Need help to find the right SMS Gateway

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Asim

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Wannabe Geek

#6436 25-Jan-2006 13:02

Hi,

I need some help and would really appreciate if someone can guide me in the right direction. I am looking for SMS gateway sofwtare that is compatible with CDMA, PCS and GSM networks. I am simply looking for a gateway tos end it SMS text messages and it sends the messages to registred cell numbers in the SMS gateway database.

NOT looking for hosted SMS services or anything similar.

I found one company http://www.notepage.net/pagegate.htm their software works but there licensing is bit pricy and application is not very userfriendly.

I am looking for similar solution.

Please Let me know.

A

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#27127 25-Jan-2006 14:40

Not sure if this is what you are looking for Clickatell (via geekzone banner) (Direct link)

Supports a wide array of networks but seeming as your flag is American - I'll just post the American networks supported so you can have a look :)

Alltel (text only) 1.5
AT&T (text only) 1.5
Cingular (text only) 1.5
Cingular-Bellsouth (text only) 1.5
Cingular-Pacific Bell (text only) 1.5
Nextel (text only) 1.5
Sprint (text only) 1.5
T-Mobile (text only) 1.5
T-Mobile: PCS One (text only) 1.5
T-Mobile: Powertel (text only) 1.5
Unallocated Prefixes (text only) 1.5
US Cellular (text only) 1.5
Verizon (text only) 1.5

They say they are a gateway and I think Geekzone uses them for the article SMS referals (remember reading it a while ago).

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#27130 25-Jan-2006 14:56

Clickatell is a great service. Their gateway accepts files via FTP, XML and HTTP/S transactions (POST) to their services. They also have two-way messaging available.

The prices are very good - so good actually that the SMS service we have here on Geekzone is offered for free to our user who want to send a link to a friend.

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Asim

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Wannabe Geek

#27138 25-Jan-2006 15:20

Thanks guys but these are gateway service providers they DO NOT provide gateway software.

A

freitasm

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#27140 25-Jan-2006 15:24

Yes... I was going to comment before on this. What do you expect from a gateway software? A direct connection to the telco's SMSC? Sorry, you will not find this kind of stuff. SMSC connections are only available through trusted parties, i.e, other operators.

Any software running on your PC will have to go through one of these gateways to reach a SMSC - even though the software runs on your own computer.

Using a gateway such as Clickatell is easy - no more than 10 minutes coding in VB script and you can have a dialog that sends messages out - like we have it here.

But a warning: if you use this for unsolicited message then your account will be found...

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Asim

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Wannabe Geek

#27150 25-Jan-2006 16:08

Hmm,

My clients dont want to pay per SMS message.

Check this software http://www.notepage.net/pagegate.htm

It does requrie any connectivity with any service provider. You simply provide connection method to each celluar company you want tp support and thats it.

It works as I said I just dont like the platform and coding.

A

Asim

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Wannabe Geek

#27151 25-Jan-2006 16:09

http://www.notepage.net/pagegate.htm

I meant to say it doesn't require any accounts with service providers.

A

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#27153 25-Jan-2006 16:09

If you want to go direct through an SMSC you will most likely need a direct connection like a Frame Relay and software to handle SMPP (short message peer to peer). That's the beauty of third parties they have already set this up with multiple Telco's.

Kannel

Kannel is an awesome piece of open source SMPP software.

Asim

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Wannabe Geek

#27156 25-Jan-2006 16:29

Yes you are right. Thats why I want a competitive solution against notepage. They seem to be the only company that offers this solution. There is got to be other companies. They seem to have a monoply.

I downloaded theri trial software. Installed on Windows server and thats it. I was able to quer theri software db via manyw ays to send SMS message to my AT&T cell phone and other cariers.

I know its a challenege. Someone like me who can afford a server, why pay for each SMS message where you can once to get the gateway software and then never pay again.

A

papadilbert

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#29099 22-Feb-2006 16:58

I've been surfing all day long trying to understand the ins and outs of SMS. It seems that if you have a GSM phone (which I don't :) you can run your own sms server. connecting your GSM phone to your PC via a USB cable. Another possibility is to run your own SMSC but that requires your customers to configure their phones to point to your server. You would then process the messages by either responding or routing them onward.

I'm interested in creating automated responder SMS applicatons. I haven't found exactly what I'm looking for to get the messages to the server. But I'm getting closer.

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#29103 22-Feb-2006 17:58

The problems are different. In your case an auto responder you could use the mobile phone, have your own SMSC or you could use Clickatell services (link before in this thread).

With the mobile phone option you are limited to a single number and low throughput.

With your own SMSC you would need negotiations with each operator in order to allow it to route messages to and from their own SMSC.

With Clickatell you can provision many numbers and each number can be a different service. The incoming messages are routed through different methods, including HTTP POST to a web server, where your script would do something (sending a reply to the message is only the simplest thing to do). The advantage is that Clickatell have all the relationship with the companies so you don't have to.

If you want to explore this I suggest you open another thread for your specific problem/need/solution.

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mylogon

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#29104 22-Feb-2006 18:11

The problem with Clickatell is that they handle so few carriers. Even if you look at their list -you immediately see how many are missing. There are over 40 US ones, and they handle about ten - and do not handle any number at all that has ever been ported.

They stated in an email to me that they can cover about 60-70% of the US. Big whoop! Take ported numbers out of that and it drops to less than 50%.

There prices are really not that good. Four to five cents each in the US is crazy! They get charged nothing for sending to the carriers, so it is all to them. The minute someone whose system really works does and unlimited one - they will make a fortune. If I had the time and a little more money -I would as the hardware/software is less than $5000. The applications to all the carriers are what take the time.

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#29105 22-Feb-2006 18:15

I think you will find out that operators ("carriers" in the USA) do charge an interconnection fee to receive SMS from other operators. That's why Clickatell (and others) charge different prices depending on destination.

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#29107 22-Feb-2006 18:30

I actually asked Sprint, Nextel (before the merger) and Cingulair. They either charge nothing or a flat fee (under $100 per month). It took a long time to even reach the right person to ask at each company.... The T1 or T3 line is the cost to connect to them - but most can even use dial-up.

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#29555 1-Mar-2006 07:54

I've done quite a bit of research into this sort of thing for myself and other companies, and I came to the conclusion that Message Media (www.message-media.co.nz) are by far the best bet.

They are totally "above board" - ie they don't use any cheap (=unreliable) connections and have a flat rate per message. They have multiple methods to access their systems and their engineers will work through any integration problems that you might have.

To the best of my knowledge you can send into most networks - and if you're not sure, ask them and they will look into for you.

My 2 cents worth 8-).

Nigel H.

frey

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Wannabe Geek

#30829 16-Mar-2006 11:51

message-media's customer service reps are astonishingly well trained. They press all the right buttons to make you want their service even though it's not the cheapest out there. :)

.. been doing a bit of research into this, just posted something on my blog (http://www.frey.co.nz/2006/03/16/sms-gateways/) about it.

If you're willing to slightly complicate things you can get bulk sms to Telecom and Vodafone for 10-20c/text Telecom (depending on quantity) and 6.5c to Vodafone.

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