Low-volume SMS provider (Click-A-Tell alternative)

cgarvey

Howdy,

I'm looking for an alternative to Click A Tell (reliability to Irish networks gone to pants lately). It's for a number of low-volume sites/uses. I need a low per-message cost, with no initial setup or ongoing monthly commitments, custom MO/caller ID support, and a HTTP API with callback/hook support. I'm less bothered about short codes and inbound SMS handling.

I'm gearing towards smsglobal.com, but was wondering if anyone else had any recommendations? I've no problem with bulk buying credits initially, but €10/mo subscription fees are out.

Cheers
.cg

The Corinthian

Who's charging €10/mo subscription fees?

As to some alternatives:

http://bulksms.vsms.net/ (sending to Irish networks has gotten a bit expensive, when last I checked)
http://www.smscarrier.com/
http://smspm.com/en
http://www.kapow.co.uk/
http://www.smsxchange.com/main/default.asp (when last I checked these guys allow on-the-fly custom ID's)

DublinDilbert

Sounds like esendex would work well for you. Just buy credits and work away. Lots of different interfaces available too...

Aswerty

I've been coming across http://www.twilio.com in tech news recently. It looks to fit what your looking for but I have no idea how it fairs to others with regards to pricing, quality, etc.

cgarvey

Thanks for those suggestion. It'll be a while before I get to evaluate them all. eSendex is too expensive (unless their 100% SLA proves to be key; that's a last resort for me).

SMSGlobal working for now. Working on Twilio next. Then I'll look at all the others. Thanks again for the pointers; much appreciated!

jgh_

If you need to send fewer than say 5 SMS messages per minute, you could probably look into a GSM or CDMA modem and a cheap texting plan?

The Corinthian

jgh_ wrote: »

If you need to send fewer than say 5 SMS messages per minute, you could probably look into a GSM or CDMA modem and a cheap texting plan?

Interesting idea, but to do so you would need a modem, which you can install in your hosting facility to begin with. This is already an issue because, you could be using a virtual host or 'the cloud', which would make this impossible. Even if you have a dedicated box, many hosting farms don't like peripheral devices dangling out of their tightly packed shelves. And then there's the software; it's out there, but either costs or is open source in the old fashioned sense of the word (i.e. a nightmare to set up and flaky to boot). Or you can go to the trouble of writing your own.

All of which is far too much hassle for a small set-up that is going to send a low volume of messages, presuming any savings on the texting plan, which I doubt; even the most generous plans have (fair usage) limits that you'll breach if you're sending five SMS per minute - that's 7,200 per day, after all!

The set up you're describing only potentially makes sense if you're looking for 2-way SMS functionality, whereby you can take in, read and process incoming SMS, before responding. In this regard hosted solutions are harder to come by as they will typically charge a fee for the service and/or not have any Irish numbers available, making an in-house solution more attractive.

In that case a GSM modem might be a worthwhile investment, as might simply using a (dedicated) smartphone with the right software.

cgarvey

jgh_ wrote: »

If you need to send fewer than say 5 SMS messages per minute, you could probably look into a GSM or CDMA modem and a cheap texting plan?

Too unreliable, and/or too expensive to make it reliable. The Corinthian has covered why. I did this a few years ago for a text-to-twitter service.

Twilio has been ruled out. You can't set the MO/sender ID to a number not provided by them (and then only provide 076 numbers in Ireland which they haven't enabled inbound SMS support for). They blame "anti-spam regulation" yet are the only ones I've seen enforce this.

Going through The Corinthian's list now.

The Corinthian

cgarvey wrote: »

Twilio has been ruled out. You can't set the MO/sender ID to a number not provided by them (and then only provide 076 numbers in Ireland which they haven't enabled inbound SMS support for). They blame "anti-spam regulation" yet are the only ones I've seen enforce this.

Depends on where they're based, as the laws (and enforcement thereof) regarding SMS spam vary wildly. SMSExchange, for example, are based in Singapore where I presume things are more lax in this area (whatever about eating on the street or chewing gum); last time I used them, you could use any sender ID you wanted without any verification or registration.

Twilio is US-based where they've always been pretty strict on SMS spam - largely because you pay to receive SMS's there.

