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MadgeTech text alerts now that carrier gateways are closing

MadgeTech text alerts work again once each alarm contact holds your Welco address, not an old carrier gateway. When a sample freezer passes its high limit at night, whoever covers the lab sees which logger, how warm and since when. MadgeTech 4 and MadgeTech Cloud already email every alarm, so nothing else changes.

Text me my temperature alarmsBook a demo

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  • Nothing to install on the logging PC
  • One alarm contact to change
  • No per-user fees

Works by email with

  • MadgeTech

Published:

A sensor dashboard for Stability Chamber A: the reading rises above its 30 °C limit to 31.4 °C, outside the allowed band. The email reaches Welco and the phone shows: “Welco: [Stability Chamber A] 31.4 C, over 30 C high limit at 9:16 PM. Reply STOP to opt out.”

Animation: a long MadgeTech alert email is trimmed into one short text: "Welco: [Stability Chamber A] 31.4 C, over 30 C high limit at 9:16 PM. Reply STOP to opt out."

What changes when MadgeTech alarms text the lab

  • Night cover hears it first

    A sample freezer climbing toward its limit at 2 a.m. reaches whoever covers nights, while the samples are still cold.

  • Enough detail to judge the excursion

    The text keeps the logger name, the reading and the limit, so the reader knows how fast to drive in.

  • Out of the shared inbox

    Alarm emails still reach the mailbox they reach today. Welco adds a phone that somebody carries.

  • No gateway left to break

    Texts leave from Welco's alerts-only numbers, not from a carrier address that can close without notice.

Why your MadgeTech texts stopped

MadgeTech's own support article says MadgeTech 4 "cannot send SMS text messages directly" (MadgeTech support, read October 5, 2026). It tells users to enter each SMS contact as a carrier gateway address. Our carrier email-to-text shutdown page covers the North American carriers.

Alarm texts through a carrier gateway

  • Each SMS contact is a carrier address, like 4165550123@txt.bell.ca or a pcs.rogers.com number.
  • Bell retired Text via Email on December 31, 2025 (Bell end-of-life FAQ, read October 2026).
  • Rogers and Fido addresses stopped delivering around June 2023, according to user reports on the Rogers forums. Rogers has published no notice.
  • The logger raises the alarm on time, and the text quietly fails at the carrier.

Alarm texts through Welco

  • The alarm contact is your Welco address, and Welco sends the text.
  • Only staff who confirmed their own phone get lab alarms.
  • Rules decide which loggers text which people, by name or by hour.
  • Delivery reports say in plain words why a text didn't reach a phone.

What you need for MadgeTech text alerts

Whoever runs the MadgeTech software can do the logger side in about 20 minutes. It matches every other temperature alarm text Welco sends. Before that, Welco checks your business, which includes a short intro call.

  • MadgeTech 4 software or a MadgeTech Cloud account with alarm emails turned on. If alarms reach an inbox today, you're most of the way there.
  • A Welco account with your business verified. Start free with your work email to get your Welco address.
  • Lab staff invited to join, each with their own cellphone. Each person replies YES to a short confirmation text before any alarm reaches them.

Set up MadgeTech text alerts in 5 steps

The steps are the same for every logger. Do them once per alarm contact.

  1. Approve the MadgeTech sender in Welco

    Add the address your alarms come from to the senders allowed to text your staff. For MadgeTech 4, that is the email account the software sends through. For cloud alarms, copy the sender from an old alarm email.

  2. Swap the gateway address in each alarm contact

    Find any contact set to a carrier address, such as one ending in txt.bell.ca, pcs.rogers.com or msg.telus.com. Replace it with your Welco address.

    • Keep a normal email contact as well if someone wants the full alarm with the serial number.

  3. Check that MadgeTech 4 can still send email

    MadgeTech 4 sends alarms through a mail server you set in the software. If nobody gets alarm emails today, fix that first, because Welco only sees what arrives.

  4. Choose which alarms become texts

    Set an alert rule that matches key words your alarms use, such as High Temperature or No Readings. Other notices can stay in email.

