Overview

When using Clickatell online SMS message service in conjunction with FaxMaker, Umlaut characters (ü ä) appear to be being sent by FaxMaker, but not received by the recipient.  

Solution

In 2018, Clickatell changed the API we use with them and FaxMaker was changed to meet this change. Prior to this change, Clickatell accounts required a username and password as well as an API identifier.  

Newer accounts created after this change in 2018 will only have an API identifier or API key.  

To verify this in your FaxMaker SMS configuration, follow the steps below:

1. From Programs, open the FaxMaker Configuration.
   
   
2. Select SMS and select Properties.
   
   
3. On the SMS Service tab, check if the User Name and Password fields are populated.  The API Identifier field should be populated as well.  
   
   
4. Ensure you have a note of the User Name and Password before continuing this step.  Remove the User Name and Password from the fields and select OK.
   
   
5. Send an SMS message through FaxMaker and confirm the recipient receives it.  The assumption is they will not and to restore SMS functionality, the User Name and Password fields will need to be filled in.  In this case, you will need to contact Clickatell and ask them to create a new account.  Once the new account is created, you can insert the API key in FaxMaker, and the umlaut characters will be sent properly.  

Confirmation

After creating the new Clickatell account, the umlaut characters will be received by the recipient as sent.