skip navigation

Email Paging Gateway

CITES > email paging

The Email Paging Gateway accepts email addressed to NetID@pager.uiuc.edu and forwards it to the pager number associated with the NetID in the Electronic Directory. You can add a pager number to your Electronic Directory entry using the Electronic Directory Editor.

• How the Email Paging Gateway works
• Sending an e-page
• Service reliability
• Restrictions
• Problem reporting

 

How the Email Paging Gateway works

When you send an email addressed to NetID@pager.uiuc.edu, the message is forwarded to the Email Paging Gateway, a Unix computer equipped with a modem. The computer queries the Electronic Directory for the recipient's Personal Identification Number (PIN) in the pager field. The message is then temporarily stored in the transmission queue. Every sixty seconds the gateway sends all queued messages to the campus paging terminal, which transmits the email messages.

The Email Paging Gateway uses the industry-standard Telocator Alphanumeric Protocol (TAP) for sending alphanumeric pages over dialup telephone lines. TAP consists of checksum blocks of data containing the message and the destination PIN number.

To receive e-pages, you must have the following:

1. A NetID and NetID password
2. A digital pager, either numeric or alphanumeric
3. Pocket paging service through CITES Communications Customer Service
4. A PIN for your pager listed in the Electronic Directory

Editing the Electronic Directory pager field

The PIN (Personal Identification Number) for your pager is not automatically entered. Enter your PIN, which is the same as the local phone number for your pager, using the Electronic Directory Editor. The PIN must be entered in a specific format, where xxxxxxx is the PIN, as shown below.

Paging service provider	Pager field format
CITES Pocket Paging	-pin 265xxxx
Ameritech/Cybertel Wide Area	-pin 302xxxx
Ameritech/Cybertel Local Area	-pin 373xxxx

By default, all e-pages are formatted for alphanumeric pagers. For numeric pagers, the Electronic Directory pager field must also contain the noalpha flag (see below). Note that the information in the pager field is private and cannot be viewed through the Electronic Directory.

For information about changing your entry using the Electronic Directory Editor, see The Electronic Directory: FAQ for Faculty and Staff. For assistance in editing your PH entry, please contact the CITES Help Desk.

Electronic Directory pager field flags

The Electronic Directory pager field may contain additional flags to customize the appearance of e-pages.

-pin xxxxxxx
For alpha and numeric pages, your PIN is provided with your pager. For those forwarding messages to their cell phones, your PIN is your cell phone number, including area code, with no dashes.

-alpha
(default) alphanumeric pagers

-noalpha
numeric-only pagers (appropriate options will be ignored)

-cc:
forward copies of pages sent to me at NetID@uiuc.edu

-nocc
(default) do not forward copies of pages sent to me

-linesize
number of characters per line (default 20)

-line1
number of characters on first line (default 16)

-mesgsize
number of characters per page message (default 160)
Note: The default is programmed into alpha pagers.

-forward
SMS address (for forwarding to cell phones). If your cellular provider is Cingular Wireless or another provider that does not use  IXO/TAP, then you need to add this tag along with your cell phone's SMS address (e.g., -forward cellphone_number@mobile.mycingular.com).

-from
(default) include from header

-nofrom
do not include from header

-subject
(default) include subject header

-nosubject
do not include subject header

-date
include date/time when message was sent (not received)

-nodate
(default) do not include date/time when message was sent

-gcos
use the gcos field rather than the email address in the from line

-nogcos
(default) use the email address in the from header and not the gcos info

Sending an e-page

Sending an email to a pager is similar to sending a message to a person with an email account on another computer; however, there are some restrictions for sending e-pages. Open the application you normally use for email and follow the instructions below.

Addressing the message

Create a new message with your email software. Enter one or more addresses in the To: or Cc: lines in this format:

NetID@pager.uiuc.edu.

Replace NetID with the NetID of the user whose pager you want to receive the e-page. An email message can be addressed to regular email addresses as well as addresses destined for the CITES Email Paging Gateway.

Providing a subject

Keep the subject field short, as you are limited to one line on the pager. Also, since the subject counts as part of the 160 characters you may send (by default), you may want to include no subject at all.

Preparing the body of the message

Be brief and concise. Messages are limited to 160 characters by default, after which point there is no more text sent to the pager. The pager carrier will receive the remainder of the message via email.

Success or failure of the e-page

Unlimited attempts are made to send the e-page at one-minute intervals. After the gateway successfully transmits the message to the paging terminal, you will receive an email acknowledgment indicating the success of the e-page only if you include the "Return-Receipt-To:" header.

If the page is not successful on the first try, you will receive an email acknowledgment that the page has not been successful, but only if you include the Return-Receipt header.

If the e-page immediately fails because the message was improperly addressed, or the body of the message was malformed, etc., then you will receive an email acknowledgment that the page failed. If you receive an email notification that a page has failed, the gateway will not attempt to resend the message unless you correct any problems noted in the status message and resends the message.

Notification of success of the e-page

After the gateway successfully transmits the message to the paging terminal, an email acknowledgment will be sent to the sender of the e-page. The email acknowledgment contains the formatted page as it would appear on the recipient's pager. An example of the formatted acknowledgment message is shown below:

    From: CITES Email to Pager Gateway 
      To: foo@uiuc.edu
    Date: Sun, 13 Nov 1994 21:19:18 CST
 Subject: E-Page Status: Sent
----------------------------------------

Disclaimer: Your page has been transmitted to the CITES paging terminal.
This message does not guarantee receipt of the page by foo.

E-Page to foo:

      F:foo
      S:Just Testing
      P:LL Tu 14:08 --Remember to stop by Strawberry Fields on the
      way home to pick up bread, tomatoes, and lettuce.
END
            

Service reliability

Problems with the email-paging service will be worked on from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Delivery of email-pages within any specified time period is not guaranteed. A user many not receive an e-page for many reasons. Email-paging should not be relied on as the only means by which to contact someone, especially in an emergency. If someone does not respond to an e-page within five minutes, an alternative method of contacting that person should be used, such as using a telephone to send a page.

Paging is a one-way messaging system. No method is available to the email-paging gateway to verify that a page has been successfully received. A page may not be received because the recipient is in a "dead" spot. There are many dead spots on and off campus: basements of campus buildings such as Beckman Institute; interior rooms of campus buildings such as DCL; and next to a computer at home. A pager may also be turned off or its batteries may be dead.

Email paging relies on many other services. Email-paging does not work if any of the following services are down: kerberos, ph, sendmail, paging terminal, ux2, and the network. If any of these services are unavailable, the e-page will not be sent.

Restrictions

The CITES Email Paging Gateway will send only pages to numeric or alphanumeric pocket pagers obtained through CITES Customer Service, which includes UIUC pagers and Cybertel/Ameritech pagers. E-pages may be sent and received free of charge. The service is owned and operated by Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services (CITES), which is part of the University of Illinois. It is intended for use by faculty, staff, and students in conjunction with official University business. Abuse of the gateway could result in loss of CITES services to the offender.

Problem reporting

Problem reports concerning the email to pager gateway service may be directed to the Network Operations Center (NOC) via email (opcenter@uiuc.edu) or telephone (217-244-1000). Problem reports concerning the pocket pagers themselves should be directed to CITES Communications Services at 333-1161. General questions, comments, and help requests should be directed to the CITES Help Desk by calling 244-7000 or visiting 1211 DCL.