In a previous post I asked whether I could use my RingCentral business account to send an SMS from our Synology NAS whenever there is a problem with our server or network that needs my instant attention. I received a response that said it is indeed possible, and also several RingCentral developer web pages were suggested.
What I am struggling with now is probably very simple to someone with web development experience, but my experience with writing code is limited to applications related to civil engineering; and most of that involves writing applications for AutoCAD and MS Excel for use in our office. The apps I have written are almost exclusively for solving tedious math problems or automating/customizing repetitive tasks in AutoCAD. As a result, most of my coding experience is with VBA, AutoLISP, VB.net, and a little C#. I have no experience with Java, Python, etc.
The latest Synology DIskStation Operating System (DSM 7.2) has a feature for sending SMS alerts but I don't know what I should enter into the fields it requires. Only 3 providers nobody has ever heard of are included on their list of SMS providers, so if I want to send an SMS via RingCentral I have to create a custom webhook to do it.
The following items are required as inputs under "Setup Custom Webhooks" in the DSM control panel:
Webhook URL - I assume this would be https://platform.devtest.ringcentral.com/restapi/v1.0/account/accountId/extension/extensionId/sms in the API sandbox, but I am not developing an app. What should it be for a generic webhook application? How do I change this URL to be the URL for our RC phone system?
HTTP method - POST
Content-type - there are four choices: application/json, application/x-www-form-urlencoded, multipart/form-data, and text/xml. I have no idea which one I should use. Multiple headers can be selected.
HTTP Body:
The instructions for this field are "Set up the required parameters according to the service providers API documents." It also says to include a "@@TEXT@@" parameter so DSM knows where to put the alert text message.
What I need to know is what are the minimum parameters that must be entered into the HTTP Body to send an SMS and how do I enter my credentials for our RingCentral account into the HTTP Body. All of the API examples are great, but they all assume that a person is developing an application and not simply trying to enter the correct data into an existing application, so I can't exactly copy and paste it into DSM. They also assume the developer has some knowledge of precisely what they are trying to do. Apart from having an Excel spreadsheet go to the web and download data from some government database (or an NFL stats database), I have almost no experience with the web features of C# or VB.net.
If this information is already on the RC developers site but I just can't seem to find it, please point me in the right direction. If it is not, considering the popularity of Synology NAS devices and the need for systems managers (and small business CEOs like me) to have real-time alerts from the networks they manage, it would be helpful if someone would put together a guide for newbs that explains how to write the parameters for a RC webhook in simple language.
But at this point, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.
