Connect Africa's Talking to PHPNuxBill

Before you start

• A Routely account (how it works).
• An Africa's Talking account with an app, and your API key. For live sending you also need airtime in your account.
• Optional: a sender ID registered with Africa's Talking. Without one, their default sender is used.

A note on testing. Routely's connection to Africa's Talking has been tried in their sandbox. Live sending is newer, so send one test message to your own number before you rely on it.

Add Africa's Talking as a gateway

1. In PHPNuxBill open Routely, then SMS, then Gateways.
2. Under Add a gateway, choose Africa's Talking.
3. Give it a name, for example "Africa's Talking main".
4. Username: your Africa's Talking app username. In the sandbox it is always sandbox.
5. API key: from your Africa's Talking dashboard (Settings, API key). It is stored encrypted and is never shown again.
6. Sender ID: leave it empty to use the default sender. A sender ID must be registered with Africa's Talking before you can use it.
7. Environment: choose Sandbox to practise (nothing is delivered) and Live to send for real. The username and the API key must belong to the same environment: a sandbox key does not work with Live, and the other way round.
8. Messages per minute: 60 is filled in. Lower it to send more gently.
9. Press Add gateway. Routely checks the username and key with Africa's Talking, and tells you if they are refused.

Send a test message

1. On the same page, find Send a test message.
2. Under Send through pick this gateway, so it is tested alone.
3. Enter a phone number with the country code and press Send test.
4. Open SMS, then History to see the result. In the sandbox the message is accepted but nothing reaches a phone; use the sandbox simulator in Africa's Talking to see it.

If it does not work

• "Did not accept this username and API key". The most common cause is a mismatch: a sandbox key with Live selected, or a live key with Sandbox selected. Check the Environment first, then the username, then the key.
• The message failed. History shows the reason Africa's Talking gave, for example not enough airtime or an unregistered sender ID.
• The gateway is resting. After three failed messages in a row it rests for five minutes and messages go to your next gateway. Fix the cause, then press Use again now.