Ozeki SMS Gateway can be used to
send and receive SMS messages. The messages can be transferred to or
received from the mobile network in two ways. You can setup a wireless
connection (Figure 1) or an IP SMS connection (Figure 2). Both
connection types have advantages and disadvantages.
Wireless connections
A wireless connection can be used to send/receive
SMS messages if you attach a GSM Modem (or GSM phone) to your PC
with a phone to PC data cable. The GSM Modem has a SIM card, that
makes it possible to attach to the GSM network. The major advantage
to this connection is that it is easy to setup. You can purchase a
SIM card and a GSM modem simply and get the system up quickly.
To operate this connection the costs are low. You can purchase a
prepaid SIM which means you will not have a regular monthly fee. The
drawback to this connection type is that it is relatively slow. You
can transmit/receive about 10 messages per minute with this connection
type. (You can increase this capacity by using more than one GSM modems.)
If you want to create an SMS service that will not send/receive a
very large number of messages this is an ideal option.
Figure 1 - Wireless SMS connection
IP SMS connections
Another option is to connect your system directly
to the short message service center of a GSM service provider over
the Internet. In this case you have a significantly better bandwidth
(max. 10 000 SMS/ minute), but you usually have to pay a large
monthly fee and it takes a lot of time and is hard to sign a contract
with a service provider. IP SMS connections use IP SMS protocols:
SMPP or CIMD2 or UCP/EMI. Ozeki SMS products have an excellent
implementation of these protocols.
Figure 2 - IP SMS connection
Recommendations
If you want to build a system, we recommend you to
start with a wireless GSM Modem connection and if the capacity demands
increases you can switch to IP SMS.
