CHANGE OF SERVICE BULLETIN

DATE: August 20, 2024 (revised) November 15, 2022 (original)
TO: Apex Fusion Users
FROM: Neptune Systems
SUBJECT:  Notification of change of service – SMS (text) Notifications
EFFECTIVE: August 20 2024

Why am I being directed to this page?

You are being directed to this page due to a change in service of Apex Fusion and you are a user of Apex Fusion.

What is changing about my Apex Fusion service?

On November 15, 2022, Neptune Systems announced that the sending of SMS (text) alarm messages from Apex Fusion would be discontinued.   We continued to send alarm notifications via SMS for as long as we could.  The time has now come to deprecate this legacy capability.

Beginning August 20, 2024, you will no longer be able to add new SMS notification methods for phone numbers serviced by carriers in the US and Canada. Also, any existing SMS notification methods in your account settings will be flagged with a message indicating that SMS is deprecated, and that you should remove that entry from your Notification list.

On or about September 25 2024, Apex Fusion will no longer send SMS/text notifications through any of the major cellular carriers.

If text notifications are going away, how can I be notified if there is an issue with the aquarium my Apex system is configured to monitor?

Starting in 2016, Apex Fusion began to utilize a much more popular “in-app” notification system called push notifications.  Today, push notifications comprise the majority of alerts Apex Fusion sends to our users.

In order to utilize push notifications, you, as an Apex Fusion user, simply need to install the Apex Fusion App and allow for these notifications.  If you are using the Apex Fusion app for Apple or the Apex Fusion app for Android, but are not already receiving Fusion push notifications, please do the following to enable them:

  • Apple mobile devices: Push notifications can simply be enabled in the Apex Fusion app under your profile settings.  For a step-by-step tutorial, please watch the video here..  Optionally, delete and reinstall the app, then follow prompts as presented to allow push notifications and other necessary services, such as location services.
  • Android mobile devices:  Uninstall the Apex Fusion app, then reinstall it from the Google Play store.  Launch the app, then allow push notifications if prompted.

Apex Fusion, as always, will continue to offer email alert notification.  That will not and likely will never change.

The answer here is not simple and a bit detailed, but to be a straightforward as possible:

  • Cellular carriers have taken steps to better secure text messaging and the removal of unwanted messages for their users.
  • They have jointly  implemented a methodology for SMS messaging by commercial entities called 10DLC, and now prohibit companies like Neptune Systems from sending SMS messages through traditional means.
  • This methodology is intended to diminish unwanted SMS; unfortunately,this adversely impacts mass notification services like Apex Fusion.
  • While traditionally, one could use SMS for Fusion alerts, changes in phone carrier policies for SMS usage, commonly termed 10DLC, in general prohibit use of SMS for this purpose.  Note that while there are permitted usage categories, such as political campaigns, advertising, account-related activities such as password resets, etc., using SMS for time-sensitive alerts is at best a gray area, with no category that would unambiguously allow it; mobile carriers now aggressively block such usage.