SMS is a now a subsystem in Moodle LMS, which includes a plugin type (SMS gateway), to allow different providers (e.g. AWS SNS) to send messages via SMS. Site administrators can now setup and configure multiple SMS gateways. Only sending (not receiving) of messages is currently supported.
Initially, the SMS subsystem has been implemented for use in Multi-factor authentication (MFA), however there will also be a SMS notification support in the future. It is also worth mentioning that SMS is not a replacement for notifications sent to the Moodle App, it is a supplementary mechanism. Many places in the world do not have access to internet enabled phones, or have data restrictions, so SMS functionality provides an alternative way to receive important information.
Managing SMS gateways
Management of SMS gateways is now available from site administration. Navigate to Site administration > Plugins > SMS > Manage SMS gateways.
Selecting Manage SMS gateways will take you to the SMS gateway management page. Select "Create new SMS gateway" to create a new SMS gateway.
This will open the SMS gateway configuration form. In this page, the following information should be added to allow the usage of the gateway:
- SMS gateway provider: SMS can have many different gateway providers, currently AWS is supported in Moodle LMS. Other providers such as Modica and Twilio will be available in future (or if you install a plugin to support them).
- Gateway name: This name will be used identify the gateway in the list of configured gateways.
- Default country code: This is the country code used if users have not included a country code when entering their mobile number. This is particularly useful if your users are from one specific region or mostly from one region, since it means they won't need to add the country code while entering their mobile number in plugins like MFA.
- The rest of the fields like Find AWS credential, Access key, Secret key, region etc. are specific to the AWS SMS gateway plugin. That information comes from your AWS account and must be filled correctly to ensure the gateway works correctly. Please note, different plugins will have different form fields for this section.
If we fill that information and save changes, we will have the gateway available in the SMS gateway management page.
The gateways can be enabled or disabled when needed, by clicking the toggle in the Status column, which will be confirmed by a notification banner.
If the gateway is in use (e.g. MFA is using this gateway), then it will not be disabled and instead it will show a notification that it can not be disabled.
Gateways can also be deleted. A confirmation dialogue will be shown before deleting the gateway, as well as a notification after a successful deletion.
If the gateway is in use or any other issues are found while deleting the gateway, it will not be deleted and a notification will be shows with relevant information.
Once a gateway has been configured and enabled, you can select the gateway from the MFA SMS factor settings.
For further usage related information, please visit the MFA setup documentation. Configure your Amazon SNS for SMS Authentication following the AWS SNS Documentation.
