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Batch job failure SMS alerts for backups and end-of-day runs

A batch job failure SMS alert gives the admin on call the job name and exit code when the end-of-day batch finishes with errors. The morning shift no longer finds it first. Your scheduler or backup tool already emails failed jobs, so you add your Welco address to the job's notification settings.

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  • One address in each job's failure notice
  • Nothing installed on the job server
  • No per-user fees

Works by email with

  • Backup & batch jobs

Published:

A job scheduler timeline for DAYEND: BK014_POST_EFT runs past midnight and finishes with exit code 4, holding the next job. The email reaches Welco and the phone shows: “Welco: DAYEND BK014 completed with errors, exit 4 at 12:58 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.”

Animation: a long Job scheduler alert email is trimmed into one short text: "Welco: DAYEND BK014 completed with errors, exit 4 at 12:58 AM. Reply STOP to opt out."

What the morning shift stops finding in the log

  • A failed run reaches one admin

    A job that did not complete at 2 a.m. texts the person who can rerun it, not the whole operations team.

  • Failures text, successes don't

    Words like failed or completed with errors decide what reaches a phone. Clean runs stay in the mailbox.

  • Silence becomes a signal

    For the one job that must finish, a completion text at the usual hour means all is well. No text means look.

  • Full job logs stay in email

    The text carries the job, the step and the exit code. The long output still lands where it does today.

What you need before you start

Allow about 30 minutes for the first tool, less for each one after. Credit unions and caisses with overnight EFT and posting runs use this most, as our case study from a US credit union shows. Failed jobs then sit beside your other server monitoring SMS alerts.

  • A job scheduler, file transfer tool, backup product or database that can send email.
  • A short list of jobs that can't wait until morning, such as end-of-day posting or the nightly backup.
  • Your Welco address. Start free and verify your business to get one.
  • An invite for each person who fixes these jobs. They join with their own cellphone and reply YES. No app is needed.

Set up a batch job failure SMS alert in 5 steps

Do these once, then add each tool using the notes further down.

  1. Pick the jobs worth a text

    Start small. The end-of-day run, the core backup and the main file transfers are enough at first. Everything else can stay in email.

  2. Send failures to your Welco address

    In each tool, add your Welco address to the job's failure notice. Keep your existing recipients so the full log still lands in a mailbox. If a tool can only email one Outlook mailbox, forward those Outlook alerts to Welco instead.

  3. Approve each sending server

    Batch tools often send from the server they run on. Approve the sending address for each one in Welco, or texts from that server are refused.

  4. Add a rule for failures and errors

    Match alerts by keyword so Welco texts messages with words like failed, errors or did NOT complete. Success notices can still reach Welco and stay off the phone.

  5. Force a failure to test

    Run a copy of a job against a path that doesn't exist, watch the text arrive, then delete the copy. Welco can also preview texts in the feed first, with nothing sent.

Find out about a failed run before the morning

Point the failure email at Welco and invite the admins who rerun failed jobs.

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Where the job notification setting lives

Each product sends job email its own way. These are the usual places to look.

  • OpCon

    Add a job event on the failed status that runs $NOTIFY:EMAIL with your Welco address. For machine or schedule-wide notices, use Notification Manager with the email type.

  • GoAnywhere MFT

    Add a Send Email task to the project's error handling, so it runs only when the transfer fails. Set up an SMTP server in its resources first.

  • IBM i (AS/400)

    From a CL program, send mail with SNDSMTPEMM when a job ends in error. Shops using a monitoring tool on IBM i point that tool at Welco instead.

  • SQL Server Agent

    Enable a Database Mail profile in the Agent's alert system settings. Create an operator with your Welco address, then email it from each job's notifications page on failure.

  • Backup software

    Most backup products, Backup Exec included, have email notification recipients. Add your Welco address and assign it to job failure alerts only.

An IBM i batch alert as a text

IBM i job messages tend to be long, upper case and wordy. The text keeps the job name, the outcome and the message ID.

