SMS message from an email sender doesn't play assigned ringtone

[alex2015]

When I receive a SMS message from an email account, my phone wont play the assigned ringtone for that contact. For all other contacts the message ringtones work fine (contact>options>set message ringtone).

I'm a firefighter/EMT and I get pages from dispatch in the form of a text message from an email address. I can save the email address as a contact and set the message tone for it, but my phone will play the default message tone when I receive a text from an email sender.

I've tried using Messages and Hangouts, saving the contact as a Google contact, and nothing works. Its on a Kyocera Brigadier running KitKat on Verizon, but I've talked to coworkers who have this same problem on different android phones as well.

Anyone else run into this problem or have a solution?

 

[El Presidente]

Have you looked at an alternative notification app like lite flow: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rageconsulting.android.lightflowlite

It does say it's for LED control, but it does have audio notification options too.

 

[alex2015]

I have not looked at other apps yet, I was hoping to solve this problem without additional apps. I will check out the one you mentioned and see if it solves the issue.

 

[lunatic59]

Here's the problem. I use hangouts and AT&T is my carrier. I can send an SMS message to my phone through email by using <wireless number>@sms.att.net. When the message is delivered it has a phantom number as the sender. It's nothing that is in my contacts even though the email that sent it is. So, it thinks it's an unknown sender and plays the default tone. To make matters worse, if I send a subsequent message, it's a different number and therefore it starts a new conversation.

 

[electricpete]

with tasker, you could look at each incoming message and discriminate the messages of interest from others based on presence of certain key words I assume you could find in these messages. then if it is a message of interest, program a wait 3 seconds action (for normal notification) followed by a unique notification sound to be generated by tasker to alert you to message of interest.

tasker is not for everyone. count on spending at least a couple hours to get familiar with it.

 

[alex2015]

Thanks guys, that is some great information. I think for now I'll just set my default ringer as the tone I want to hear for pages, and set a different tone for each of my other contacts, like I did in the flip phone days haha.