Setting Up Neighbourhood Watch Through SMS Gateways

SMS gateways can be used to upgrade security in a number of situations, both private and commercial. Here is how to start your own SMS community watch.

It’s no secret that beautiful South Africa is a country suffering high rates of crime, both violent and not. And while the police service and security companies are doing their very best to curb the stats, it is unfortunately not always possible. That being said, we’ll examine how to implement a simple web page

Look After Your Assets with SMS

Why should you use SMS gateways to enhance your current security at home or at the office? Here are some of the more obvious reasons:

-          SMS communication is fast.

-          It utilises a medium common to all mobile phones

-          SMS is cheap and can be used to communicate to multiple recipients at once.

A more practical example can be found within a common everyday example, where a suspicious character wanders around a neighbourhood during the day while husbands and wives are at work, and the kids at school. The only people at home are Mr. & Mrs. Jones, both retired and both busy in the house throughout the day, making regular checks out the window onto the street. If said shady character moves onto any of the properties on the street, Mr. or Mrs. Jones can use SMS gateways to quickly notify the associated homeowners, their neighbours as well as the official neighbourhood watch and/or police, within less than two minutes.

This means that, should any of those contacted be in the area, they are able to make their way home to investigate in no time at all.

And the same goes for businesses – SMS gateways can be used by anyone to increase security in any specific area.

How Can You Start Using SMS Gateways?

There are essentially two methods how business owners, homeowners and everyone else can get in touch with SMS gateways.

1. The first method is to use an already existing application, such as Communicator or Messenger PRO. These applications allow you to create and maintain an address book as well as custom lists and message templates that can facilitate speedy SMS communication. Here’s what to do:
   1. Follow the appropriate link above (Tip: Messenger PRO is a desktop application while Communicator is a web-based application).
   2. Sign up for an account (Note: If you’re choosing Messenger PRO, then you’ll have to download the application, too).
   3. Try it out with the free credits provided.
   4. Buy credits that can be used to get connected to SMS gateways and SMS-enable your neighbourhood.
2. The second method is a bit more complex and requires a bit of programming and systems skills. It involves setting up your own web-based interface that can be customised and used for your purposes. Here’s a quick step-by-step to get you started:
   1. You’ll need a web server. Users of Windows will have to install the Internet Information Server (IIS) which can be accessed through Control Panel > Add or Programs > Add/Remove Windows Components. Those who use Linux or similar will have to install Apache or a similar web server. In both cases PHP will be needed.
   2. Once your web server is up and running, refer to the following blog post for a very basic indication of how to structure your programs to enable communication with your neighbours through SMS gateways: SMS Gateway HTTP/S API – Simple HTML & PHP How-to

At this point it is necessary to state that in both 1) and 2) above, the HTTP Application Programming Interface (API) is being used to communicate with the intended recipients through SMS gateways. There are, however other API’s that are easy to use and may perhaps be able to provide enough flexibility in terms what you want to achieve.

One example, for instance, is the SMTP API, which simply requires a plain-text email for a message to be transmitted to a single or multiple recipients. Naturally the message has to be in a certain format, but, nevertheless, it remains easy to use and can be integrated with any appropriate software program and/or software environment.

See how easy it can be? Get more specific API information as well as general information at the SMS gateways page.

P.S. If you’d like more information on this topic or if you have a request for an SMS problem solved or addressed, just leave a comment.

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Tags: application programming interfaces, email to SMS, HTTP/S API, SMS applications, SMS gateway, SMS Gateways, SMS security, SMTP API