We're a III shop, but we run a PHP script that queries the database server for hourly items coming up due, and then sends the results to the Twilio service which handles the text message processing.

https://github.com/rmiessle/sierra-sms

It's not a particularly elegant solution, but it works for us.

R.C. Miessler | Systems Librarian
Gettysburg College | Musselman Library
300 North Washington Street | Gettysburg, PA 17325
717-337-7020 | www.gettysburg.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Emily Lynema
Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2016 2:30 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [CODE4LIB] Notifications for short term loans

We are a SirsiDynix Symphony library that loans a lot of equipment on short terms loans (usually 4 hours). We charge relatively a relatively high overdue fee each hour the item is late in order to encourage students to return high dollar equipment like MacBook Pros. However, the notification functionality in Symphony is not good at sending users timely notices that an item is coming due so that they can renew it before being charged a fee.
Generally users get a notice within the first hour after checkout providing the due date/time and an overdue the following morning if they haven't returned it.

We're wondering if anyone has developed a creative solution to this problem of timely notifications. We'd be interested in solutions that alerted a user to an upcoming due date, say maybe 15 - 30 minutes in advance, whether it be email, text message, or an app-based mobile notification. We've looked a bit at vendor provided mobile applications, but haven't found much yet in this area.

Let me know if you've developed a creative solution in-house or found a vendor that provides a relevant service. We could do this from scratch, but would love to build off some prior work or take advantage of other elegant solutions.

thanks!

--
Emily Lynema
Associate Department Head
Information Technology, NCSU Libraries
919-513-8031
[log in to unmask]