The “Drop & Go” Enterprise Level Text Messaging Delivery System

Rather than use iMessenger to manage the deployment of your mobile communications, you can use the automated “Drop & Go” program to facilitate and manage the delivery and reporting process. 

The Drop & Go uses a pre-formatted .CSV file and sFTP protocol to schedule and deliver text messages to mobile numbers. The solution provides 1-to-1 reporting of sent (MT) messages and a separate file of received (MO) messages. These report files are posted via sFTP back to the client’s servers.

The Drop & Go Steps Include:

1. Configure Drop & Go settings in web-based platform

2. Setup CSV file structure to match Drop & Go settings

3. Drag CSV file into Drop & Go sFTP folder

4. Receive delivery and received message reports via sFTP

Configure Drop & Go Settings:

Intelligent Contacts will set up a secure FTP account on your behalf. We will provide you with the URL for this secure “drop location” as well as your login and password.

In order to receive reports, you will have to set up a secure FTP location on your server. Contact your internal systems team for more information on how to set up these folders.

Below is a screenshot of sample Drop & Go FTP settings:

Once your FTP settings have been configured, you will need to setup your CSV data mapping.  Insert the column position # that corresponds to each data item in the field provided.  For custom data fields, insert the column position and the label for the data field in the space.

Below is a screenshot of the Drop & Go column mapping settings:

Setting up your CSV file structure to Match Drop & Go Settings:

Once you have configured your Drop & Go settings in the Intelligent Contacts platform, you will have to create your CSV file to match these settings. There is a great deal of flexibility in what information you can send us and how you want to use it in the message.

The Drop & Go method uses CSV (comma separated values) files. These files are normally created with a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel or Open Office. The files used are a little bigger and contain more specific information, but the idea is the same.

This file must be comma delimited with a line break for each request and the Keyword must be setup prior to sending the message. The filename should NOT contain any special characters and be no longer than 30 characters in length. Make sure the file has a “.CSV” file  extension.

If you are using Excel or another spreadsheet program to create the file, after you have finished setting up the file, copy and paste the information into a new spreadsheet. Often, spreadsheet programs include blank lines when saving CSV files, which will create issues in your item counts.

Once the file is formatted and saved, it should be sent via FTP to the address provided. When saved to that address, the file will be read and the messages deployed immediately. 

Below is a screenshot of a sample CSV file that matches the Drop & Go settings above:

Header Row – If possible, you should include a header row in your CSV file. This header row will contain the field names and will allow you to look at the file (with Excel or a text editor) and see what data belongs in which column.

Mandatory data fields:

Mobile – This is where the mobile number is placed. Identify which column the mobile number will go into. The mobile number must be 10 digits, with no country code and no punctuation marks (example: -. () )

Keyword – All campaigns must have an associated keyword. You can setup the keyword in the Intelligent Contacts software or an Intelligent Contacts representative can set up the keyword for you.

Optional data fields:

The following data fields are optional and allow you more flexibility in the deployment of your messages.

SMS Message – If your system allows, you can create custom messages to send to each number. If you select this option (by indicating which column will contain the full message) the system will not send the message created in Intelligent Contacts for the respective mobile campaign.  Please note that all the same requirements (length, mandatory language, etc.) still apply.  Please ensure that the length of your SMS message does not exceed 160 characters.

Send Date – Tells the system what date to send the message. If this feature is activated (by indicating a column number) the system will deploy the message on the date indicated in the file. The format must be MM/DD/YYYY

Send Time – Tells the system what time to send the message. If this feature is activated (by indicating a column number) the system will deploy the message at the time indicated in the file. The format must be  HH:MM AM  or  HH:MM PM

Custom data fields:

You can have up to ten (10) custom data fields to use with your program. Some of these fields can be used within the message by inserting the field’s header row value into the message text as follows:

“Hello ~firstname~, this is a reminder for your appointment tomorrow at 2pm.”

In the example above, the CSV file contains a row header “firstname” which is then passed into the message text by placing “~firstname~” into the actual message.  It is very important that the header row value matches the custom data field value in the message AND the custom data field value in the Drop & Go settings.

Reporting

Note: In order to receive reporting back from the Intelligent Contacts server, a FTP location must be provided. 

Once the file is processed and sent, a file will be sent to your server. A second file of received messages will be sent at the end of the day.

The first file sent to you consists of the results from the message campaign. It will contain the following data fields:

1. Mobile number (from the uploaded file)

2. Carrier 

3. Keyword

4. Date/Time (sent/received/failed messages)

5. The text of the SMS message sent

6. Result Codes (see below)

7. Custom fields within the CSV will be duplicated here

The Result Codes are 3 character codes that let you know what happened to each number that was sent to us for texting.

Result Codes:

DEL = delivered

INV = invalid mobile number

UNS = unsupported mobile carrier

POP = previous opt out

NOP = new opt out

At the end of the day, a second report will be sent to the same FTP location. This report will only include those numbers where a text message was sent in response to this campaign. It will contain the same information as the report described above, with an additional field for the response text message.