Local Gateway

A local gateway is simply a phone connected to a PC with internet access. It allows your group to send and/or receive messages sent by Geochat through that phone instead of using our global gateway. The advantage is that by configuring a local gateway, your group sends messages to a local phone number instead of an international number, making messaging cheaper.

Pros of using a local gateway

• You can set up a local number in minutes
• You control the incoming and outgoing message flow

Cons

• You have to keep a computer plugged in, running all the time and connected to the internet you want to receive and send messages
• You have to make sure your phone has enough credit to send outgoing messages
• Phones sometimes have a hard time running as a modem for a long time, and hang or disconnect on their own. You need to keep watch on it.
• You cannot use the phone while you are using it as a modem as it may compromise its reliability - you can use a dedicated phone or modem instead
• Modem performance is limited by the network, typically it will be a maximum of 6 seconds/message. That's 10 messages per minute!

Other Considerations

• You can keep the gateway running anywhere you want. For example, you can run it on a computer in an office in the capital or a big city of your country where internet and electricity may be more stable
• Most phone companies 'save' messages that couldn't be delivered for 24h, but it's not guaranteed.

You need to have a JRE (Java Runtime Environment) installed version 1.6 or greater. You can download it here

To set up a local gateway

1. Get a phone or modem that will work with Geochat. Which phones and USB modems work with the local gateway software?
2. Install the phone/modem drivers on your computer and verify it works as a USB modem How do I test it?
3. Download the Local Gateway Software for Windows or MacOS

1) Login to Geochat. Click in “My groups” in the navigation bar and click on the group you want to set up the local gateway for.

2) Select the “Gateways” tab.

3) Under “Custom SMS Gateways” click on your operative system link behind “Install the SMS Gateway Client”

4)Depending on your security configuration, you might get a “Security Warning”. Click “Run”.

5) Read the License Agreement and if you accept the terms click in the check box “I accept the terms in the License Agreement”. And then click Next

6) Select the location for the program, if you do not know how to do this just leave the default location that the installer offers

7) Once the process is finished click “Finish”.

8) You have to execute the program from the program list.

• Once the program is open click on settings.
• Click on Modem tab.
  • Select the COM port where the phone is connected and set the Baud rate, Manufacturer, Model and Mobile number.
  • If you do not know this information you can click on “autodetect modem”, in this case the only thing you will need to to set is the Mobile Number. Remember that the number must be in the following format:

CountryCode + RegionCode + local mobile number.

To check if modem is working fine click on “Loop test” in the modem tab.

• Click on Gateway tab.
  • Configure the Gateway url ¹⁾ and a name and a password for your local gateway. Go to the website; enter the same user and password information and click Ok.
  • If you are accessing internet through a proxy server you might need to ask the proxy administrator to give you http or https address and port to complete the HTTP and HTTPS proxy fields.

To check if your gateway is working fine click on “Test gateway” in the gateway tab.

If you want to use your skype account to deliver the messages.

• Click on Skype tab
  • Check the option “Use skype for delivering messages”
  • Open Skype and login.
  • Click “Authorize mobile number in skype”. This will only enter your skype account and add the mobile number as an ID to send SMS messages.

9) To start using your local gateway click on Start button.

10) Your are done! Just tell your users to use the new phone number.