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Hey, thanks for your feedback :) Per-call accounts are definitely something to be added. The biggest issue holding that back is getting a payment gateway set u

by mmelin 18y ago

Hey, thanks for your feedback :) Per-call accounts are definitely something to be added. The biggest issue holding that back is getting a payment gateway set up to be able to do ad-hoc debits. Look for a HTTP POST gateway soon - the thing about email is that it plugs right into all existing monitoring systems and apps, so there is no need for any changes apart from adding a new alert recipient. Edit: also, we hope that our email setup is as reliable as can be. Of course you also need to trust your outbound server. 3. Yup - we're also looking into adding escalation routes based on this information.

cperciva 18y ago
Have you considered using a prepaid system, i.e., have people "buy 5 phone calls" which sit in their accounts until they are used? Tarsnap uses a prepaid billing model and it is working very well. also, we hope that our email setup is as reliable as can be. Of course you also need to trust your outbound server. Right, and it's more the outbound server that I'm concerned about. After all, even if email delivery usually works, the one time when it is most likely to not work is when there's a network problem to report.
- mmelin 18y ago
  Prepaid might work, it is how most external monitoring providers sell their SMS credits. The thing about prepaid though is that the one time something big happens, you've probably ignored the "Please top up" emails all month. If you're having network problems then a HTTP interface probably won't make much of a difference, though :) To help here you usually have an account with a third party such as Pingdom, JustUptime, etc.
  - cperciva 18y ago
    Well, I'm thinking more of transient network issues -- the sort of things which could result in email sitting in a queue for hours, but wouldn't stop a script which loops "send HTTP POST to server; read response; if we didn't get a 200 OK, try again".
    - mmelin 18y ago
      Oh, OK :) Well that is definitely something to add. Please check back tomorrow, or if you'd like me to drop you an email, just send to martin at staff.robonoc.com - Thanks.

by mmelin 18y ago

cperciva 18y ago

Have you considered using a prepaid system, i.e., have people "buy 5 phone calls" which sit in their accounts until they are used? Tarsnap uses a prepaid billing model and it is working very well. also, we hope that our email setup is as reliable as can be. Of course you also need to trust your outbound server. Right, and it's more the outbound server that I'm concerned about. After all, even if email delivery usually works, the one time when it is most likely to not work is when there's a network problem to report.

mmelin 18y ago
Prepaid might work, it is how most external monitoring providers sell their SMS credits. The thing about prepaid though is that the one time something big happens, you've probably ignored the "Please top up" emails all month. If you're having network problems then a HTTP interface probably won't make much of a difference, though :) To help here you usually have an account with a third party such as Pingdom, JustUptime, etc.
- cperciva 18y ago
  Well, I'm thinking more of transient network issues -- the sort of things which could result in email sitting in a queue for hours, but wouldn't stop a script which loops "send HTTP POST to server; read response; if we didn't get a 200 OK, try again".
  - mmelin 18y ago
    Oh, OK :) Well that is definitely something to add. Please check back tomorrow, or if you'd like me to drop you an email, just send to martin at staff.robonoc.com - Thanks.