| SMS functionality on my web page - need help! |  Search
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NowSMS Support Forums ⬆ NowSMS Support - SMS Issues ⬆ Archive through May 12, 2004 ⬆ |
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| Author | Message | |||
| KE Unregistered guest |
Hi all, I have no experience regarding SMS functionlity on a web site. My goal is that on my web portal I can send automatically SMS to customers. It's a .NET (C#) application. Is it a must to use a external SMS gateway? Or do I have an alternative possibility within VS.NET? Thanks for your help in advance. Regards, KE | |||
| Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support Board Administrator Username: Bryce Post Number: 2408 Registered: 10-2002 |
KE, You cannot just magically send SMS over the internet. Before a mobile operator will allow an SMS message to be delivered to a handset, they make sure that someone is going to be billed for it. (One exception, in the US, providers also charge people to receive SMS messages, and many of the operators in the US have free e-mail to SMS gateways. This is generally not the case outside the US where the billing models are different.) At a minimum, you need an SMS service provider, or a GSM modem (a GSM modem is a specialised modem device that accepts a SIM card and operates over a mobile operator subscription ... also many newer mobile phones include inbuilt GSM modem capabilities). And you may or may not need software to help you interface with the SMS service provider or GSM modem. That is what the Now SMS/MMS Gateway is ... middleware that manages the connection to the service provider and/or GSM modem, simplifies the process of developing applications that send and recieve messages, simplify the formatting of WAP push and MMS messages, etc. -bn | |||
| KE Unregistered guest |
Hi Bryce, At first thank you very much for your SMS introduction. My intention is that the receiver pays the SMS (it's an ordered service). If I understand it correctly the SMS service provider can set who will pay for the SMS. Thanks! Best regards, KE | |||
| Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support Board Administrator Username: Bryce Post Number: 2424 Registered: 10-2002 |
Hi KE, You're going to need to talk to a service provider that supports "premium rate SMS". Beware that you're probably going to need some additional logic to your application than simply a connection to a premium rate SMS provider. You can't just put up a web page that asks people to enter their phone number to receive premium rate content. Anyone could visit that page, and enter in anyone's phone number ... leading to charging disputes and problems for the service provider. Usually when people order something via premium rate SMS, they send an SMS message in to your system with a code for the content that they want, and you respond back with the content for this code, sending it over a premium rate SMS connection. So you generally need some sort of validation process like this. You might setup an account with a service provider where you can also receive messages through the service provider ... or you might setup a separate GSM modem through which you receive those messages, and publish the phone number of the modem for your requests. NowSMS can be useful middleware in this type of scenario, as it can parse received messages from either a service provider or a GSM modem ... then trigger an HTTP request to your application passing the content of the request and the sender information, so that you can respond back with the appropriate content. -bn | |||
| KE Unregistered guest |
Hi Bryce, Thanks a lot for your feedback. You talked about your NowSMS middleware. As I understand you sell middleware but you are not a SMS provider itselfs. Is that correct? How much is your middleware? Thanks you very much. Regards, KE | |||
| Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support Board Administrator Username: Bryce Post Number: 2441 Registered: 10-2002 |
KE, Drop a message to nowsms@now.co.uk, and we'll send you complete details. -bn | |||
