RO Message Send

RO Message Send is an app I created to facilitate quick sending of messages via the RainedOut service.  This service allows for sending SMS messages to a group of numbers without having to gather and manage those numbers.  Recipients opt-in the service if they wish to receive the messages.  It's a great way for a coach to keep in touch with his/her team without using Group Messaging in SMS.

This page will show the application as well as instruct on it's usage.

For more information about RainedOut visit their website at: http://www.rainedout.com/

NOTE: Messages sent via RainedOut include a small ad with a link.  These are required and are completely handled by RainedOut.  RO Message Send has no control for them and is not responsible for their content.

General:

It is required that you setup your account RainedOut prior to using this app.  

This app works in conjunction with the RainedOut service but is not affiliated with RainedOut.  This is an idea that I developed due to my need to send a number of messages to my softball team and managing a phone number listing as well as remembering the specific syntax for the message was quite a hassle for me.  So this app takes the work out of it once your account is setup.

Best Practices:

• Setup your account with RainedOut at http://www.rainedout.com/

• Make note of your "Account Keyword" and "SMS From Name"

• Go into the app settings

• Enter the Group Name (Account Keyword)

  • Tap the Make Default Group box

  • Enter the Display Name (SMS From Name)

  • Tap the Add button

  • Repeat if you have multiple accounts to setup

Send:

The main screen is used to send messages to the group.

Group Name: This is the group that will be sent to.  The default group will display when the app is first opened. 

Select A Group: Opens the group picker so you can select a group to send to.

Characters Remaining: Counter to show how many characters you have left to type.  RainedOut caps this at 120 due to a small ad that is placed at the end of each message.

Send Msg: Sends the message via your phone's default SMS app.  

Clear Msg: This clears the message text box.

Settings: Opens the settings page where you setup and manage your groups.

About: Opens the about page where you can find version information as well as fixes.

Here is an example of what you will see when you send a message.  Your users will see the bottom one only.

The format of the sent message is done by RainedOut and the app has no control over that other than the display name (FR:) and the message itself (that you type in).

Settings:

The settings screen is maintain your groups.

Account Name: Enter the account keyword.  This is your "Account Keyword" on the Settings page of RainedOut (http://www.rainedout.com/).  This is used during the send of the message over SMS and has to match what RainedOut has.

Make Default Group: Check this box to set this group as the default.  This group will auto-fill on the send screen when the app is opened.

Ad-Free Groud: Check this box to indicate this group is an "Ad-Free" account. This setting should only be used if it really is Ad-Free on the RainedOut.com website.  This gives you more characters to use since the ads are removed.  NOTE: This will not work correctly if the account/group really isn't ad-free on the RainedOut website.  It will cause your messages to be cut off.

Display Name: Enter the "SMS From Name" you setup on the RainedOut site (on their settings page) to be displayed in your message.  The length of this is subtracted from the 120 character limit RainedOut sets.

Select: Opens group picker to select the group to update.

Add: If you type in a new group, then click Add to save it. This button changes to Update if you select a group from the list.

Clear: This will clear the Account Name / Display Name text boxes and clear the Make Default Group checkbox.

Remove: This will delete the selected group from the app.  Be careful as there is no way to recover the group once deleted.

Current Groups: This displays the groups you have setup in your app.  The group name shows first with the display name in ( ). An * designates this is the default group. A + designates that this is an Ad-Free group.

Clear All Groups: This resets the app.  All your groups are deleted.  Be careful as there is no way to recover the group once deleted.

FAQ:

How do I send to a sub-group?

• • Setup your sub-group just like a main group but use the same Display Name (SMS From Name).

When I select a group to update and change the Account Name it adds it to the list instead of updating the existing entry.

• • This is by design.  Just select the original group again and tap the Remove button to delete it.

Can the app automatically pull settings from the RainedOut website?

• • Sorry but no.  There is no interface to the RainedOut site.  The Account Keyword and SMS From Name have to be entered manually.

How does the app know where to send the message?

• • The app formats and sends to the # designated by RainedOut.  It emulates what you would do if you manually sent an SMS to the RainedOut # (which is 84483).

Can my recipients reply to the message?

• • Sorry but no.  These SMS messages are outgoing only and not intended as SMS/MMS Group Messaging.

Why would I use this app instead of SMS/MMS Group Messaging?

• • It was my experience that maintaining a group message contact list was a lot of work.   Also your message thread could get hijacked by an off-topic conversation among the group.  By using RO Message Send the message goes out to whomever wants to get the messages and that is all that goes out to the group.

Does the user of the app have access to see the phone numbers that have opted in?

• • Not really.  The group admin can go onto the RainedOut site and see how many numbers have opted-in and can search for a specific phone number to see if it's opted-in.  But the user cannot see a list of phone numbers that are opted-in.  Your intended recipients take on the responsibility of being part of the group.  

Why do my recipients not receive my messages?

• • There could be several reasons.  Common ones are:

    • Their carrier doesn't allow "Short Code" messages.  Republic Wireless has blocked these in the past

    • Their carrier account may not be setup to receive "Short Code" messages.  Sprint requires the user's account to be setup with "Enhanced Messaging" in order to received these types of messages.  This can be fixed on the user's Sprint website account.

How do my recipients opt-out of receiving messages?

• • The users can reply to your message (or to 84483) simply with the word STOP and that opts them out of the messages from that group.  You can refer to the RainedOut website for more information (http://www.rainedout.com/).

Contact Us:

If you need assistance you can contact us:

Email: marty.elder@gmail.com

Twitter: @CoachEgghead

G+ : +MartyElder

This app is brought to you by CoachEgghead Apps.