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SMS Gateway Comparison: SMSGlobal Vs Tropo

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Re: SMS Gateway Comparison: SMSGlobal Vs Tropo

#2

Post by patio11 »

Twilio has been a dream for SMS implementation, though I don't think they are appropriate if you need SMS outside Canada / the US at the moment. Their customer service is quite nice, too.

Words cannot describe how crazy I think picking a platform based on $10 of costs for development is, by the way.

Re: SMS Gateway Comparison: SMSGlobal Vs Tropo

#4

Post by iwr »

The cheapest small-traffic solution I've found is to hook one or more phones to a PC and communicate with them via Hayes AT commands. Can look a little hacky, but once you have the box set up, you don't have to worry anymore. Switching "gateways" is the same as switching sim cards.

Re: SMS Gateway Comparison: SMSGlobal Vs Tropo

#5

Post by corin_ »

I personally like http://www.tm4b.com

Never used it in anything with enough volume to care about a cent or two here and there, the API is excellent, and incoming messages work a treat too.

Related: I also like http://tringme.com/ for actual calls, although their documentation and support is terrific (or was when I checked), their service is pretty good once you understand how the hell to use it.

Re: SMS Gateway Comparison: SMSGlobal Vs Tropo

#6

Post by vampirical »

iwr wrote: post #4

The cheapest small-traffic solution I've found is to hook one or more phones to a PC and communicate with them via Hayes AT commands. Can look a little hacky, but once you have the box set up, you don't have to worry anymore. Switching "gateways" is the same as switching sim cards.

I'm always a bit surprised this doesn't some up more often in these discussions. I used to use little serial GSM/GPRS modems anytime I needed to handle SMS, and that was while working for a voip company with lots of infrastructure in place for that kind of thing (the modems always won based on simplicity, speed, and consistency).

At the small scale spending $100 or so to have an unlimited test system seems comparable, and for large scale I'd much rather be buying a few unlimited SMS plans than paying per message. If the wireless provider supports SMS over GPRS you can do something like 30/min so you may never need more than one modem and sim. I wonder if it is just the barrier to entry, since you have to know that such a thing is possible and hunt down hardware/software to fit your needs rather than just buying in to one of these companies' pitches.

Re: SMS Gateway Comparison: SMSGlobal Vs Tropo

#7

Post by self »

iwr wrote: post #4

The cheapest small-traffic solution I've found is to hook one or more phones to a PC and communicate with them via Hayes AT commands. Can look a little hacky, but once you have the box set up, you don't have to worry anymore. Switching "gateways" is the same as switching sim cards.

This is what I do -- I have one cheap GSM modem attached to an Ubuntu box, and I use stuff from the gsm-utils package to both send and receive messages. My problem is that I can't keep the system up 24x7; it's only active during working hours, five days a week.

Re: SMS Gateway Comparison: SMSGlobal Vs Tropo

#9

Post by pbrumm »

self wrote: post #7
iwr wrote: post #4

The cheapest small-traffic solution I've found is to hook one or more phones to a PC and communicate with them via Hayes AT commands. Can look a little hacky, but once you have the box set up, you don't have to worry anymore. Switching "gateways" is the same as switching sim cards.

This is what I do -- I have one cheap GSM modem attached to an Ubuntu box, and I use stuff from the gsm-utils package to both send and receive messages. My problem is that I can't keep the system up 24x7; it's only active during working hours, five days a week.

You should try gammu, it has great documentation and support for modems. Using cell phones seems spotty on whether they will support sending or not, but I think that is independent of the software.

http://wammu.eu/gammu/

also I chose to get a bigger 8 port modem from here.

http://www.bailing88.com/en/product_view.asp?hw_id=119

I definitely recommend their service.

works great with the latest kernel's and is usb.

seems to price out at about $50 a modem independent the size of the modem pools or a single.

Re: SMS Gateway Comparison: SMSGlobal Vs Tropo

#10

Post by iwr »

pbrumm wrote: post #9
self wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what I do -- I have one cheap GSM modem attached to an Ubuntu box, and I use stuff from the gsm-utils package to both send and receive messages. My problem is that I can't keep the system up 24x7; it's only active during working hours, five days a week.

You should try gammu, it has great documentation and support for modems. Using cell phones seems spotty on whether they will support sending or not, but I think that is independent of the software. http://wammu.eu/gammu/ also I chose to get a bigger 8 port modem from here. http://www.bailing88.com/en/product_view.asp?hw_id=119 I definitely recommend their service. works great with the latest kernel's and is usb. seem…

This looks interesting, I'll check it out!
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