Alert email from ibmi-prod@ops.example.org, subject “JOB NIGHTPOST FAILED”. Welco trims it to one text of 96 characters: “Welco: [PRODVAN1] NIGHTPOST batch did NOT complete, CPF4128 at 2:14 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.”

Text received: Welco: [PRODVAN1] NIGHTPOST batch did NOT complete, CPF4128 at 2:14 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.

Characters292961 credit

Animation: the alert email "JOB NIGHTPOST FAILED" is trimmed into one text: "Welco: [PRODVAN1] NIGHTPOST batch did NOT complete, CPF4128 at 2:14 AM. Reply STOP to opt out."

Trimming keeps the error code and drops the footer. You choose which lines stay when you fit each alert in one text.

Keep job texts to the runs that matter

Most noise is settled in the scheduler, and a Welco rule catches whatever slips past it.

  • A missing job can't email

    If the scheduler stops or a job never starts, no failure notice exists. A tool like Datadog with SMS alerts can watch the scheduler server itself.

  • Completion texts for must-finish jobs

    Text a notice such as Final Batch has completed to one phone. A missing text at the usual hour tells the on-call admin to look.

  • Night runs to the night phone

    On-call routing texts overnight failures to one admin and lets daytime ones reach the whole team.

  • Retries that fail five times

    A job set to retry can email on every attempt. Notify on the final failure where the tool allows it, and Welco's burst limits cap the rest.

  • Patch night stays quiet

    When servers are down for planned work, hold the affected schedules in the scheduler. Jobs that never run send nothing to Welco.

  • Reruns that succeed

    A clean rerun usually emails a success notice. Leave it to the mailbox, or text it to the one admin who started the rerun.

If a failed job doesn't text

Check from the job outward. Most misses fall into one of these.

No email in the tool's own log

Where to look
The job's failure notice isn't set, or the tool's mail server settings are wrong.

Welco shows a refused message

Where to look
That job server's From address isn't approved yet.

Welco received it but dropped it

Where to look
The subject lacked your rule's words, such as failed or errors.

Two texts for one job

Where to look
Two forwarding paths sent copies with different message IDs. See duplicate protection for what Welco removes.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an agent or script on the job server?

No. Welco reads the failure email your scheduler or backup tool already sends. The only change is one more address in the job's notification settings. IBM i shops that send mail from a CL program reuse the command they have.

Can I get a text only when a backup fails, not when it succeeds?

Yes. Set the backup tool to email your Welco address on failure only. Or send every result and add a Welco rule that texts only messages containing failed or errors. The second way keeps a record of successes in Welco without waking anyone.

What if the job never starts at all?

Then no failure email is sent, so no text arrives. For jobs that must finish, also text the completion message to one phone. If that text hasn't arrived by its usual time, the on-call admin knows to check the scheduler.

Does SQL Server Agent need Database Mail to text a failed job?

Yes. SQL Server Agent sends job notifications through Database Mail. Set up a profile, enable it in the Agent's alert system settings and restart the Agent. Then create an operator with your Welco address.

Why did one IBM i job alert arrive as two texts?

Usually the mail system sent the alert twice, for example through two forwarding rules. Each copy gets its own message ID, so each is delivered. Welco removes true duplicates, but this one needs a fix in your mail flow.

Can the admin reply to rerun or hold the job?

No. A text reply is emailed back to the address that sent the alert, which lets the team see who is on it. Rerun, hold or restart the job step in the scheduler itself.

What do failed job texts cost?

Plans have no per-user fees and no setup fee. Each short text uses one message credit, so a quiet month costs little. Fail a test job during the 7-day free trial and its 15 credits. See pricing for plan sizes in US dollars; your card is billed only after you approve one, and there's no overage.

Hear about tonight's failed run before the branch opens

Send the failure email to Welco. The person who can fix it gets the text.

Text me my failed job alertsBook a demo

7-day free trial, 15 message creditsCard required for verificationNo charge for 7 daysEmail reminder before billing