Hi everyone, Sorry if this is a little off-topic, but I thought I would tap the enormous collective wealth of knowledge here. I come from the fixed-line world, so I don't know terribly much about SMS or mobile anything. I have a situation where I need an endpoint to receive a fairly large amount of SMS messages in something close to real-time and then be able to automatically do something with them as part of a backoffice process, and need to set up something rather quickly. For example, an SMS message comes into some sort of device or service, and this triggers a RESTful HTTP call (or SOAP, or whatever) to some agent that does something with that data. Speed is of the essence; this rules out most SMS-to-email gateways because it usually takes at least several minutes to receive the e-mail. In this case, that won't work; the delay is just too long. Likewise, vertically integrated SMS gateway services that provide some sort of interactive online "chat" window with an interface into an SMS conversation won't do. This needs to be development-friendly; I need to be able to write some code to do something with the contents of that message post haste. The other thing is, vendors providing those products and services in this category charge a fair bit per text message, which isn't going to fly in this case because there may be a dozen text messages per minute or more, occasionally. Something flat-rate would be desirable, even if it's expensive (say, a few hundred dollars a month). Lastly, I don't know if it's possible to get any kind of access circuit in North America over which SMS messages can be received, but even if it were, that's not really an option in this case due to time constraints. Likewise, setting up a GSM or CDMA receiver device registered on a cell network - legitimately or otherwise - is out too, for similar reasons. What it really comes down to is that I need a fast SMS data relay service that handle a relatively high-volume at relatively little expense, and one which can provide that data via some sort of HTTP or XML-RPC or SOAP type API callback so that the data can be plumbed to an agent on my side for further processing. I have no idea if something like this exists, or if that's tantamount to a request for magic. That's why I'm inquiring. Thanks! -- Alex Balashov Evariste Systems Web : http://www.evaristesys.com/ Tel : (+1) (678) 954-0670 Direct : (+1) (678) 954-0671 Mobile : (+1) (678) 237-1775
Alex - Clickatell will do this for you, as has been described in other replies to this thread. However, last time I used them you were required to get a short code, which was an expensive and paperwork- laden process. Previously, it was possible to get an E.164 number that was SMS enabled from them, but only in Europe. Rumors from last week have them handing out E.164 numbers in North America with that capability. I've yet to investigate (and after a bit of clicking around I find it appears I'm still right, and they have no North American capability. I'm pleased to be proven wrong if anyone has contradictory information.) You can send messages on their "testing" shortcode in North America, but they didn't guarantee delivery and your messages came from the same shortcode as a zillion other trash messages, and replies by endpoints to your message were impossible. Ugly, ugly solution without coughing up money for a shortcode, and the politics behind shortcodes makes it almost certainly a non-starter for you. Level3 in conjunction with Syniverse were allowing SIP delivery of E.164 numbers that included bi-directional SMS capability, but the use of those numbers as "gateway" numbers with high volumes of traffic is/ was an unknown. There were reasonably high minimums for this contract modification unless you had a previous L3 DID contract. Delivery via Bluetooth or USB serial is an option for very low volumes, but is a hack for anything but the smallest implementations. "Does Not Scale". Plus, you're then vulnerable to the various outages/ billing issues/contractual spite that carriers apply to their retail customers. If you're really hot for this method, then I'd suggest some devices that talk IP on on side instead of device driver nonsense - take a look at the PorTech MV-370 single-port SMS<->SIP gateway devices, though you'd have to write your own little protocol shim for them since I don't think it's "native" SIP or SMPP if I recall from the last time I looked at the documentation. Search eBay for the PorTech devices, or just type in "SIM GSM" into the search string - lots show up. I'm interested in hearing if anyone has been able to get a decent service provider up and running who supports selling a DID that originates SIP VoIP _and_ will handle bi-directional SMS via some other protocol to the same E.164 address, with minimum quantity 1 for service provisioning preferably with credit card or PayPal. I'm looking for North America, but other locations would be interesting, too. Having the ability to port a number (mobile of fixed-line) to the service would cause me to swoon with joy. This has been discussed before: http://lists.digium.com/pipermail/asterisk-biz/2009-February/029579.html http://lists.digium.com/pipermail/asterisk-users/2008-October/220726.html JT On Aug 7, 2009, at 9:03 PM, Alex Balashov wrote:
Hi everyone,
Sorry if this is a little off-topic, but I thought I would tap the enormous collective wealth of knowledge here.
I come from the fixed-line world, so I don't know terribly much about SMS or mobile anything.
I have a situation where I need an endpoint to receive a fairly large amount of SMS messages in something close to real-time and then be able to automatically do something with them as part of a backoffice process, and need to set up something rather quickly.
For example, an SMS message comes into some sort of device or service, and this triggers a RESTful HTTP call (or SOAP, or whatever) to some agent that does something with that data.
Speed is of the essence; this rules out most SMS-to-email gateways because it usually takes at least several minutes to receive the e- mail. In this case, that won't work; the delay is just too long.
Likewise, vertically integrated SMS gateway services that provide some sort of interactive online "chat" window with an interface into an SMS conversation won't do. This needs to be development-friendly; I need to be able to write some code to do something with the contents of that message post haste. The other thing is, vendors providing those products and services in this category charge a fair bit per text message, which isn't going to fly in this case because there may be a dozen text messages per minute or more, occasionally. Something flat-rate would be desirable, even if it's expensive (say, a few hundred dollars a month).
Lastly, I don't know if it's possible to get any kind of access circuit in North America over which SMS messages can be received, but even if it were, that's not really an option in this case due to time constraints. Likewise, setting up a GSM or CDMA receiver device registered on a cell network - legitimately or otherwise - is out too, for similar reasons.
What it really comes down to is that I need a fast SMS data relay service that handle a relatively high-volume at relatively little expense, and one which can provide that data via some sort of HTTP or XML-RPC or SOAP type API callback so that the data can be plumbed to an agent on my side for further processing.
I have no idea if something like this exists, or if that's tantamount to a request for magic. That's why I'm inquiring.
Thanks!
-- Alex Balashov Evariste Systems Web : http://www.evaristesys.com/ Tel : (+1) (678) 954-0670 Direct : (+1) (678) 954-0671 Mobile : (+1) (678) 237-177
Hi John, Thanks for your reply. I think I've pretty much ruled out using SMS to accomplish what I was looking to accomplish simply because there's no way the costs would scale appropriately to the task. I was wanting to get a high-volume stream of updates from a mobile device (non-phone) that moves and does not always operate in areas of the US where anything but basic digital coverage is available - and certainly not 3G. But if - even granted a large up-front investment in a shortcode - there is an operating cost of at least several hundred dollars a day, there's just no way that's going to work. Personally, I think SMS is just a pointless waste of money and time. It's far too much of a profit center to try to do anything serious with it. It's designed to maximise billing to parents of teenagers, not to be used as a transport layer for any sort of serious application. If one wants to backhaul real-time and/or high-frequency data from devices in the field, unlimited data is more or less the way to do it. The stakeholders I was talking to were just interested in a "hack" because they faced the unique problem of not being able to count on any sort of EDGE or 3G coverage. Thanks, -- Alex Balashov Evariste Systems Web : http://www.evaristesys.com/ Tel : (+1) (678) 954-0670 Direct : (+1) (678) 954-0671 Mobile : (+1) (678) 237-1775
I'd agree with you on all counts. Store-and-forward technology like SMS is wedged firmly in the jaws of the incumbents, as they control the signaling path, device parameters, and application gateways. Dead end. IP is a far better method for real-time, though SMS does have a higher reliability for more "sketchy" geography or coverage areas, by nature of its store-and-forward abilities. One must consider the usefulness of a large belch of store-and-forward messages upon coverage restoration, so even this becomes less useful as your edge cases get more grey. JT On Aug 9, 2009, at 8:44 PM, Alex Balashov wrote:
Hi John,
Thanks for your reply.
I think I've pretty much ruled out using SMS to accomplish what I was looking to accomplish simply because there's no way the costs would scale appropriately to the task.
I was wanting to get a high-volume stream of updates from a mobile device (non-phone) that moves and does not always operate in areas of the US where anything but basic digital coverage is available - and certainly not 3G.
But if - even granted a large up-front investment in a shortcode - there is an operating cost of at least several hundred dollars a day, there's just no way that's going to work.
Personally, I think SMS is just a pointless waste of money and time. It's far too much of a profit center to try to do anything serious with it. It's designed to maximise billing to parents of teenagers, not to be used as a transport layer for any sort of serious application. If one wants to backhaul real-time and/or high- frequency data from devices in the field, unlimited data is more or less the way to do it. The stakeholders I was talking to were just interested in a "hack" because they faced the unique problem of not being able to count on any sort of EDGE or 3G coverage.
Thanks,
-- Alex Balashov Evariste Systems Web : http://www.evaristesys.com/ Tel : (+1) (678) 954-0670 Direct : (+1) (678) 954-0671 Mobile : (+1) (678) 237-1775
John Todd wrote:
IP is a far better method for real-time, though SMS does have a higher reliability for more "sketchy" geography or coverage areas, by nature of its store-and-forward abilities. One must consider the usefulness of a large belch of store-and-forward messages upon coverage restoration, so even this becomes less useful as your edge cases get more grey.
I think it seems like a safe bet that network build-out for data service will get more dense and penetrate into more areas as time goes on, which will make SMS even less useful and relevant. I think the incumbents know this, just like they know this about the rest of the cornucopia of "legacy" technologies they actively sell and market. It's just that unlike upstart competitive carriers and ITSPs betting on "disruptive" technologies, they have both CAPEX and revenue streams in things like SMS to protect. Squeezing every bit of ROI from something that's a sunk cost up until the very point of diminishing returns is just good business. A colleague of mine observed the misguided irony of CLECs and ITSPs that bash the RBOCs for continuing to push T1s, frame relay, and stuff like that. It's not that these guys are inept and "didn't get the memo" on advanced VoIP. It's just no aspect of their business model or M.O. to experiment in emerging markets where the uptake curve is still incipient to some degree, except in rather limited ways. They wait for dozens of companies like all of ours to fight it out, figure out which business model actually works, wait for the technology and economics to get more mature, subscriber density and penetration to increase, and then acquire or duplicate what's left standing on a very large scale, much as they did with dialup Internet access. That was supposed to be the "death of the telco," right? And what are your Internet access options now? Next-generation voice application providers and operators mostly have $0/mo coming from a century's worth of copper buildout and other plant investment, so of course they're going to be looking forward and selling whatever they think the next big thing. But the RBOCs/ILECs are in a very different position; they've got revenue streams to protect. -- Alex -- Alex Balashov Evariste Systems Web : http://www.evaristesys.com/ Tel : (+1) (678) 954-0670 Direct : (+1) (678) 954-0671 Mobile : (+1) (678) 237-1775
On 10 Aug 2009, at 01:33, John Todd wrote:
I'm interested in hearing if anyone has been able to get a decent service provider up and running who supports selling a DID that originates SIP VoIP _and_ will handle bi-directional SMS via some other protocol to the same E.164 address, with minimum quantity 1 for service provisioning preferably with credit card or PayPal. I'm looking for North America, but other locations would be interesting, too. Having the ability to port a number (mobile of fixed-line) to the service would cause me to swoon with joy.
You can buy UK numbering with in/outbound SIP and SMS support from AQL - www.aql.com. Thanks Andy
Another option to look at is http://www.msgme.com/. Their primary product is a "managed SMS campaign" solution where they provide a portal and do most of the work for you, but I know one of the original architects and they can be fairly flexible and they do have an API. One nice thing is they have the whole process of getting short codes nailed down, so if you really need a custom one they can help you (still costs $$$), however they also give you the option to use shared short codes where messages are routed based on a keyword in the message body. -Scott -----Original Message----- From: voiceops-bounces at voiceops.org [mailto:voiceops-bounces at voiceops.org] On Behalf Of Andy Davidson Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 2:49 AM To: John Todd Cc: voiceops at voiceops.org Subject: Re: [VoiceOps] SMS gateway API. On 10 Aug 2009, at 01:33, John Todd wrote:
I'm interested in hearing if anyone has been able to get a decent service provider up and running who supports selling a DID that originates SIP VoIP _and_ will handle bi-directional SMS via some other protocol to the same E.164 address, with minimum quantity 1 for service provisioning preferably with credit card or PayPal. I'm looking for North America, but other locations would be interesting, too. Having the ability to port a number (mobile of fixed-line) to the service would cause me to swoon with joy.
You can buy UK numbering with in/outbound SIP and SMS support from AQL - www.aql.com. Thanks Andy _______________________________________________ VoiceOps mailing list VoiceOps at voiceops.org https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/voiceops
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abalashov＠evaristesys.com -
andy＠nosignal.org -
jtodd＠loligo.com -
scott＠sberkman.net