Recently, we told you about T-Mobile customers who, in the past received MMS notifications with video thumbnails, but now receive SMS notifications with a link. Alarm.com will soon unveil a Push Notification Migration Tool to encourage and help users to switch from SMS to push notifications.
You may be asking, what’s the difference between SMS, MMS, and push notifications? SMS or Short Message Service is a text message delivered to your phone through your phone carrier. Changes undertaken by the cell phone carrier can affect how and when you receive SMS notifications, or whether you receive them. These changes are outside the control of Alarm.com.
MMS is Multi-Media Service. An MMS message is sent for video notifications when a thumbnail preview is part of the notification setup. Changes to the way T-Mobile, and now Sprint which was acquired by T-Mobile a few years ago, handle MMS delivery caused the recent change in the way video notifications were delivered to those customers. Again, this is something that is outside the control of Alarm.com.
A push notification is generated by an app. The Alarm.com app can generate a push notification for any notification that may be generated through your alarm system that is connected to Alarm.com. Here are a few examples of why Alarm.com believes Push Notifications are superior to SMS or MMS:
| Benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| Push Notifications are Actionable | Because Push Notifications are received via the internet, they are actionable. They can bring you directly into the Alarm.com app, and in some cases, allow you to send a command directly from the Push Notification. (i.e. locking a door based on a notification about the door being left unlocked.) |
| The notification source is clear. | Push notifications come directly from the app, with the app logo and name displayed clearly. This removes any uncertainty about the source of the message. |
| Push notifications allow for Critical Alerts. | When properly configured, both iOS and Android devices can receive critical alerts while the device is in Do Not Disturb mode. Examples of Critical Alerts include Fire Alarm, Burglary Alarm, Carbon Monoxide Alarm, and several other event types. |
| Video push notifications are superior. | Push notifications can be set for plain text or thumbnail images for certain events (i.e. video). A link within a push notification takes you to a specific place within the app. For example, if the notification is for camera motion, the link will redirect to the camera’s live view. If the notification is that a clip has been uploaded, the link will take you right to the saved clip. |
| Push notifications are independent of your cell carrier. | Text notifications are dependent on the cell carrier and can be affected by low signal or other carrier issues. Push notifications only require a network connection, whether cellular or WIFI. |
| Push notifications can be sent to all devices. | Push notifications can be sent to phones, tablets, and even smart watches. |
Alarm.com will soon unveil a Push Notification Migration Tool to steer customers toward using push notifications. You can check on the status of the tool rollout here. Not everyone will see the migration tool prompt. Being offered the prompt is based on the login used to access the Alarm.com app. At first, only a very specific group of customers will be targeted. That is customers with exactly one (1) SMS contact and one (1) push device on a network known to have had problems with SMS or MMS recently. This includes T-Mobile, Sprint, and Rogers (Canada) customers.
The full requirements are:
- The login must be the primary login.
- The login must not be linked to other systems.
- There must be exactly one enabled SMS/MMS contact address on the account and no other disabled SMS contact addresses.
- At least one enabled notification rule with an SMS recipient.
- There must only be one active push device on the account, and it must be the one the customer is using. Push notification rules need not already exist for that active push device.
When the tool is rolled out, customers who fit the parameters mentioned above will see a message like this:
As you can see, this is strictly a voluntary change. Users have the option to Migrate now, be reminded later, or never have the prompt come up again. If you use the migration tool and switch to push notifications, your SMS/MMS notifications will no longer be active. However, the SMS contact information will be retained in the address book.
At some point, the switch to push notifications may become mandatory, at least for some cellular customers. If it does, it will likely be due to changes undertaken by the cellular carrier that make the delivery of notifications less than optimal. If that occurs, we’ll be sure to let you know about it here in our blog.
