charges for this service.

On Rogers, the sms email address would look like <your phone number with area code>@pcs.rogers.com
 
euxx said:
All you need to do is to find out what is sms email address is on your wireless provider and change your email on ipsc-matches site.
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There'll be a second, optional field for sms email - I don't want to, for now, change everything to sms, rewriting all the emails/etc (and they are all too long for sms, would get very annoying and confusing very quickly if people started to get those info emails via sms :) ).

I'll make sure to include lots of explanations/warnings/etc, to make sure people don't accidently put their sms email in the main email field...
 
Thanks, I am aware of the wireless SMS email address.

I didn't miss what omen wrote, it was "... could give the option for people to get short and to the point msgs via that route, in place of (or in addition to) email notification..." (emphasis added).

So I responded to this with "... bring the SMS notifications".

Because this is something different from and in addition to and not the same as the existing e-mail notifications which are also needed, in my case because my wireless device is blocked by the Faraday cage that surrounds the workplace but e-mail remains available because it is hard-wired.

euxx said:
Did you just missed what omen wrote?

All you need to do is to find out what is sms email address is on your wireless provider and change your email on ipsc-matches site. You will likely get some additional charges for this service.

On Rogers, the sms email address would look like <your phone number with area code>@pcs.rogers.com
Click to expand...
 
omen said:
There'll be a second, optional field for sms email - I don't want to, for now, change everything to sms, rewriting all the emails/etc (and they are all too long for sms, would get very annoying and confusing very quickly if people started to get those info emails via sms :) ).
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I am not complaining, but rewriting emails would be really nice. The current emails are bit verbose, especially on mobile devices like blackberry. :)

Here is couple examples (I highlighted meaningful part).

----
Hi **** at ***@gmail.com!

Just to let you know, an opening became available on the
'Oct 30 at 09:00am' squad for HALLOWEEN MATCH.
You were automatically signed up, please check to adjust
division and power factor setting, if needed. Thanks!

http://www.ipsc-matches.net

(This is an automated msg, no need to reply!)
Click to expand...


Hi ****!

This is AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE to tell you the the following
match records were just created/modifed on www.ipsc-matches.net.

The changes might have been minor, or might represent a new
match record being created or opened up for signup for the
first time. Only clubs which you explicitly expressed an interest
in are listed here.

Thanks, and there's no need to reply to this msg, it's
automatically generated, and replies won't reach anyone.

Created/updated match records:

'HALLOWEEN MATCH' at Brant Revolver and Rifle Club
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How about giving us poor basterds that don't have a cell phone or blackberry a 2 days heads up so we can run home to our computers to sign up. We don't all work in an enviroment that permits the use of cell phones.
 
That's an interesting idea. So, send an emails like "Registration for *** match will be open at ***", give everyone some time to get ready for the day X and open the match at an announced time.
 
euxx said:
It was before my time, but I've heard you guys waited 4 months to see the match results.
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I don't remember ever waiting 4 months...but then again we're not talking about match results here are we?

Omens online system was a huge jump forward...tinkering with it to leave the "casual computer user" out in the cold is just plain wrong.

This is not in keeping with the spirit in which the system was intended...this is not progress (IMHO)
 
I am having trouble understanding why "this is not progress" – it seems omen is proposing another, presumably optional, channel for advising people of updates to the match registration system while retaining the existing e-mail notification. This is progress (IMHO).

More choices == more effective communications for those who participate.

If you are suggesting that SMS notification gives some sort of advantage to those who have invested in technology – why yes, yes it does. Just like investing in broadband gives those who do so an advantage over those who are on dial-up, and so on.

But it is no more of an advantage than knowing the match director, having a buddy call you when a match opens, having your spouse sign you up, etc. etc. etc. and it is generally available to anyone who is able and willing to pony up.

Quigley said:
I don't remember ever waiting 4 months...but then again we're not talking about match results here are we?

Omens online system was a huge jump forward...tinkering with it to leave the "casual computer user" out in the cold is just plain wrong.

This is not in keeping with the spirit in which the system was intended...this is not progress (IMHO)
Click to expand...
 
euxx said:
That's an interesting idea. So, send an emails like "Registration for *** match will be open at ***", give everyone some time to get ready for the day X and open the match at an announced time.
Click to expand...

And here I was worried about being trashed and told to join the rest of the modern world. I like this idea.
 
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