NEWBIE NEEDS HELP!!!!

NEWBIE NEEDS HELP!!!! SearchSearch
Author Message
Jonathan Herrera
Posted on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - 03:56 pm:   

Hi guys,

I have a couple of projects in mind that involve the contact with my clients through SMS,...the thing is that I know all I have to do on the web part of it...but have NO idea on how to start on the SMS part. I have a small Idea of how it works, but need a complete tutorial (or a mentor) that could guide me step by step on what I need to do.

HELP!
thanks,
Jon
Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support
Posted on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - 11:23 pm:   

Hi Jon,

If you're just trying to figure out how to get started ... the most difficult bit is understanding that SMS works differently from the internet. Unlike sending an e-mail, when an SMS message gets delivered to a mobile phone, someone is going to get charged for the delivery of that message.

In most parts of the world, with a normal SMS message, the sender is charged. So in order to send a message, you need to have some sort of relationship with a provider that allows you to be charged for the messages that you send.

(In the US, both sender and receiver are charged, and some providers do have e-mail to SMS gateways installed where only the receiver ends up being charged for messages sent through the e-mail gateway.)

So, to get started, you basically need to have an account with an SMS service provider ... either an operator directly (typically they only deal with high volume accounts), or an independent SMS service provider that acts as an aggregator.

You can also connect a GSM phone (or specialised GSM modem device that works on the GSM network) to a PC and send/receive SMS messages through that phone ... in that case with the service provider charging for the messages as if they were sent directly through the phone.

Does that help?

If I can help clarify anything else, please let me know.

-bn
Indy
Posted on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 12:13 pm:   

Hi Bryc

I am new to the world of SMS and have a similar question as Jon. I am looking to build a small application that will link my mobile phone to my PC which will allow me to send and recieve messages from it. Im not sure what protocols are used to link teh two together, can I make http requests to a phone, do I have to do it via a web service? Do I need any special kit to do this or will a standard data cable be sufficient?

My back ground is web development so I know very little about SMS protocols. I was looking to build it using VB .NET

Thanks in advance
Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support
Posted on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 07:30 pm:   

Indy,

The actual command interface between a mobile phone and PC is an AT command interface, similar to how a PC interfaces with a modem.

There are a variety of different ways to connect a phone to a PC ... either a serial cable or USB cable (USB cable usually requires that you install a driver for the cable that you are using which makes it appear like a serial port) ... or you can also use infrared or bluetooth with appropriate drivers supplied by the phone manufacturer.

Some phones (especially those from Nokia) have two different cable options. In that case, you need the cable that allows the phone to be used as a data modem (the other cable is for programming the phone).

Of course, you also need a phone that supports this extended AT command set for sending/receiving SMS (defined in ETSI GSM 07.05 and 07.07).

Among other interfaces for sending/receiving SMS, NowSMS can use GSM modems. It can expose an HTTP interface to your application which you use to interface with the gateway.

-bn
jk
Posted on Tuesday, July 01, 2003 - 09:05 pm:   

How can i find out if my GSM phone can be used with nowSMS? I have sony z5 and the software doesn't seem to work with it, do i need to configure the phone? I'm also looking for a new phone now and i'd like to get one that would support nowSMS, any recommendations?

jk
Posted on Tuesday, July 01, 2003 - 09:17 pm:   

Ignore me, just found the thread that relates to my question anyway.