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NowSMS Support Forums ⬆ NowSMS Support - MMS & Advanced Issues ⬆ Archive through July 28, 2006 ⬆ |
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| Author | Message | |||
| gavin morris New member Username: Gavspav Post Number: 1 Registered: 02-2006 |
I am quite confused about whether now.sms can do what I want or if I must invest in modems, service providers or anything else. Here's what I want to do: I run a travelling interactive show, Boredbrand's Digital Funfair and I am keen to have an interactive photo gallery. Visitors to the show can send photos from their phone to a pc which will encorporate them into a slideshow. Currently I can do this via bluetooth, a usb adapter and a bit of php/flash. The advantage of this is that it is free, the disadvantage is the nightmare of pairing and passkey codes. I can also achieve this via email. The disadvantage of this is it is expensive for the user and requires an internet connection for both user and host pc. So with now.sms it is possible to receive mms messages. But here is where I start to get confused. I can receive them via http but then users must change their mmsc server settings or some setting on their phone? Is that correct? If so it is not really acceptable for this project. As an alternative can I receive mms messages locally - do I need a modem for this? Would users still need to alter phone settings. Does now.sms support bluetooth? Any advice would be greastly appreciated! Thanks, Gavin | |||
| Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support Board Administrator Username: Bryce Post Number: 5575 Registered: 10-2002 |
Hi Gavin, It is confusing because there are many different ways that you can use NowSMS. I was recently responsible for a rewrite of the documentation with the new release, and that process reminded me just how many different configuration permutations are possible. (And to think that since this documentation was completed, I've thought of a number of other issues that should also have been covered but that are not.) The bad part of it all is that it can be very confusing. The good part of it is that if it is technically possible, then there's generally a way to make it happen with NowSMS. In the type of configuration that you describe, you would want to run NowSMS as an MMS gateway rather than as an MMSC, as it is definitely not practical to change phone configuration settings. Basically, you could hook up a GSM/GPRS modem to the PC ... a SIM card goes into the modem ... and users send an MMS message to that phone number. NowSMS receives the MMS messages. The only caveat (or at least the primary one) is that you can't use a phone as the modem for receiving MMS messages. It needs to be a dedicated GSM/GPRS modem device. A phone as a modem is generally ok for sending and receiving SMS (although some models have receive SMS issues) and for sending MMS. But the MMS client software in the phone generally gets in the way from being able to use a phone as a modem for receiving MMS. If you could use a phone, bluetooth would be ok. But the dedicated modem devices generally use either GSM or GPRS. A secondary issue would be that whatever SIM card you use in the modem ... that operator needs to have MMS interoperability with whoever is going to be sending you the MMS. This is generally not a problem within country right now, but if you're doing international events it could be an issue. -bn | |||
| gavin morris New member Username: Gavspav Post Number: 2 Registered: 02-2006 |
Thanks Bryce, So to clarify, the mms sent by the user uses the standard phone network exactly as if they were sending a mms to a normal phone. The charge to them is the same. Is there anyway of generating revenue from this method (eg through sms billing)? I have been looking at various options here in UK (premium rate mms) but they all seem to involve large costs for the user, most of which are passed on to the phone companies. Thanks, Gav | |||
| Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support Board Administrator Username: Bryce Post Number: 5600 Registered: 10-2002 |
Hi Gav, That is correct. When you send via GSM/GPRS modem, you are charged the same as if you were sending from a phone. There is no way to do premium rate when you use a GSM/GPRS modem. That has to go through an MMS service provider that has a relationship with the operators for routing premium rate messages. And you are correct, it is very expensive. Sometimes WAP Push with premium rate SMS can be a good alternative. (Premium rate SMS also is expensive for many uses, but it is more reasonable.) -bn | |||
