School District / Police First Responders Using Verizon Not getting Emergency Notifications

[allenpf]

Hi, we currently send out text messages (vtext) to our police, fire,  and administrators for emergency services including active shooter, doors left open, duress signals, etc…. This has worked without any problems for years until a month or so ago NONE of our first responders that use Verizon are getting text messages for these services. All of our other first responders that use other providers are working without any problems.

These messages are vital to our security here in the school district and about 80% of our first responders have Verizon carrier for their cell service. This is an urgent matter for us and I’m hoping to get into dialogue with someone at Verizon to see what we need to so to get our domain unblocked.  

[vzw_customer_support]

Hi, there! Thank you for reaching out. Having alerts is critical as there are so many critical events that may arise. I want to ensure that you get the help that you need. Do you have a Business or Consumer Account with us? 

-Gina

[allenpf]

These are the officers personal consumer (stipend) cell phones we send these alerts to from our district email server using VTEXT.  As of now only our police officers with Verizon cell phones don't get the alerts.  And I'll repeat that this has always worked in the past but as stopped working in the last 4 - 6 weeks. 

Thanks for your reply. This is a big deal for our student safety being that its vital emergency messaging that we have relied on for years that no longer works. I have tried to reach Verizon for a month now and this is my first reply so thank you!

Allen

[allenpf]

Im thinking our school domain is blocked from send SMS messages to verizon VTEXT

[vzw_customer_support]

That is a possibility. Also, have you tried using this format instead: MobileNumber@vzwpix.com ? 

Depending on the email provider the messages may now include an enhanced format, meaning the messages would need ot be sent to the phones as an MMS instead of an SMS, which the vzwpix.com format would be needed instead of vtext.com one.

-Steven

[allenpf]

Yes i tried sending both vtext and vzwpix and neither works. Our email server shows that it was delivered but the recipient does not get it. Again this has been working for years and all of a sudden stopped working. 

Other than emergency notifications some messages we send out  are often for propped doors and will be sent out to multiple recipients within the district.  I know this can be a red flag for spam but we are a school district and don't spam or send unsolicited messages or emails. Can you check and see if southlakecarroll. edu has been blocked? 

Thank you

Allen

[vzw_customer_support]

Hello, Allen please PM us, so we can look into this for you.

*Nicole

[rhickmanjr]

I'm having the same issue.   I have been sending short messages via email (gmail) to @VTEXT for years.  The "send" is working fine but the messages are not being delivered on the cell phones.

[allenpf]

This is what i got from the support tech on the private message. 
Sounds to me like they want to charge for this now... Its funny that it worked for years and all of a sudden stopped.

From the support tech**
** I did find some information out for you. The service is not intended to be used for large volumes of commercial messages or emergency messages. Due to the inherent limitations of Internet email, Verizon provides no assurance regarding the timeliness or receipt of messages sent using this service. Businesses and organizations looking to send a high volume of messages should subscribe to Verizon Enterprise Messaging. You will need to have them contact us for assistance.

[vzw_customer_support]

Hi Rhick. ! Thank you so much for reaching out Verizon. It will be my pleasure to assist you today, in order to proceed I just need to access and verify your account through our secure channel. Can you please click on the link?

By connecting with us, you grant us permission to review your services, so we can offer you the best value. Refusing to authenticate will not impact your current services. It is your right and our duty to protect your account information. For quality, we may monitor and review this conversation. Visit our information collection and privacy policy to learn more at verizon.com/privacy. Please note that the link we provide has a timed expiration, so we encourage you to continue as soon as possible.

Authenticate and continue here:http://spr.ly/60093pRBL

>Alejandro