Sunday, November 23, 2008

Google Spreadsheet Notifications via SMS

Let Google notify you through a text message every time your Spreadsheet changes

The Change Notification feature in Google Spreadsheets currently triggers only an email when ever someone edits your Spreadsheet.
But you can also trigger a Text message too if you want to be notified whenever your Spreadsheet changes.
This is not a feature in Google Spreadsheets, but here's a tweak

Before following these steps you need to make sure that you have a Google Account, a Blog with Blogger.com & create a Google SMS channel.
Before subscribing to or creating an SMS Channel, you need to select a nickname, verify your mobile number and accept the Terms of Service.
Google SMS Channels works only in India

If you don't have them I suggest you create one before you proceed

All set we are ready to go (assuming you have created the above mentioned Google services)


Step 1 :
Create a blog with Blogger
Step 2 : Click on Email tab in Blogger Settings page.
Step 3 : In the "Mail-to-Blogger Address" text field choose an address(e.g user.somename@blogger.com) to post text and images directly to your blog and select the option "Publish emails immediately" and then Save the settings.

Step 4 : Create new SMS Channel & make sure that the "Source:" of the SMS channel is selected as "
Blogger: http://yourblog.blogspot.com"
yourblog is the url of the blog you created in Step 1
Step 5 : Login to Gmail
Step 6 : Create a filter in Gmail such that all emails from "notify@google.com" are forwarded to "user.somename@blogger.com"
Step 7 : Login to Google Spreadsheets, save the sheet & set up a Notification rule such that "Any changes made to the Spreadsheet trigger a Daily digest/Immediate email.
Step 8 : Collaborate your spreadsheet & when they start editing you should receive text messages from Google


Hidden Story

When a collaborator edit your Spreadsheet a notification email is sent to "user@g
mail.com"
This email in turn is forwarded to "user.somename@blogger.com" because of the filter created in Step 6.
This forwarded email is published to the Blog

The blog name that you entered as a source for channel posts/updates in Google SMS channel page is the key to trigger an SMS to your Mobile

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