SMS for Property Management / Estate Agents?

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Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support
Board Administrator
Username: Bryce

Post Number: 7887
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Tuesday, February 09, 2010 - 07:33 pm:   

An interesting query received via e-mail...


quote:

We're interested in a SMS Back system, or SMS auto responder, essentially so a potential tenant could text a code to a number, and we respond with product details. Is this something that is possible with NowSMS?




This type of application can be facilitated by the "2-way" command feature in NowSMS.

The typical logic flow for this type of application works like this:

1.) A text message is received.

2.) The text and details of the message are passed to an HTTP URL that you configure ... with the idea being that this URL is a PHP script, ASP script, or another web scripting language.

3.) Based upon the text sent to the script (and possibly based upon other logic specific to your application), your script returns a text response that is to be sent back to the original sender. Your script might query a database to obtain this information, and it may also record details of this query in a database.

Instead of a script running on a separate web server, a 2-way command can also be a command line program.

In your case, you already have a property database, with a property number or keyword associated with available properties. So it would make sense for your script to obtain its information from that same database.

This type of thing is actually a very good application for NowSMS.

I can envision scenarios where you might send back an initial response, and give the user some choices. For example, I could see ending the response with "MORE?" or choices "Reply MORE, PRICE, or SIMILAR properties". This "MORE"/"additional options" part gets a little tricky when implementing a script solution, because SMS has no concept of thread tracking or conversation ID. Your script would have to include logic to recall that it received an earlier inquiry from that phone number, and use that saved knowledge to know how to reply with follow-up details. So if you received a message from 1234 that said MORE, you would check your application log to see what the last information was that was supplied to 1234, so that you could respond with the appropriate information.

More particulars ...

Your best route for doing this is with a GSM modem. Buy a GSM phone and plan (pre-pay or contract) with a generous messaging allowance. Take the SIM card out of the phone and put it into a modem. You can buy a modem directly from a carrier with a SIM card, but they assume you are going to use it for internet access ... so they are going to force you into a data plan instead of a messaging centric plan. An unlocked modem with a phone SIM just seems to work better for most people.

Here is a link for information on some GSM modems that we have recently evaluated: http://blog.nowsms.com/search/label/GSM%20modem

(Modem availability varies greatly from country to country.)

NowSMS Lite is good for this type of setup. The full-blown NowSMS is not necessary for simple implementations. The full NowSMS would only be needed if you needed multiple modems to keep up with volume, or if you were sending a lot of bulk broadcast messages and needed to work with an SMS service provider instead of a modem.

Additional 2-way SMS related links information can be found at http://www.nowsms.com/support/api.htm.
Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support
Board Administrator
Username: Bryce

Post Number: 7888
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Tuesday, February 09, 2010 - 07:52 pm:   

I've been thinking about this application some more, and I would think that picture messaging (MMS) would also be useful for property management / estate agent applications.

Obviously, if someone is standing right outside of a property, they might not need pictures of it sent to their phone.

However, if they are looking at a listing remotely, it could be very useful.

Or, even with the scenario of someone standing outside the property and sending in a text, having them request images be sent to their phone is a good way for them to recall the property later and/or show some information about it to an associate.

So in addition to responding back with an SMS, I'd emphasize that it is also possible to respond back with an MMS that contains pictures. Generating an MMS response to an SMS inquiry is more complicated than a simple text response, but it is not that difficult. Instead of responding back to the NowSMS server with a text response, the customer script or program initiates a new request to send an MMS message to the original sender.

The following link has an overview of the different ways that you can submit an MMS message for sending (including separate links for Java, PHP and command line examples):

http://blog.nowsms.com/2009/02/sending-mms-messages-with-nowsms.html