Hey,

So I have a bit of a wacky idea which would work well using an SMS service. Don't want to say too much about it, but I would need to customise it a lot.

Does anyone know how I go about setting up a SMS service? Specifically I am talking about hardware, hosting, programming, etc. (The technical side rather than the legal side.)

Thanks a million.

I have a good bit of experience here and what you need will depend exactly what you are planning to do. For most solutions you will need no programming or hardware at all. If its just a case having people text xyz to 55555 and the get a standard set of replies based on what they text in then a company like opera telecom or zamano will have all that built into their platform. However if you want a more of chat type program where they talk to live people then you have to develop your own application most likely. Most carriers send their traffic over http on port 80 so it's quite easy to develop a php application or Java one to receive the texts and sends them out.

Really I would recommend talking to one of the many carriers out there Opera, zamano etc.

Ah interesting, thanks for the reply.

It would be a chat type thing. Well, an application with a brain at least (certain amount of decision making.)

Do I have to use a carrier?

Can you recommend one in particular?

Thanks.

Don't know but this link might help you... Clickatell Bulk SMS Gateway

I use them for sending text messages from websites as they seem to be the cheapest in the world (maybe not) and they have the facility for premium rate numbers. Worth checking them out.

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out of curiosity, how do you get your own premium short code number?

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€€€'s

and who would i be giving the €€€'s too?

Forgot about this thread

In reality you would have to use a carrier otherwise you are talking about setting up service level agreements with Vodafone O2 3 Meteor.
The Companies I have experience with are as I've mentioned opera and zamano. Out of the two I'd go with zamano, but ask around there are loads more out there, best idea would be send a few of them an email outlining what you want to do (no details obviously) and see who offers the best package, cost, platform etc.



You need to apply to these guys Welcome to the RegTel Website
not sure of the cost but you would better of using a carrier to start they have lots of shared short codes you can use. If things take off then you can look at getting your own.

i came across this provider today, for cheap SMS services, http://www.smsdiscount.com/ €5 for up to 500 messages. Details on how to implement it are here SMS Discount

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Seams like an OK deal, however I find it hard to take any service provider seriously when they have google ad's on their site. The HTTP gateway is ideal for integration with other app's however the lack of delivery reports and incoming message gateway leaves it very limiting. You also can't send premium messages.
However for purely promotional based messages it could be handy tool as there seams to be very little work required to get your campaign off the ground.