SMS Help & Tips

	SMS Frequently Asked Questions How do I change my mobile number? How do I switch on / off messages being sent to my phone? What are filters? How do I set up a filter? How many filters can I have set up at any one time? How do I set up a filter to only send me messages for a specific time period? How do I set up a filter to only send me messages from a specific area(s)? How do I set up a filter to only send me messages about birds which I need? How I do I check what messages have been sent from my filter(s)? How do I do check how many credits I have left on my account? Why is the time attached to the end of each message usually 1 hour after we sent the message? I’m getting messages I didn’t expect to, what to I do? I didn’t receive a message(s) on my phone, what do I do? Why don't I see my account balance at the end of my messages? What birds will I get news about if I choose Megas, Rarities and Megas, etc? Changing your mobile number You can change the mobile number to which messages will be sent at any time. The number must be a valid UK mobile number and you can also enter some international numbers such as those from the Republic of Ireland. Frequently Asked Questions about this topic: How do I change my mobile number? Go to your SMS homepage Click on 'change this number' link You will be asked for the new number, enter this in the box and wait for a text message which will contain a validation code Enter this validation code as requested The number should now be changed If you have tried the above and are still having problems email us here Top   Switching messages on / off  You can have filters set up but not receive messages if you don't want to (means you don't have to set up ones you use regularly over and over again). This is a very useful feature if you just want to receive messages every now and then, for example when you go somewhere for a weekend. Frequently Asked Questions about this topic: How do I switch on / off messages being sent to my phone? Go to your SMS homepage Next to each filter you have set up you will see a tick box To switch messages on tick the box -  this will cause the page to reload. If a filter is not active (i.e. box not ticked) you will see a message in red telling you it is inactive To stop messages being sent from a profile untick the box If you have tried the above and are still having problems email us here Top   Your Subscription expires on: Your SMS Service subscription details are shown here once you have logged in. You will see your subscription expiry date, and if that date is soon, you will see a reminder that it is time to renew, along with a link to show you your renewal options. If you would like to see our latest renewal offers at any time you can visit the products and services tab on the main menu, or you can click here. Top   General Options   Append number of credits remaining to the end of each message Keep a constant eye on your account balance! Tick this option and we will attach your remaining credit balance to the end of each message. Note that if you also have the next option ticked (“Only send me the first part of any long message..) then you may not see your account balance at the end of every message because it will have been trimmed off! Which, in its self, acts as a reminder that you have just received a trimmed message. We have set the default for both these options to “on” because we feel that’s the best way to use the service. Top     Only send me the first part of any long message Great money saving feature – we recommend keeping the default setting of “on” A single SMS message has a limit of 150 characters on all mobile phones and sometimes our birdnews messages will exceed this.  However due to our unique house style for sending messages (see example below) you will rarely need to receive any more than the first part of a text message.  We make sure that the important information on each message is at the beginning therefore saving you time but most especially money.  Of course you can view the entire message in your account log. We have automatically set this to be switched on. Norfolk PECHORA PIPIT still Blakeney Point early afternoon at The Hood +showing well TG.000.463 +Serin 2.male.Red-backed Shrikes (+6.Pied Flycatchers 12.Redstarts 8.Whinchats 40+Wheatears) by limiting yourself to just one message you would have missed out on the text in grey!  In our experience 9 times out of 10 you do not need the 2nd part of the message. Top     View my message log: The messages you have been sent - stored online for your reference For your convenience, every message we have sent you during the past 30 days is available to review in your personal message log whenever you are logged in to RBA. Top     My SMS Filters: Decide what news you want, from where, and when, and for which species! Key Features Set up to five filters on your account – all of which can run concurrently Each filter can use a different species list, apply to a different area, and have different start or end dates Don’t worry if a news message matches more than one of your filters - you will only be sent the message once! For instance, it you are planning a week in Scotland, you may wish to setup a filter in advance to receive all the Scottish news for the duration of your trip. When setting up such a filter, set the start and end dates to coincide with your trip, and activate the filter immediately, safe in the knowledge that it won’t start actually sending you the messages until the start date that you have set and stop sending you the news at the time and date that you predetermined. Afterwards you can choose to leave the filter until you need it again, amend it for another trip, or delete it Frequently Asked Questions about this topic: What are filters? Filters are what you set up and use to have messages sent to your phone. As their name suggests they filter all the messages we send based on the criteria you specify and then have any appropriate news sent to your mobile phone. How do I set up a filter? Go to your SMS homepage If you have no filters set up you will see a warning message and a link to add a filter. If you have got at least one ofther filter set up click on the 'add another filter' link. You will then be taken to the filter setup page where you can select the criteria for your messages. By selecting some of the options on this page you will have to wait for the page to reload, this usually takes just a couple of seconds. When you have finished entering the message filter criteria make sure you name the filter and then save it You can activate / deactivate filter from your SMS homepage at any time. If