How do I setup text alerts on Total Connect 2.0?

First log into your Total Connect account on a computer (not a smartphone or tablet). You may have to download and install quicktime and/or flash player plug-ins if you do not already have them. Once you are logged in, mouse over your Total Connect user and click "edit" on your user. Scroll to the bottom of the bottom of "Email Address list" in the center section. Click the "+ Add" button beneath your email. Select "SMS" and enter your 10 digit phone number excluding the 1 in the front and any spaces or dashes. Choose your cell phone carrier and save. You will receive a text shortly. This may take a few minutes.

Click "edit" on your user again. This time click the blue "Validate" button beneath your 10 digit number (you may need to scroll down in the email address list). You will be prompted for a validation key. Open the text message on your phone and transpose the 8 digit validation key. It is case-sensitive. Then click submit (not Send Key) and save the user module.

After you have validated your phone number you will need to configure your Total Connect notifications and ensure you are assigned to the appropriate user group. If you do not receive the text, double check the phone number and click the blue "Validate" button followed by "Send Key." This will resend the validation key. If you still do not get it this may be an issue with your carrier not supporting SMS. For example, Cricket dropped SMS recently. In some cases, this means you will have to go without text alerts. Although there is a way to setup MMS alerts via email which in some cases will work on phones that do not support SMS directly.

First, change the selection to "Email" instead of "SMS" in the email address list. Then type in your 10-digit phone followed by the MMS gateway in the email field. For example, 1 + 10-digit phone number + @mms.cricketwireless.net . Then select "Text Email" as the attachment option. If this is set to "None" the content of the text will not come through. After this is saved it will generate a text to your phone. Follow the steps above to validate the point of contact if you receive the alert.

Please note, in some cases the leading 1 in front of the phone number is left out depending on the carrier. You can verify your gateway suffix by searching online or reaching out to your carrier's tech support.