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VTScada SMS alarm texts from a VTScada email notification

VTScada SMS alarm texts can come from a VTScada email contact instead of a modem: make that contact your Welco address. When a well pump faults at 3:44 a.m., the standby phone names the well, the fault and that nobody has acknowledged it yet. Every alarm on that roster arrives as a short text.

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  • No modem at the SCADA server
  • One email contact to add
  • No per-user fees

Setup guide for

  • VTScada

Published:

A VTScada HMI screen with a Wells process mimic and an alarm summary: the row Well 5 Pump Fault, Pump Fault, appears Active, Unack with priority Critical above two acknowledged alarms. The email reaches Welco and the phone shows: “Welco: [Well 5] Pump FAULT, critical, unacked at 3:44 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.”

Animation: a long VTScada alert email is trimmed into one short text: "Welco: [Well 5] Pump FAULT, critical, unacked at 3:44 AM. Reply STOP to opt out."

What VTScada operators get from email texts

  • Site, alarm and reading in one line

    Each text names the well or reservoir, what tripped, the value and whether it is still unacked.

  • Nights reach whoever has standby

    VTScada keeps its roster. Welco then sends night texts to the standby phone and daytime texts to the crew.

  • No modem or phone line to test

    The email part of VTScada notification does the work. There is no dial-out hardware at the SCADA server to keep alive.

  • Nothing new on the SCADA network

    Welco receives the mail after your relay sends it. No agent runs on the VTScada server and no inbound connection is opened.

VTScada notification and where Welco comes in

VTScada is SCADA software (the system that watches and runs a plant or a set of remote sites). Its built-in alarm notification can use phone, SMS, email and pager, with rosters of up to 30 contacts, as listed on vtscada.com, October 2026.

Any system that can send an email works with Welco's SCADA alarm notification service. Here's how to set up VTScada. You use the email part of its notification, and Welco turns each email into a text. Before you begin, have these ready.

  • A mail server VTScada can send through, such as the municipality's mail relay or Microsoft 365.
  • A Welco account with your municipality or business verified. Start free to open one.
  • Your operators, each joined from a Welco invite on their own cellphone. Each gets one text first and replies YES.

Set up VTScada SMS alarm texts in 5 steps

VTScada versions lay out their settings differently. Look for the email or SMTP notification settings in VTScada, or ask your integrator where they are. Plan on half an hour, most of it testing.

  1. Set up outgoing email in VTScada

    Find the email or SMTP settings and enter your mail server. Send a test email to yourself to prove it works before you add Welco.

  2. Approve the sending address in Welco

    Note the From address VTScada uses. In Welco, add it to your approved senders. Mail from other addresses is refused.

  3. Add a contact with your Welco address

    In VTScada's alarm notification setup, add a contact whose email is your Welco address. Put it on the roster that should get alarms by text.

  4. Choose which alarms send email

    Send email for the alarm priorities that need a person, such as Critical and High. Leave lower priorities on the alarm screen.

  5. Test with a real alarm

    Trigger a safe test alarm and check the text and the Welco feed. Welco can log a test without sending a text.

Turn a VTScada alarm email into a text

Add one email contact in VTScada and verify your business with Welco.

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

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Sample reservoir alarm, before and after

Alarm emails tend to repeat the area, the status and the server name. The text keeps the site, the reading and the time.

Alert email from vtscada@water.example.org, subject “Alarm: Hill Reservoir Level Low”. Welco trims it to one text of 77 characters: “Welco: [Hill Reservoir] Level LOW, 3.4 m at 9:05 PM. Reply STOP to opt out.”

Text received: Welco: [Hill Reservoir] Level LOW, 3.4 m at 9:05 PM. Reply STOP to opt out.

Characters235771 credit

Animation: the alert email "Alarm: Hill Reservoir Level Low" is trimmed into one text: "Welco: [Hill Reservoir] Level LOW, 3.4 m at 9:05 PM. Reply STOP to opt out."

How much to keep is up to you. See one-text alerts, and water and wastewater alarm texts for the alarms municipal systems route most.

Tips once VTScada is texting

A few Welco settings keep texts useful as you add more sites.

  • Who is on call tonight

    VTScada's roster decides who gets email. Welco on-call routing can then send night texts to one phone and day texts to the crew.

  • Several people, one alarm

    One Welco address can text the operator and the public works superintendent at once. Each phone gets a single copy.

  • Drop the all-clear emails

    If VTScada emails when an alarm returns to normal, an alert rule can keep those in email. A text then always means something still needs a look.

  • Radio fade and winter outages

    When a radio path fades or an ice storm cuts power, many remote sites alarm together, a classic SCADA alarm flood. Welco caps texts during a flood, so the phone stays usable.

Fixing a missing VTScada text

Start at VTScada and move toward the phone.

0 of 4 done

Frequently asked questions

VTScada has SMS built in. Why would I use email and Welco?

Use whatever suits your site. Welco helps if you'd rather not keep a modem at the SCADA server. It also helps if your texts went through a carrier gateway like Bell's, which closed on December 31, 2025. VTScada just sends email, and Welco handles the alert-only number, trimming and routing.

Do I need to install anything on the VTScada server?

No. Welco doesn't run on your SCADA server or connect to your SCADA network. VTScada sends an email through your mail server, and Welco receives it like any other mailbox would. The only change in VTScada is a new email contact.

Can I send alarms from different VTScada sites to different crews?

Yes. You can keep separate VTScada rosters, or send everything to one Welco address and let a Welco rule read the site name in the email. The rule then picks the right crew's phones, so call list changes happen in one place.

Does replying to a VTScada text acknowledge the alarm?

No. Welco emails the reply to the address that sent the alarm, where a person can read it. The alarm stays unacknowledged in VTScada until someone acknowledges it there. Use a sending mailbox your crew checks if you want replies seen.

Can VTScada still call operators while Welco sends the texts?

Yes. Welco only handles the email contact on the roster. If you use VTScada's own phone or pager notification, keep it running beside Welco. Welco itself sends texts only, never voice calls.

Will the VTScada alarm emails we get today still arrive?

Yes. Welco is one more contact, so everyone already on the roster keeps getting the email as before. The full message stays in their inbox for your records. Only the Welco contact turns it into a text.

What will VTScada alarm texts cost?

Welco has no setup or per-user fees. There's no hardware to buy either. Each short alarm uses one message credit, and a long email can use more unless you trim it. Current plans are on the pricing page.

Send your VTScada alarm email to a phone

Add one email contact in VTScada and the next alarm can arrive as a text.

Text me my VTScada alarmsBook a demo

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