you have tried the above and are still having problems email us here How many filters can I Have set up at any one time? You can can a maximum of 5 filters set up at any one time. If you have 5 filters in place and you want to add another you will need to delete one first. How do I set up a filter to only send me messages for a specific time period? Once logged in go your SMS homepage and go into the SMS set up page. You can set up an entirely new filter or modify an existing one. When in a filter go to the when section, and choose from the drop down list 'between specific times / dates'. You can now choose what days / times when you would like to receive messages. Make sure to save your profile before exiting the filter in order for your changes to take effect. How do I set up a filter to only send me messages from a specific area(s)? Once logged in go your SMS homepage and go into the SMS set up page. You can set up an entirely new filter or modify an existing one. When in a filter go to the where section, and choose from the drop down list either a single county or multiple counties. A pooup window will open where you can select from multiple counties or entire regions. If you have selected just one county you can select it from the drop down list. Make sure to save your profile before exiting the filter in order for your changes to take effect. How do I set up a filter to only send me messages about birds which I need? Once logged in go your SMS homepage and go into the SMS set up page. You can set up an entirely new filter or modify an existing one. When in a filter go to the what section, and choose from the drop down list 'particular species'. A pop up window will appear where you can use the list to tick the species want to receive messages about. Or alternatively you can leave the boxes empty next to the species you want to receive messages about. Make sure to save your profile before exiting the filter in order for your changes to take effect. How do I Check what messages have been sent from my filter(s)? You can use your message log, found the SMS set up page, to check what messages have been sent to your phone from the filter(s) you have set up. The log will show you all messages sent to your phone from all filters you have set up and will include the entire text of any message sent from your filters. This means that even if you choose to only receive the first part of any message you can see the entire message in your message log. Every message should display a delivery status which will be OK if your filters has successfully dealt with your message or failed if there was a problem. Please report any failed message to the RBA team by emailing us here Top     Receive messages from this filter once I have saved it: You will not receive ANY messages from this filter unless this box is ticked. If you want to start filtering for messages immediately you save the filter then tick this option. We have automatically set it un-ticked in case you accidentally set up a filter (perhaps by saving it halfway through set up) that would cause you to receive a very large volume of messages. This gives you a chance to review what you have set up and change settings before you actually start receiving messages. You can also do the filter activation at any time from your SMS home page, where you use the tick box just left of the filter name. Top     Where Tell us where you would like to receive news about There are several pre-defined areas for you to choose from, or set up your own area based on regions and counties or as a radius from a grid reference. The pre-defined areas and other options are: UK & Ireland: The entire British Isles UK (excl.Ireland): The British Isles excluding Ireland Mainland UK only: British Isles excluding Ireland, the Isle of Man, Isles of Scilly, Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles. Regions/Multiple Counties: Choose which region(s), or counties to receive messages for. If you wish to use this option note that it opens in a separate window (as a popup), you must therefore not have popups blocked. You can select whole regions, and / or individual counties, using check boxes. You can select a whole region then deselect individual counties. When you have finalised your selection, be sure to ‘Save Changes’ before leaving the window. You will be returned to the main screen, which will then show you how many counties you selected, in a line of text that appears in the ‘Where’ section Single county: Allow you to select just one county. When you choose this option the main page will reload so that you can see a drop down list of counties for you view and choose from. Radius This allows you to specify a radius (of up to 999 miles) around an 8 digit grid reference Top     Radius Feature: This allows you to specify a radius (of up to 999 miles) around an 8 digit grid reference. How to find a grid reference using OS Get-a-Map A super efficient way to find an 8-digit grid reference is to use the Ordnance Surcey Get-a-Map website. You can either enter a postcode in the search box at the top left, or you can click repeatedly on the map, zooming in each time, until you have located the area you want. Once the correct map is on the screen, the grid reference of its central point is found at the bottom of the page. OS Get-a-Map Top     What ”precisely which birds you would like to receive messages about?” Firstly – choose how much news you will want about any individual bird. You can opt for just the initial report of when a bird is first seen, or you can choose to have any further reports as well. See below for a detailed description of three choices. All reports and Updates:  This means you will receive ALL messages we send about the species-set that you choose. First reports then changes of status:  Only the first report of the selected species at any individual site, PLUS any change in its status at that site. THUS if a subsequent message indicates it is still present, you will not receive that message, but another message indicates it is gone or its identity is perhaps not 100% confirmed, you will receive that message, as the bird’s status has changed. Then, if it reappears, you will receive that message too. First reports each day:  The first report only of a bird at a site every day it is reported First reports only:  Only the first report of the selected species at any individual site You will receive no further news of that species at that site. However if the bird moves to another site it will then become a first report at the new site. First report is defined as the species has NOT been reported at that site in the past 10 