Sending sms using FieldPoint

[Vibeke]

Hello!

Is it possible to send a sms using FP?

Our program are ment to send SMS-alerts when values are abnormal.


Vibeke

[tst]

Unlike some of the newer PLCs, Fieldpoint doesn't have internal support for a SIM card and for sending SMS.
What we do is to use a phone or a cellular modem which accepts serial AT commands and use these commands to send and recieve SMS messages.
It's possible that if you have an internet connection you can use an SMS site to send the messages, but I never tried it and I wouldn't expose a controller to the internet anyway.

[TomDooley]

Yes, but it's a little bit expensive. There exist a NI partner (sitem) av. at http://www.sitemnet.it/eng/index-eng.htm and they sell GSM Toolbox. I use this also and it works well for SMS, email and FTP.

Cheers

Thomas

[alysko]

Alternatively, if you simply need an indication of an event (without transferring any info), there is a simplier way.

Have two GSM modems: one on the site and the other at your control station. As discussed in the above, on alarm conditions at the remote site, dial the number for your control station (command ATDxxx\r, where xxx is the telephone number. The other modem will detect the call, start to pulse RI (ring indicator) of serial port and send "RING" to serial port.

If you want to be sure that the call comes from the specific number, you can either set "waiting for call", or restrict the allowed incomming callers, or set the modem to tell you who is calling (using the appropriate CLI-related command on your modem, and getting a string like +CRING voice, yyyy).

Should you like to go all the way, there are also less expensive libraries: www.lysko.com -> Products, or http://www.citengineering.com/pagesNL/products/sms.aspx