Web based SMS

[Bakedgoods]

Guys,

Can anyone explain to me how web based SMS works?

How is the message pushed from the website to the mobile?

Does it work in the same way a Blackberry server would push mail out to a device? Do you connect a phone/device to the PC transmitting in some way?

 

[philjohn]

depends what type of system you go for.

Easiest is one of the web-service based sms gateways (BulkSMS or TM4B), they give you an API that you can call to send messages.

http://www.bulksms.com/
http://www.tm4b.com/

 

[~J~]

We use http://www.24x.com/, been with them about 6 years and never had a days bother.

As above, the API for us is dead easy to use, as an example it's just a case of

Set xmlhttp = CreateObject("MSXML2.ServerXMLHTTP")
 xmlhttp.Open "POST","[URL="http://www.24x.com/sendsms/sendsms.aspx",False"][url removed]",False[/URL]
 xmlhttp.setRequestHeader "Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"
 
 xmlhttp.send "user=[removed]&password=[removed]&smsto=" & mobNumber & "&smsfrom=" & URLEncode(sender) & "&smsmsg=" & URLEncode(SMSmsg)
 Set xmlhttp = Nothing

Also useful in that we can send messages with the "From" field being a name rather than a number for a more personalised yet private approach.

 

[paulhuk2]

We use BulkSMS where I work - they provide a very comprehensive developer API that allows you to generate message reports as well as do the standard stuff like send SMS messages.

Info here: http://www.bulksms.co.uk/docs/eapi/

Never had any problems with them.

 

[malef!c]

I use Clickatell - there are various ways of sending the text, I use HTTPS.
You send a HTTPS request to their API and it deciphers where its from, where its going, the subject and the body.

Easy to use and haven't had a problem with it in the last 9 or 10 months of use.