WAP Push - US

WAP Push - US SearchSearch
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Emmanuel
Unregistered guest
Posted on Saturday, February 07, 2004 - 10:38 pm:   

Hello,

It is my understanding that it not really possible to do some WAP Push in the US using Now.SMS, because of interoperability issues between operators, right? I should only be able to send a WAP Push message to someone with an account with the provider of my GSM modem, right?
What we are trying to do, is to send a WAP Push message, with a URL in response to an SMS from a client. Is there a way to know who is the provider from the SMS? Maybe we could then have an account with each provider, maybe on different computers with different modems, and use the same account. Is it possible?

Thank you
emmanuel
Unregistered guest
Posted on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 10:45 pm:   

Has anybody been able to send Wap-Push messages in the US? Either using nowSMS, or a solution like clickatell?

Thank you
Emmanuel
Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support
Board Administrator
Username: Bryce

Post Number: 1813
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 08:38 pm:   


quote:

It is my understanding that it not really possible to do some WAP Push in the US using Now.SMS, because of interoperability issues between operators, right? I should only be able to send a WAP Push message to someone with an account with the provider of my GSM modem, right?




Hi,

I would not say that is a correct interpretation.

The correct interpretation is that it is not possible to send WAP push messages across carriers using GSM modems as your SMS connection in the US.

SMS interoperability in the US seems to be limited to only text messages. Binary messages, including WAP push messages, get lost or corrupted when sent over a GSM modem. (This does not seem to be an issue outside of the US, where binary messages can be sent cross carrier via GSM modems.)

This is not really a NowSMS issue ... I wish it was, because then we could fix it. Instead, it is a limitation of using GSM modems for connectivity in the US at present.

The only solution is to go through a provider that can deliver binary SMS messages to US carriers.

I've had customers who purchased SMPP connections to both Mobileway and TSIConnections (put a www. in front, and a .com after to get to their web sites), that were able to successfully send these types of binary SMS messages through NowSMS to US customers. Unfortunately, when I have suggested these alternatives to others, I have been told that the companies were less than responsive to inquiries.


quote:

Has anybody been able to send Wap-Push messages in the US? Either using nowSMS, or a solution like clickatell?




Again, I want to point out that you're not comparing apples to apples here. We have quite a few customers that use NowSMS with Clickatell as their SMS service provider.

NowSMS is not an SMS service provider, and it is not a replacement for an SMS service provider.

(You might think of using NowSMS with a GSM modem as not using an SMS service provider, but in that case, your service with the mobile operator is your SMS service, and you pay for it on your subscription with the mobile operator.)

You can configure NowSMS to connect to Clickatell as either an SMPP or HTTP SMSC. (NowSMS does the message formatting, Clickatell does the delivery.)

However, Clickatell does not support binary SMS delivery into the USA. They only support text SMS delivery. Some users have commented that they have had some success with binary SMS delivery from Clickatell to some recipients in the USA. But Colin from Clickatell support commented here that they do not support binary SMS delivery into the USA: http://support.nowsms.com/discus/messages/1/1500.html

I hope this helps clear up the issues a bit. It is a complex situation in the USA.

The primary issue is that a WAP push message is sent as a binary SMS message, and it requires that you send through a service that can support binary SMS message delivery to your intended recipients.

It is further complicated by the fact that only T-Mobile, Cingular and AT&T Wireless are GSM in the USA. I am not aware of any push solutions for the others (Verizon, Sprint, Nextel), although I have hard that Sprint and Nextel offer services to send push messages to their subscribers only special services offered through their developer programs. (And I've heard they are somewhat difficult to get approval and find information about the specific services.)

-bn

Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support
Board Administrator
Username: Bryce

Post Number: 1814
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 08:43 pm:   


quote:

What we are trying to do, is to send a WAP Push message, with a URL in response to an SMS from a client. Is there a way to know who is the provider from the SMS? Maybe we could then have an account with each provider, maybe on different computers with different modems, and use the same account. Is it possible?




Doh!

I got a little long winded on my previous reply ... then I re-read your message, and certainly what you describe is an option.

It is even simpler than you describe.

Only one PC required, with one modem for each provider (multiple modems connected to the same PC).

Users of the different carriers send an SMS in to different, carrier-specific phone numbers.

In NowSMS, if you generate a reply through the 2-way facility, the response can be directed back out the modem from which the message was received.

This reply back through the same modem that the message was received is done automatically for text replies. For binary replies, if you're using the technique described in http://www.nowsms.com/support/bulletins/tb-nowsms-003.htm, then you need to pass a @@Recip@@ parameter (this contains the phone number to which the message was sent) to your script, and the redirect response back from your script must include that value in the "Sender=" parameter. This tells NowSMS that the return message being sent must be sent via the specific phone number on which the message was received.

-bn
Emmanuel
Unregistered guest
Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 12:09 am:   

Thank you Brice for this very complete answer and for providing such amazing technical support.
The computer with 4 modems is a solution but it would involve giving 4 different phone numbers to customers and we can't do that. We would like to give them only one. But then I guess, we will not be able to know what their provider is and send teh reply through the right modem.
If I understand you correctly, the other solution would be to connect to mobileway or another provider (not Clickatell). Do you have any information on the set-up to connect NowSMS to these providers? Is it possible to send J2ME applications through these providers by using the NowSMS multimedia message feature?

Emmanuel
Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support
Board Administrator
Username: Bryce

Post Number: 1871
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 03:07 pm:   

Emmanuel,

The other providers that I mention use SMPP as their interface. So if you get an account setup, they'll tell you a host name (or IP address), a port number, and assign you an account name and password.

In NowSMS, they get defined as an SMPP SMSC.

For the customer that was using TSI Connections, they had to use a special configuration parameter in NowSMS. They had to edit SMSGW.INI, and under the [SMSGW] section header, add BinaryDCS=4. Until that was added, they could not get binary messages routed through to AT&T Wireless for some reason.

If you're going to support inbound messages, you might want to mix a GSM modem with the SMSC connection, and use the GSM modem for inbound. (It depends on your anticipated message volume, but often setting up a receive feed with a provider is considerably more expensive than a send only. Also, you then control the phone number that you are receiving on, so that you have flexibility to change providers if you need to in the future.)

-bn