Library SMS Notification Service

Abstract

The project will build an SMS delivery mechanism for the library to notify patrons of book dues and outstanding fines. Similar to the existing email notification of book dues and fines, the SMS system will ensure notification reaches patrons immediately without requiring patrons to have internet access. Using existing mobile pervasive technology, the library can improve its services by being able to reach out to patrons anytime and anywhere.

Investigators: Mr. Simon Huggard, Mr. Prem Prakash Jayaraman

Summer 2004-05

Table of Contents  

1. Introduction

2. Existing System

2.1 Issues with this existing system

3. The Proposed System and its Advantages

3.1 Advantages

4. Working Process

4.1 Registration Process

4.2 SMS Notification Process

5. Architecture of the Library SMS Service

6. Library SMS Notification System Version 1

7. Library SMS Notification System Version 1.1

LIBRARY SMS NOTIFICATION SERVICES

1. Introduction

The purpose of the project is to enable SMS notification of library book dues and fines to student’s mobile phones.

2. Existing System

The current system used by Monash Library is to send Email Alerts to students when a book is due, a book is ready to be picked up and notices of fines.

2.1 Issues with this existing system

  1. Time lag due to the delay in the student checking his Email
  2. Wastage of labor (transferring books from one campus to another) when a book available is not picked up by the student before it expires.

3. The Proposed System and its Advantages

Instant Notification of Item Available, Item due and fine notices to students by means of SMS technology.

3.1 Advantages

  • Reduces the time lag
  • Student and the Library management benefit more as labor involved in book issues and book collection is reduced.

4. Working Process

The working of the Library SMS Service can be explained by two Phases

  • Registration Process
  • SMS Notification Process

4.1 Registration Process

Registration process involves the process of students getting them registered to enable SMS notification. This registration is done by the following method:

  • My Monash Portal - Using the My Monash, students can register their mobile phone number which will enable them to receive SMS notification.

4.2 SMS Notification Process

This involves the applications interaction with the library database/ flat files to obtain the list of dues and fines. The application then communicates with the My Monash database to get the mobile phone number for the corresponding student. The application repeats the above process for the list of students to produce a SMS mailing list. This SMS mailing list is a flat file. Using this flat file, the application sends SMS messages to the Library Patrons using Message Net. (SMS Service provider)

Message Net specializes in mobile business solutions. It provides a range of SMS, MMS and Premium SMS solutions.

The Message Net Service currently used for the Library SMS Services is

  • Sending SMS Messages from the Library to the Message Net Gateway through secure HTTP connection (HTTPS).
  • Once the message arrives at the message net gateway, the message is sent as a SMS to the intended recepient.

5. Architecture of the Library SMS Service

Architecture- Library SMS Service

6. Library SMS Notification System Version 1

The first version of the SMS Notification system works on the design previously discussed. The application reads data from the Flat files generated by the voyager system and merges it with the patron’s mobile number obtained from the My.Monash portal database. The application currently focuses on the following three types of notification

  1. Item Due Notification
  2. Item Available Notification
  3. Fine/Fee due Notification

The output of the application is a flat file which contains the formatted message with the patron’s mobile number. Once the output is generated, the application reads from the newly created merged flat files and sends SMS notification to the library patrons. The current procedure used to send SMS notification to patrons is by sending the message and the patron mobile number as an Email message to Message Net SMTP server. On receipt of the Email, the server parses the data to obtain the mobile number and the message and forwards the message as an SMS to the patron’s mobile device. This is a service offered by Message Net.

The version1 of the system obtains input file location by using a file dialog box. It also gives the user the option to generate independent Item Due, Available and Fine notices. The version 1 uses hard coded message formats which makes the application more rigid.

Screen shot of the SMS notification System version 1.

7. Library SMS Notification System Version 1.1

The version 1.1 of the Library SMS Notification runs on the same architecture as the version 1. The version 1.1 is gives the user the option to customaries the application’s outputs. Version 1.1 reads the input file locations from a configuration file hence saving the users work to select the file location during each running of the application. The version 1.1 also makes the Item Due, Available and Fines generation a sequential process. The application provides the user the option to modify the SMS message format being sent to the Library Patron. The SMS dispatching works in the same way as to the version 1 of this application.

Screen shot of the SMS notification system version 1.1

Back to top