Replace carrier email to text for alarms: a 15-minute checklist
To replace carrier email to text for alarms, you change one address per system, and each alarm texts the on-call phone again. This checklist covers the whole job, from finding every gateway address to testing and sign-off. Once your business is verified, most systems take about 15 minutes each.
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- About 15 minutes per system
- Move one system at a time
- No app for on-call staff
Works by email with
- GE iFIX
- Ignition
- PRTG
- MadgeTech
Published:
Plant SCADA emails 5559876543@vtext.com; the Verizon gateway replies 250 OK but drops it, so no text arrives. The same alert sent to plant-alarms@welco.ai goes through Welco to the phone. The email reaches Welco and the phone shows: “Welco: [North Plant] Generator 2 run status ALARM at 4:17 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.”
- Get your business verified first. Then plan about 15 minutes per system.
- Do the inventory before anything else. Forgotten addresses are the usual gap.
- Test every system with a real alarm to a real phone, not just a log line.
- Delete the old gateway addresses. Don't keep them as a backup.
Do my alarms need this checklist?
Answer the 3 questions to see your result.
If any answer is yes: Use the full checklist below. The inventory step is where most teams find the alarm they forgot.
If every answer is no: With one system and one admin, the short version is enough. See Verizon vtext.com replacement steps or pick your carrier from the shutdown overview.
Where you stand when the checklist is done
Every alarm reaches a phone again
Each system on your list has sent one live test, and the text showed up where it should.
No forgotten gateway addresses
The inventory finds the dialer, the mail group and the script nobody remembered.
Nights go to the night phone
Rules send after-hours alarms to the person covering, not the whole crew.
A record you can hand over
One page lists each system, its Welco address and the date it passed its test.
What to have ready before switch day
A little prep turns this into an afternoon's work. Gather these first.
A list of alarm systems
Every system that sends alarms by email, with an admin login for each.
The on-call people
Who is on call, with an email address for each invite. Each person joins Welco with their own mobile and one YES.
Someone to trip a test
A person at each site who can set off a safe test alarm on request.
A verified Welco account
Do this first. Sign up with your work email and book the short intro call, because nothing sends until your business is approved.
Inventory checklist: find every gateway address
Search each place for carrier domains such as vtext.com, txt.att.net and tmomail.net. The full list is on our gateway address list.
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Move one system from email-to-text to Welco
Repeat these steps for each system on your inventory. Start with the ones that run unattended at night.
Approve the system as a sender
Add the address the system sends from to your Welco approved senders. Welco refuses alarm mail from any address you haven't approved.
Replace the gateway address
Delete each carrier address from the system. Put your Welco address in once, even if it replaced several phones.
Decide who gets what
Set an alert rule if only some alarms should become texts, or if nights should go to one phone.
Dry-run in test mode
Trigger an alarm with test mode on. You'll see the exact text in Welco without sending it or using credits.
Send one live alarm and check delivery
Turn test mode off and trip the alarm again. Confirm the text on the phone and in the delivery report, then note the date.
Ready to move your first system?
Verify your business, confirm the phones, and work down your list.
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What a moved alarm looks like on the phone
A water plant's GE iFIX tag alarm used to go to two vtext addresses. After the switch, both operators get this from one Welco address.
Alert email from ifix-alarms@wtp.example.org, subject “WTP ALARM”. Welco trims it to one text of 82 characters: “Welco: [WTP] Boost Pump 2 fail to start ALARM at 4:44 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.”
Text received: Welco: [WTP] Boost Pump 2 fail to start ALARM at 4:44 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.
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See the full GE iFIX alarm SMS setup for tag and group settings.
Sign-off checklist after the switch
Tick these off before you call the job done.
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Systems that need a few extra minutes
Most swaps are one field. A few take more care, so plan for them.
Scripted email
In Ignition, the address may sit inside a script, not a contact. See Ignition SMS alarm notification.
Vendor cloud loggers
The alarm contact lives in the vendor's web account. See MadgeTech text alerts.
Forwarded mail
If alarms reach phones through a mailbox rule, change the rule, not the system. See forwarding Outlook email to text.
A dedicated notifier
WIN-911 keeps its own contact list. See WIN-911 text messages.
Frequently asked questions
Can I move one system at a time?
What if a system only accepts one email recipient?
Should I keep the old gateway addresses as a backup?
Who should be on hand on switch day?
What does it cost to move our alarms to Welco?
Do on-call staff need to install anything?
Welco:, so there is no app and no account for them. They reply YES to the first confirmation text. After that, STOP takes them off the list and HELP gets them help.Work through your alarm list today
Verify once, then about 15 minutes per system. See plans and pricing or start free.
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