days. Thus if a species reappears after an absence of greater than 10 days – it is still deemed a first report. Species: Pre-set groups The definition of each pre-set group is below, plus a link to a comparative table of which species are in which group (as at August 2005) All Species: Every single message - no matter what species it concerns! Megas: Defined as a species which has occurred less than 10 times in the recent past or that has not been readily available in Britain in the past five years full list here Rarities and Megas: Also includes the birds rare enough for a description to be required for consideration by the British Birds Rarities Committee (plus all Megas as above) full list here Scarcities and rarer: Also includes birds that although you are unlikely to travel any great distance to see are generally of interest in a national context (plus all Rarities and Megas as above) full list here  Uncommon and rarer: Also includes birds that although not significant in a national context are often of interest on a local basis (plus all Scarcities, Rarities and Megas as above) full list here Species in the following list: This great feature is unique to the RBA SMS service. Great for ensuring that you get to hear about any bird that you “need” for your Patch, County or Life list. You can keep up to 5 lists on your account, each one in a separate filter. Note that each list defaults to alerting you for news of species that you have NOT TICKED but you can change this to use the list in “reverse” if you wish. It also defaults to alerting you if a First for Britain turns up! Additional options are pre-set for you in the way that most people use the service. If you wish to change them, please read the notes below. I only want news if it refers to: Today: You only want to receive messages when the news is about a bird seen on the same day as the message is sent (e.g Yorks Great Grey Shrike Flamborough Head near lighthouse 8.40am and showing well…) Today and yesterday: In addition to today’s news, also get late news from the previous day: (e.g. Fife Siberian Blue Robin yesterday at Fife Ness at 5.40pm showing well in the…) Any day no matter how long: It doesn’t matter how many days old the news is for, you want to receive it anyway (eg “Fife a belated report of a Siberian Blue Robin last Monday at Fife Ness, it may not have been looked for since” In addition to the above Unconfirmed reports:If this is ticked you can still receive messages telling you about a bird that has been reported as a “probable”, or “possible” or is described as an “unconfirmed report”. Remove the tick and you will not get any such messages. Before unticking this, remember that all birds are not necessarily identified correctly immediately – we run an instant news service, not an instant rarities committee – though we try to do our best. Escapes: If this is ticked you can still receive messages telling you about birds that are known to be escapes. If birds are only thought to possibly be escapes we will not add the “Escape” tag to them. We only add the escape tag for “definite” escapes. Top     When  Tell us when you would like to receive messages For any particular filter you may not want to receive messages throughout the year. You may only want to receive messages before or after work, just at weekends, or on holiday. Remember that each filter can be set up with different settings here too. Daily throughout the week: Get all messages that match this filter 365 days a year. On regular days/times only:  Choose which days you want to receive messages on. For any day that you wish to receive message, be sure to tick the box next to it. If you wish to specify an hour to start receiving the news from or until, then you can. If you leave the hours boxes blank, they will default to the entire day (but only for days of the week for which you have ticked the box in the left column) Between specific dates: The holiday option! Enter a start date and an end date to receive your news. TIP: activate this filter immediately (by ticking the “Activate” box) towards the top of the filter page. Any filter set to specific dates will not start sending you news until the start date you have set and if you don’t activate it now - you may forget to activate it later. Top     Name this Filter  On your mobile: Give your filter a short name (up to 11 characters) that will appear as the header on your text messages from this filter. The phone companies transmit this in addition to the message character limit but they restrict this feature to 11 characters. Name your filters in such a way that allow you to differentiate them e.g. “Lifers” or “NorfolkTick” or “RBA mega”. On your SMS homepage: Write a description (of up to 50 characters) to identify your filter on your SMS homepage e.g “First reports of rarities on Scillies 8-15 Oct” Top     Checking your message credit balance There are a number of ways you can keep track and check how many message credits you have Every time you login to the RBA website you will be shown your message credits remaining on your homepage You can have the number of credits remaining attached to the end of each message. If you have the message balance attached to the end of each message but you don't see it on your phone because you only see the first part of the messages yuo can check it in your message log at this shows the entire message. Top     I am getting messages I didn't expect to, what to I do? Firstly check you filters very carefully against the messages you have received that then check them against your message log. It could be that other species in the message, not necessarily the main one, will be the reason you have received the message. Of course if it is not obvious why you are receiving certain message please report them to us here and we will look into it for you. Top     I didn't receive a message(s) on my phone, what do I do? Check that the message is in your message log and then please report all messages to us by emailing us here. Top     Why don't I see my account balance at the end of my messages? If you have specified that you would like your account balance attached to the end of your messages and you are not seeing them it is probably because you have also specified to be only sent the first part of any long message. As the balance is attached to the end of the message if you only ask for the 1st part you will not see it unless the message does not span more than one message in which case you should see it. Top     What birds will I get news about if I choose Megas, Rarities and Megas, etc? Click here to see full list of all the species and their rarity ranking. Top