  5. Test with one logger

    Turn on test mode to preview texts, then set one alarm limit just below the current reading. Welco shows the text it would send and uses no credit. Put the limit back when you're done.

Put your MadgeTech alarms back on the phone

Sign up, verify your business, and paste your Welco address into one alarm contact.

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

Text me my temperature alarmsBook a demo

What a MadgeTech no-readings alarm looks like as a text

A no-readings alarm means a data logger has stopped reporting, often from a flat battery or a lost link. It is easy to skip in an inbox, so it earns a text.

Alert email from alarms@logger.example.com, subject “Alarm triggered: Cold Room 2”. Welco trims it to one text of 91 characters: “Welco: [Cold Room 2] logger, no readings for 20 min since 1:47 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.”

Text received: Welco: [Cold Room 2] logger, no readings for 20 min since 1:47 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.

Characters232911 credit

Animation: the alert email "Alarm triggered: Cold Room 2" is trimmed into one text: "Welco: [Cold Room 2] logger, no readings for 20 min since 1:47 AM. Reply STOP to opt out."

Welco kept the room, the alarm, and the last time it heard from the logger. The serial number and dashboard link stay in the original email.

Make MadgeTech alarm texts fit your lab

A few settings decide who wakes up, and how often. All of them work on the alarm email MadgeTech already sends.

When a MadgeTech alarm text doesn't arrive

Work down this list in order. The first two rows cause most missing texts.

Some loggers text, others don't

What to check
A contact still points at an old carrier address. Search every device's contacts for txt.bell.ca, pcs.rogers.com, fido.ca and msg.telus.com.

Nobody gets the alarm email either

What to check
MadgeTech 4 can't reach its mail server. Look at the PC running the software.

The Welco feed shows a refused message

What to check
The sender isn't approved yet. Add the exact From address the alarm uses.

The feed shows the alarm but no text

What to check
That person never replied YES. Ask them to answer the confirmation text or join again from the invite.

A delivery failure in the feed

What to check
Welco's delivery reports flag landlines and other causes in plain English.

Frequently asked questions

Can MadgeTech 4 send text messages without a carrier gateway?

Yes, through Welco. MadgeTech 4 can't send texts itself, but it can email an alarm contact. Make that contact your Welco address and Welco sends the text. You don't need a carrier gateway, a modem, or extra software on the logging PC.

Does Welco work with MadgeTech Cloud alarms too?

Yes. Cloud alarms may arrive from a vendor address shared by many companies, and Welco routes each one by the Welco address it was sent to. Approve that sender once, add your Welco address as the alarm contact, and test it with a single alarm before you rely on it.

My MadgeTech texts went to a Bell or Rogers number. Why did they stop?

The carrier gateway behind that address has closed. Bell retired Text via Email at the end of 2025, and Rogers users report its gateway stopped in 2023. Telus addresses are still reported working, but they could go the same way. Swap the old address for your Welco address and alarms reach the phone again.

Can different MadgeTech loggers text different people?

Yes. An alert rule can match the logger name in the alarm, like a sample freezer or a cold room. It then texts the people who look after that logger. Other loggers can go to a different group of phones, or stay in email.

Does Welco keep a record of MadgeTech readings for audits?

No. Welco carries the alarm to a phone and keeps a delivery report for each text, but it stores no readings or charts. Your MadgeTech files and reports stay the record you show an auditor or a Health Canada inspector. The text simply gets someone to the freezer sooner.

Do lab staff need an app, and can they reply to an alarm?

No app is needed. The alarm arrives as a normal text that starts with Welco. A reply comes back as an email to the alarm's sender, which for MadgeTech 4 is your own mail account. It doesn't clear the alarm in MadgeTech.

What does a MadgeTech alarm text cost?

No per-user fees, no hardware, no setup fee. A short alarm uses one credit, while an email with serial numbers and links uses more unless a trim rule cuts it down. You can test real lab alarms in the 7-day free trial, which comes with 15 credits and no charge until you pick a plan. Current plans, in US dollars, are on the pricing page.

Get your MadgeTech alarms on the right phone again

Swap one gateway address for your Welco address and test it today.

Text me my temperature alarmsBook a demo

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