The ability to provide critical information to employees and customers anytime and anywhere is crucial to remaining competitive. Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Notification Services make up an application platform that lets SQL Server customers keep their users informed by sending personalized notification messages to a variety of wired and wireless client devices.
The Notification Services platform uses XML, SQL, and the Microsoft .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR) to scan input events from a source and match those events with user-defined subscriptions. It then generates and delivers the personalized alerts in any of several formats, including e-mail, SMS, instant message (IM), and .NET alerts. Microsoft says the product can scale to send millions of messages.
Notification applications let organizations offer subscription and delivery services. Examples of notification applications include:
- Customer order request forms
- Work requisitions for employees
- Targeted content for subscribers (delivered when and where they want it)
Creating notification applications is not new. SQL Server Notification Services simply remove the complexity of building the system, making it easy to offer this functionality. Notification applications can be built in as little as three days, according to Microsoft.
The SQL Server Notification Services technology is free to customers with a current SQL Server license. You have to buy a separate license for each new machine. You can download the technology and get more information at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/ns/default.asp.