OnBase Guide - Workflow - Sending SMS
Notifications
Goal: To send SMS/text message notifications from
workflow
Complexity Level: Departmental Workflow Developers
7/2/2020
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Table of Contents
Background ............................................................................................................... 3
Prerequisites .............................................................................................................. 3
Steps to Complete in Studio ...................................................................................... 3
Example ..................................................................................................................... 4
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Background
In some cases, it may be beneficial to send notifications by SMS/text message
instead of or in addition to an email. This can be accomplished using OnBase
workflow by sending notifications to the email address provided by mobile phone
carriers, ex [10 digit phone number]@[carrier address].
In order to send an SMS notification, you will need the recipients U.S. mobile phone
number and their carrier.
There are a variety of ways you can look up the format for the carrier email
addresses. For example, this Digital Trends article has a list and basic instructions.
Keep in mind that in non-production, notifications will go to the IMS inbox and will not
be sent out. Refer to the Expectations and Tips for Certified Admins guide for more
information on viewing notifications in non-production.
Prerequisites
To configure SMS notifications, you will need to have Studio installed and be familiar
with workflow configuration, in addition to having the necessary permissions to do
so. Please reference other UIS guides for installation instructions for Studio.
To collect phone numbers and carrier information, you may also need to be familiar
with including fields for that information in a Unity form template.
The Workflow MRG and Unity Forms MRG include further details. Contact
[email protected] for assistance if needed.
Steps to Complete in Studio
Set the recipient value
• The recipient address will be [10 digit phone number]@[carrier address]
• Set this value to a property (session property bag only) or keyword value
depending on how you configured the notification.
• The Set Property to Expression action type is helpful for setting the property
value depending on the carrier. The property value can be used as-is or
stored to a keyword value.
Configure your notification.
• Keep the contents brief (less than 160 characters).
• Use a plain text notification for SMS notifications instead of a formatted
notification.
• Add a recipient using either a property value (session property bag only) or a
keyword value that will contain the phone number’s email address.
Configure an action to send the notification.
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• Enter a sender address that you would like to appear as the sender, any
replies will be directed to this address as well.
Replies to the SMS notification will not include the subject line, even if one was
added to the SMS notification. In order to identify who a reply is from, you’d need to
store the address as a keyword value so that you can search on that value.
Example
While there are a variety of ways you could accomplish the same thing, in this
example, the phone number and carrier are collected using a Unity form with two
non-keyword fields.
The radio button is configured to display the carrier name to the user, but the value
saved is the carrier address extension:
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When the form enters workflow, these values are copied from the form using the
Copy Property to/from Form Field action type.
Then the values are concatenated:
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And stored to a keyword value which is configured as the recipient on the
notification:
