An interconnect fee is simply a charge that one network applies to another network for passing calls and SMS onto their subscribers (customers).
Whilst you might not think of it, and if you do you may assume that all networks are connected to every other network around the world, that's not quite true. in fact an example I've been using for years is Telecom NZ - where they typically have only had interconnection agreements with about 6 other networks around the world.
So what happens, generally speaking, is that network A has an agreement with network B, and these can differ from network to network, so whilst on one hand you might have two networks that agree to pass all SMS and calls to one another, you might have another network saying that the calls and SMS they pass must have numerical originators and not be generated from an application (phone only).
An example of this is in the US, in fact it's against US law to send SMS from an application to a US handset - it's pretty much due to the telco plans over there where users are charged for receiving SMS and not for sending, so in an application to handset model, typically generated by a business, that would be considered premium messaging, because the user is charged to receive the messages - which is why if you've ever signed up for an SMS service to use on your PC and tried to send to a US mobile, it's probably failed unless you've stamped the message with a numerical originator.
Is it a pain? For the sender, yes, for the person receiving the messages? Probably not, no - in fact it's designed to protect recipients from being bombarded with spam, so in all it's probably a good thing.
In the case of the US, then there are ways around it, like using vanity numbers at a zero tariff so the company pays to send, which is fair enough, though the cost of the vanity numbers can be cost prohibitive for the number itself.
Are you better to look for a service that uses grey or smart routing? Depending on where you're sending to, then it might be a good idea, the problem is that if you are trying to get through to major western or developed countries, then probably not, because there's a good chance that not all your messages will get through - and then that's a decision you need to take as to what percentage of messages you are happy to have be delivered successfully versus what percentage get failed.
Shortly I plan to write another blog on what is smart routing and what does it mean to those using services that use this method.
Enjoy,
C
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Send SMS via computer using GSM modems
I've recently seen a number of providers selling GSM modems with a SIM card for SMS messages.
Whilst I can see the benefits, chiefly the cost per SMS is a few cents, there are a couple of inherent issues here though too.
The first, and probably the biggest, is coverage - if you're in a building with big thick concrete walls, and levels above and below you, it might be a struggle to get a signal, or if you're in a remote local, shopping center, etc... there's a good chance that you're not going to be able to reliably use the service.
If that's OK, then cool bananas, but you'd still need to look at not just the volume of messages you send during a month, but the volume of messages you're sending out in one go - because the speed comparatively is quite slow.
The cost. The cost is great, but really you could do better, these places sell you packages and then the modems on top of that - if you weren't worried about getting a signal and you didn't have an issue on how long it would take to send your messages out then really you could do better anyway by buying your own GSM modem, walk down to your local phone shop and buy a SIM card and go for it - you'll probably find that you'll do better that way.
Personally I'm not keen on this method myself - you might think I'm bias, and I am, with good reason. What's not said about these types of messaging arrangements is that there's no accountability. Say you sent out a bunch of messages to clients about up coming work you're doing for them, how do you know if they get the message? If they don't get the message then who do you call? if it's the place where you got the system from, then who do they call?
I would lay a confident bet that in fact in most cases you'd be turned away and told to contact the network - can I dare you to call your mobile phone provider stating what you've done and that people weren't getting messages and see what the result of that conversation was, and have it be a great one, unlikely.
The difference with that and using an online version through a tier 1 aggregator is that the aggregator has a technical relationship between themselves and the network, so if there's an issue, they call the networks technical support - a number you're not going to find yourself, even with the super powers of Google!
Then there's the ability to work anywhere - so you're a small business owner, ever work from home? Of course you do, it's part of the life style of being a "small business owner", in part that's why you're doing what you're doing.
So if you're working from home and want to send some messages out, unless you bought the device with you you can't, as opposed to an online service where you can be anywhere in the world and send messages.
The cost. OK, so it's not a few cents more, it's a few few more cents - but still significantly cheaper than a phone call, and in terms of labour costs, just as good cost savings too, but then what you're willing to pay for a service has a relationship with the importance of that function to the business too.
Either way, no matter what you ultimately decide to do, please be sure to research it really well before making the jump, because the last thing you want to do is grab a bargin and get a lemon.
Enjoy,
C
Whilst I can see the benefits, chiefly the cost per SMS is a few cents, there are a couple of inherent issues here though too.
The first, and probably the biggest, is coverage - if you're in a building with big thick concrete walls, and levels above and below you, it might be a struggle to get a signal, or if you're in a remote local, shopping center, etc... there's a good chance that you're not going to be able to reliably use the service.
If that's OK, then cool bananas, but you'd still need to look at not just the volume of messages you send during a month, but the volume of messages you're sending out in one go - because the speed comparatively is quite slow.
The cost. The cost is great, but really you could do better, these places sell you packages and then the modems on top of that - if you weren't worried about getting a signal and you didn't have an issue on how long it would take to send your messages out then really you could do better anyway by buying your own GSM modem, walk down to your local phone shop and buy a SIM card and go for it - you'll probably find that you'll do better that way.
Personally I'm not keen on this method myself - you might think I'm bias, and I am, with good reason. What's not said about these types of messaging arrangements is that there's no accountability. Say you sent out a bunch of messages to clients about up coming work you're doing for them, how do you know if they get the message? If they don't get the message then who do you call? if it's the place where you got the system from, then who do they call?
I would lay a confident bet that in fact in most cases you'd be turned away and told to contact the network - can I dare you to call your mobile phone provider stating what you've done and that people weren't getting messages and see what the result of that conversation was, and have it be a great one, unlikely.
The difference with that and using an online version through a tier 1 aggregator is that the aggregator has a technical relationship between themselves and the network, so if there's an issue, they call the networks technical support - a number you're not going to find yourself, even with the super powers of Google!
Then there's the ability to work anywhere - so you're a small business owner, ever work from home? Of course you do, it's part of the life style of being a "small business owner", in part that's why you're doing what you're doing.
So if you're working from home and want to send some messages out, unless you bought the device with you you can't, as opposed to an online service where you can be anywhere in the world and send messages.
The cost. OK, so it's not a few cents more, it's a few few more cents - but still significantly cheaper than a phone call, and in terms of labour costs, just as good cost savings too, but then what you're willing to pay for a service has a relationship with the importance of that function to the business too.
Either way, no matter what you ultimately decide to do, please be sure to research it really well before making the jump, because the last thing you want to do is grab a bargin and get a lemon.
Enjoy,
C
Monday, 11 January 2010
What is email to SMS?
One of the most popular ways of sending SMS messages for businesses is to send them from email - but how.
Well, there are a couple of ways of doing it. The first is to setup your email so that when you start a new email you address the message to the number at the SMS providers domain.
So for example that could be 0412345678@esendex.net - then simply type your message into either the subject line of the email, or the main body. You could do both, however what generally will happen is the text in the subject line will just sit on top of the text in the main body of the message.
The way you would set it up would be to either set up a new email account (and the provider should be able to give you the details required and step by step guide) on your PC, or in the mail server. What happens here is like what happens when you send a normal email, you're sending through your user name and password details to authenticate against - allow you to send messages.
Another way would be using a reverse setup, meaning that you give your SMS provider the email address you're sending from and the IP address, and the messages are authenticated against that.
Both ways are good, if you're not setting it up on a mail server, I think the second option is better personally, because the first way, when you send a message, you'll need to select the mail account you want to use, and if you're like me then more often than not you'll forget to do it, and the message will fail.
With that said, email software providers like Microsoft are building in SMS messengers into their applications, so that you enter in the details (again the SMS provider should be able to give you that information and a guide to do it) and you use that.
I've tried it with the new Outlook, and it's pretty easy to set up if you have instructions and the right information, the only problem I have with it though it that I can't seem to get a button for "New SMS" like you get with the email, but other than that it's actually good.
The last way would be to use a plug in provided by the SMS provider - we have a small application called PC SMS. It's really really basic, and always say to clients that if I had to get my mum to send messages, this is how I'd do it. Because it's just that simple. Sure the functionality is super limited, but for straight out sending it's great and fits the bill more often than not.
In some ways I'd really like to see it get preferential treatment by the development team to come up with a new version that had some bells and whistles, but really it does the job you're looking for - bearing in mind that what you want to do will ultimately determine how you use it and what platform you decide to go with, i.e. email SMS, web SMS, and so on.
So to come back to the opening question of what is email SMS - put simply it about allowing your email either by sending straight from an email message or via a plug in to send out a message via SMS.
Well, there are a couple of ways of doing it. The first is to setup your email so that when you start a new email you address the message to the number at the SMS providers domain.
So for example that could be 0412345678@esendex.net - then simply type your message into either the subject line of the email, or the main body. You could do both, however what generally will happen is the text in the subject line will just sit on top of the text in the main body of the message.
The way you would set it up would be to either set up a new email account (and the provider should be able to give you the details required and step by step guide) on your PC, or in the mail server. What happens here is like what happens when you send a normal email, you're sending through your user name and password details to authenticate against - allow you to send messages.
Another way would be using a reverse setup, meaning that you give your SMS provider the email address you're sending from and the IP address, and the messages are authenticated against that.
Both ways are good, if you're not setting it up on a mail server, I think the second option is better personally, because the first way, when you send a message, you'll need to select the mail account you want to use, and if you're like me then more often than not you'll forget to do it, and the message will fail.
With that said, email software providers like Microsoft are building in SMS messengers into their applications, so that you enter in the details (again the SMS provider should be able to give you that information and a guide to do it) and you use that.
I've tried it with the new Outlook, and it's pretty easy to set up if you have instructions and the right information, the only problem I have with it though it that I can't seem to get a button for "New SMS" like you get with the email, but other than that it's actually good.
The last way would be to use a plug in provided by the SMS provider - we have a small application called PC SMS. It's really really basic, and always say to clients that if I had to get my mum to send messages, this is how I'd do it. Because it's just that simple. Sure the functionality is super limited, but for straight out sending it's great and fits the bill more often than not.
In some ways I'd really like to see it get preferential treatment by the development team to come up with a new version that had some bells and whistles, but really it does the job you're looking for - bearing in mind that what you want to do will ultimately determine how you use it and what platform you decide to go with, i.e. email SMS, web SMS, and so on.
So to come back to the opening question of what is email SMS - put simply it about allowing your email either by sending straight from an email message or via a plug in to send out a message via SMS.
Friday, 8 January 2010
What's an "Originator"?
Like anything technically based, IT people love jargon - I know when I worked in the mechanical and electrical engineering field there were heaps of jargon terms for lots of things, however the people you dealt with were generally technical people themselves, so everything was understood and there was little requirement to educate. So if we talked about about the clearance of a bearing being standard, C2 or C3, people knew what you were saying. IT is different because people in IT are delivering their products to everyone, technical astute or not.
It's not a criticism, but just the way things are - like a salesperson for an ink jet printer may one day be speaking to Systems Manager and the next be speaking to my dad who wants to replace the home printer, the same I find is true for SMS.
Some days I'm speaking with Systems Managers, Developers or business managers who aren't technically educated in the same way, and one of the terms we use in our industry can sound more complicated than it needs to be - originators.
An originator is basically whom the message appears as coming from. That could be a number, like a land line number, a mobile phone number, etc... or a name like "Chris" or "Esendex".
Many providers use different terms to mean the same thing, like "stamping the message", or "branding the message" and "dynamic originators" (which means that the originator can be changed at will).
With SMS, for originators, the standard is usually an alpha numerical originator up to 11 characters long - alpha numerical meaning a combination of letters and/or numbers, and is 11 characters because through out the world most phone numbers are not longer than 11 digits, there are exceptions, but it's done to 11 characters so that a consistent service can be provided, after all there's little sense in allowing 13 or more characters when the local networks will only cut the end of the originator off.
So just to clarify, when people talk about originators, they're talking about the label, name or number that the messages appears to have come from.
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
C
It's not a criticism, but just the way things are - like a salesperson for an ink jet printer may one day be speaking to Systems Manager and the next be speaking to my dad who wants to replace the home printer, the same I find is true for SMS.
Some days I'm speaking with Systems Managers, Developers or business managers who aren't technically educated in the same way, and one of the terms we use in our industry can sound more complicated than it needs to be - originators.
An originator is basically whom the message appears as coming from. That could be a number, like a land line number, a mobile phone number, etc... or a name like "Chris" or "Esendex".
Many providers use different terms to mean the same thing, like "stamping the message", or "branding the message" and "dynamic originators" (which means that the originator can be changed at will).
With SMS, for originators, the standard is usually an alpha numerical originator up to 11 characters long - alpha numerical meaning a combination of letters and/or numbers, and is 11 characters because through out the world most phone numbers are not longer than 11 digits, there are exceptions, but it's done to 11 characters so that a consistent service can be provided, after all there's little sense in allowing 13 or more characters when the local networks will only cut the end of the originator off.
So just to clarify, when people talk about originators, they're talking about the label, name or number that the messages appears to have come from.
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
C
Thursday, 7 January 2010
What's a "long message"?
A standard SMS, whether you're sending from your mobile or a web based SMS provider, is 160 characters long based on the GSM alphabet.
Before I go further, I'd like to quickly cover off what the GSM alphabet is to make it a bit clearer - it's an alphabet where the characters equal 7 bit (for standard messages) and includes letters, numbers, spaces, carriage returns, commas, etc... Not every symbol in the world falls into the GSM alphabet, and generally when that happens the networks interpret that character as something else, but that's another blog for another day.
So back to the original question of what is a long message? Well, it's where messages are stacked up like a club sandwich and sent out as a single message.
The way it's done is by taking 7 characters from the preceding SMS to form the header for the proceeding message so that when the handset receives the messages it can put them together in the correct order so it appears to be one long message.
So for example if you sent a message which had 200 characters in it, then the first message would be 153 characters long, with 7 characters forming the header for the next message, and the second message would be 47 characters long.
In a lot of cases long messaging isn't really required, for example for appointment reminders you generally wouldn't use more than 160 characters, and in a lot of cases, you probably wouldn't even get close to that limit either, however if you were using it to send support tickets out, then in that case you might use quite long long messages, so it's really dependent on the application.
Before I go further, I'd like to quickly cover off what the GSM alphabet is to make it a bit clearer - it's an alphabet where the characters equal 7 bit (for standard messages) and includes letters, numbers, spaces, carriage returns, commas, etc... Not every symbol in the world falls into the GSM alphabet, and generally when that happens the networks interpret that character as something else, but that's another blog for another day.
So back to the original question of what is a long message? Well, it's where messages are stacked up like a club sandwich and sent out as a single message.
The way it's done is by taking 7 characters from the preceding SMS to form the header for the proceeding message so that when the handset receives the messages it can put them together in the correct order so it appears to be one long message.
So for example if you sent a message which had 200 characters in it, then the first message would be 153 characters long, with 7 characters forming the header for the next message, and the second message would be 47 characters long.
In a lot of cases long messaging isn't really required, for example for appointment reminders you generally wouldn't use more than 160 characters, and in a lot of cases, you probably wouldn't even get close to that limit either, however if you were using it to send support tickets out, then in that case you might use quite long long messages, so it's really dependent on the application.
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Delivery receipts
What are delivery receipts?
Amazingly enough they're basically what they sound they're like, their a receipt back to advise if your message has been delivered.
Are all delivery receipts equal?
They should be, but it can be a matter or interpretation and here's what I mean - typically when a SMS provider sends a message through to a network, they should get an initial receipt which advises whether the message has been accepted or not, from there on a successfully delivered message should come a second delivery receipt to advise that the message has been successfully sent to the handset (mobile phone).
With us, we typically use a "sent" status to advise that the relevant network has accepted the message and will forward it on to the phone, and then a "delivered" status to say that the phone has received the message.
Other typical status' generally for SMS might be "failed" or "expired" - failed is when the network rejects the message, the number might be wrong or disconnected. Then expired is when the network has attempted to reach the handset but has time out - if could be the phone was been switched off, out of reach from the network or overseas without international roaming.
Now these are our status' - not all providers use the same terms, some might say received instead of delivered or my favourite "read", to that end they're just words and let me assure you that there is nothing within the protocols for SMS that allow you to know if someone has read the message or not, just to know whether the phone has received it.
Why is it important?
It's important to use a provider that offers delivery receipts on all messages, otherwise how do you know the message has been received? i look at delivery receipts like registered post - if I need to get something across to someone else, then I trust the delivery receipts to back up my claims that in fact the information was delivered, in the same way a solicitor will use registered post to say person x received their letter.
The cost of the message is never the face value of the SMS, but in value of the information, or the actions that person x, y or z was going to do with it. So if you only receive receipts on 90% of your messages, then who knows what the 10% are getting, and how that might impact on your business.
Of course value is an individual thing, and what one person places a given value on something might differ from the next persons valuation - and that's something that is down to you. the basic up shot is that without delivery receipts, you don't know what's going on and you should ask yourself how is that effecting your business.
Thanks and enjoy.
Cheers,
C
Amazingly enough they're basically what they sound they're like, their a receipt back to advise if your message has been delivered.
Are all delivery receipts equal?
They should be, but it can be a matter or interpretation and here's what I mean - typically when a SMS provider sends a message through to a network, they should get an initial receipt which advises whether the message has been accepted or not, from there on a successfully delivered message should come a second delivery receipt to advise that the message has been successfully sent to the handset (mobile phone).
With us, we typically use a "sent" status to advise that the relevant network has accepted the message and will forward it on to the phone, and then a "delivered" status to say that the phone has received the message.
Other typical status' generally for SMS might be "failed" or "expired" - failed is when the network rejects the message, the number might be wrong or disconnected. Then expired is when the network has attempted to reach the handset but has time out - if could be the phone was been switched off, out of reach from the network or overseas without international roaming.
Now these are our status' - not all providers use the same terms, some might say received instead of delivered or my favourite "read", to that end they're just words and let me assure you that there is nothing within the protocols for SMS that allow you to know if someone has read the message or not, just to know whether the phone has received it.
Why is it important?
It's important to use a provider that offers delivery receipts on all messages, otherwise how do you know the message has been received? i look at delivery receipts like registered post - if I need to get something across to someone else, then I trust the delivery receipts to back up my claims that in fact the information was delivered, in the same way a solicitor will use registered post to say person x received their letter.
The cost of the message is never the face value of the SMS, but in value of the information, or the actions that person x, y or z was going to do with it. So if you only receive receipts on 90% of your messages, then who knows what the 10% are getting, and how that might impact on your business.
Of course value is an individual thing, and what one person places a given value on something might differ from the next persons valuation - and that's something that is down to you. the basic up shot is that without delivery receipts, you don't know what's going on and you should ask yourself how is that effecting your business.
Thanks and enjoy.
Cheers,
C
Firstly, happy new year to everyone, and I hope it was a great night, and a great year to come.
Something that I admit I haven't been consistent enough with is giving help with regards to SMS in my blogs, so this year I'm committing myself to at least once a week, giving short brief and concise blogs on different things surrounding SMS services.
Through out the year we'll cover off things like what are virtual numbers, delivery receipts, interconnect fees, and so on - basically all the jargon that you might hear from SMS providers, or will hear no doubt, and also an open understanding to it's importance.
It's probably fair enough to say that none of this should really blow your socks off, but hopefully will help clarify things for you - and if you are looking at a service, possibly will help you understand what it is you want from the service, what you should expect and so on.
If you have any questions about any of the following information, then please don't hesitate to contact me directly via email at chris.bartlett@esendex.com or via phone on +61 3 9595 3871, thanks.
Regards,
Chris
Something that I admit I haven't been consistent enough with is giving help with regards to SMS in my blogs, so this year I'm committing myself to at least once a week, giving short brief and concise blogs on different things surrounding SMS services.
Through out the year we'll cover off things like what are virtual numbers, delivery receipts, interconnect fees, and so on - basically all the jargon that you might hear from SMS providers, or will hear no doubt, and also an open understanding to it's importance.
It's probably fair enough to say that none of this should really blow your socks off, but hopefully will help clarify things for you - and if you are looking at a service, possibly will help you understand what it is you want from the service, what you should expect and so on.
If you have any questions about any of the following information, then please don't hesitate to contact me directly via email at chris.bartlett@esendex.com or via phone on +61 3 9595 3871, thanks.
Regards,
Chris
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