My Own SMSC

Beta2

Hi

I currently use clickatell for sending bulk SMS, I've been thinking of setting up my own smsc as it might be more cost effective and give me more control.

I was just wondering has anyone here done this before, I'm trying to gather some information together to see if its worth ths hassle or not.

My understanding is that I need a gsm modem? So does this mean I need to rely on an Irish network to carry my gsm connection? How is sending a SMS through this costed, is it per sms or per kb of data? How do I get a ohone number associated with the smsc.

As I said I don't really know alot about this, so I'm looking for any helpful information available.


Cheers

B2

sean_or99

Simply you are not going to be able to set up your own SMSC. You can set up fake smsc’s but that’s going too far off the point.

If what you want is to send out bulk messages then you can buy a gsm modem, put a SIM in it and interface that with some software to send out messages. Siemens provide the best hardware to do this. If you get a voda sim you are simply going to be charged at their rates. Some people would buy a sim for each operator, then channel messages out according to operator, as it’s allot more cost effective to do it that way. That is a cheap but unreliable method.

Your next option is to go to a company that provides interfaces (http or smpp etc...) that will allow you to send MTs. There are a few companies around that do this. Zamano is probably the best. They will give you a keyword on a shared short code they have for MOs as well. That is a good option.

The most professional option is to actually get binds directly to each of the operators. It’s also the most expensive option. You will need to install an application like Kannel to you communicate via smpp to negotiate all those lovely pdus and submit_sms and so on and on. It’s also difficult to set up and manage.

Beta2

Thanks

Your post is really helpful, I'm currently using clickatell, they are the cheapest I've found. I was just wondering would my own SMSC be vheaper for MO's, but the hassle is not worth it. Clickatell do MO's but I'm not sure how reliable they are.

B2

Scruff

Sean_or99 has pretty much covers your options.
what kind of volumes of sms are ye talking about? a gsm modem is extremely slow and only practical for low rates of sending\receiving. Also can be very unreliable.

bringitdown

Really stick to what sean_or99 has said, if you have enough volume then maybe go to an operator to open an A/C as a VAS provider otherwise stick to Zamano, Click-A-Tell etc.

To run an 'real' SMSC you'd need some fancy stuff like access to operator HLR's to query subscriber location etc. etc.

The Corinthian

Beta2 wrote:

My understanding is that I need a gsm modem? So does this mean I need to rely on an Irish network to carry my gsm connection?

The only benefit to an SME of this, from what I can see, is that it would allow you to offer full 2-SMS services with an Irish MSISDN and not to be limited to keywords with third parties.

The downside is that you would realistically need a dedicated server (and a host that would allow you to attach a modem - I’ve had issues in the past) and the software to interact with the SIM. Of the latter a few that can be used, not previously mentioned are:

Message Master
Now SMS
Janus
commzGATE

With regard to cheaper SMS rates, using an SMPP client (the first two of the above list can also do this, AFAIR) to connect to an operator or service provider (typically South African or Eastern European) that will sell them to you for less than 2 cent per SMS. Of course the price for the low unit cost is that you will typically be asked to by a minimum of 100,000 in advance.

HTH

Beta2

Thanks for the very comprehensive answers.

I've decided to drop the whole idea of using my own smsc or shortcode, i'll prob go with a third party.

In the mean time I think I might get a simcard and a datacable to receive messages onto my pc. I'm using a J2EE system, so i'll probably have a client application on the pc that reads a text message and deletes it then passes it onto the server.

Does anyone know of any opensource tools / api's for connectiong into a nokia and doing this??

Cheers

B2

The Corinthian

Beta2 wrote:

Does anyone know of any opensource tools / api's for connectiong into a nokia and doing this??

I did this a few years ago with a 7110 - Nokia have an API that you can (could) freely get off their developers' site - www.forum.nokia.com

Sneaky_Russian

Also,

The phone responds to a set of AT commands similar to that used by a dialup modem. look at the forum.nokia.com and you will find a list (somewhere )
There are AT command for retrieving SMS from a mobile.

The Corinthian wrote:

I did this a few years ago with a 7110 - Nokia have an API that you can (could) freely get off their developers' site - www.forum.nokia.com