Also, you never answered; who's charging €10/mo subscription fees?

cgarvey

The Corinthian wrote: »

Also, you never answered; who's charging €10/mo subscription fees?

Some German crowd (based on a 4-year old recommendation). Can't find it again now. There are a few who charge a monthly sub, but that's usually to cover an included inbound number.

The Corinthian

cgarvey wrote: »

Some German crowd (based on a 4-year old recommendation). Can't find it again now.

I think I know the crowd; did some consultancy for them a few years back.

There are a few who charge a monthly sub, but that's usually to cover an included inbound number.

Indeed, I'd have thought that subs for MT traffic would have vanished a long time ago, with incoming messages, it's still common.

i71jskz5xu42pb

Have you talked to Clickatell about it? I have a case open with them at the moment on delivery to Ireland. I know they have some Irish profiles - messages are a bit more expensive but delivery to ported numbers better.

cgarvey

Mathew Slow Manic wrote: »

Have you talked to Clickatell about it?

Just generic blaming "our providers" replies. No indication as to cause, duration, or remedial action being taken. Delivery is usually back within a day or two of me reporting (I assume others report it too). MO/Caller ID (verified) numbers still not working for me on o2 anyway.

wextipp

Mathew Slow Manic wrote: »

Have you talked to Clickatell about it? I have a case open with them at the moment on delivery to Ireland. I know they have some Irish profiles - messages are a bit more expensive but delivery to ported numbers better.

Did you get this sorted. I have a similar problem with sending to O2 this week. Finding it very hard to get it sorted with Clickatel. They tell me they have an Irish profile to work for ported numbers but I am still getting issues. Had similar issues a while back and it then sorted out. They are painful to deal with. I have used them for over 5 years without an issue and now this is happening.

i71jskz5xu42pb

wextipp wrote: »

Did you get this sorted. I have a similar problem with sending to O2 this week. Finding it very hard to get it sorted with Clickatel. They tell me they have an Irish profile to work for ported numbers but I am still getting issues. Had similar issues a while back and it then sorted out. They are painful to deal with. I have used them for over 5 years without an issue and now this is happening.

I assume you have enabled the Irish profile on the account?
With that profile enabled have you reported the issue i.e. with numbers, messages ids, etc.

I'm not aware of any issues here this week.

wextipp

Mathew Slow Manic wrote: »

I assume you have enabled the Irish profile on the account?

I was speaking with them and they tell me that the 'Irish Profile' is enabled. They enabled it. They said it can't be enabled from my side. Just wondering do you have an option to see the 'Irish Profile' or enable it.

cgarvey

I never noticed Routing Profiles before. Nor was I told to enable/disable any of them in any of my support requests. However, all are enabled (as in "0.1 credit destinations" through to "F - 3 credit destinations"), without my intervention. I did notice that o2 texts suddenly cost a whole heap more than other Irish networks. That jump happened just before the big outage (over a week) and the rumoured o2 termination agreement fallout. So now it costs 1.5 credits to o2, and 0.1 credits to every other Irish network! Also Caller/Sender ID has been hit'n'miss since then (to o2, I mean), but right now it seems to be working fine.

None of this (the massive price increase, the changes in Caller ID support, the Routing Profiles, etc.) was every conveyed to me. Responses always took over 24 hours, as well. For that reason I haven't gone back to them since I started this thread.

I've been with SMS Global since then, and have had a 100% delivery record on o2, Voda & Three. My volume is extremely light (and mainly Irish with some CA & US), so it's not a good indicator. However, I've been happy with them and have had no more "where's my text?" queries since.

wextipp

cgarvey wrote: »

I never noticed Routing Profiles before. Nor was I told to enable/disable any of them in any of my support requests. However, all are enabled (as in "0.1 credit destinations" through to "F - 3 credit destinations"), without my intervention .....................

None of this (the massive price increase, the changes in Caller ID support, the Routing Profiles, etc.) was every conveyed to me. Responses always took over 24 hours, as well. For that reason I haven't gone back to them since I started this thread.

It is the lack of information that is annoying me. At least now I know it is not my software that is the issue. The first time I had the issues they were pointing the blame back at me and my implementation of the API. Also the last time I was getting a status back through the API saying the messages were received even though the message didn't appear on the users mobile. This time at least it is not a black home and the API eventually tells me the message has failed.