SMS and MMS message types

What kind of messages can I send to a mobile device?

SMS, EMS, MMS, E-mail

SMS is supported by almost all mobile devices and mobile networks (GSM and others) in the world. An SMS message can contain a short text only, and it can be sent to a cellphone numbers in the world. SMS messages are routed internationally.

An EMS is an "enhanced SMS". It is supported by some manufactures (Nokia, SonyEricsson, etc), but not all. It is supported by all GSM networks. Although most newer mobile phones can receive EMS, it is not as widely accepted as standard SMS. EMS messages are routed internationally.

An MMS is a multimedia message. It is similar to SMS, in the way that it can be pushed to cellphones and it is similar to e-mail in the way that it can contain attachments, such as picture, video, sound, documents and applications. It is supported by most network and mobile phones, but it is often not routed internationally.

An E-mail is not a classic mobile message type, but it is supported by many new smart phones. The problem with e-mail is that the mobile phone must have Internet connectivity to download the new messages, and the mobile must log on every time to the Internet to check for new messages.

What kind of SMS message types are available?

Text SMS, Flash SMS, Unicode text SMS, multipart SMS, binary SMS, WAP Push/webpage link, WAP Push/webpage bookmark, Phone and network settings, VCard SMS, Vcalendard SMS, Indication SMS. All of these SMS message types are supported by Ozeki NG SMS Gateway.

Text SMS can contain standard text formatted in the GSM 7bit SMS alphabet, it's standard length is 160 characters.

Flash SMS is also called Class0 SMS. It is a display only SMS. On most mobile phones it is displayed immediately and is not saved to the SIM card or the phone memory.

Unicode text SMS is used to send SMS messages that contain characters that are not included in the standard GSM 7bit SMS alphabet. A Unicode text SMS has a maximum length of 70 characters. Unicode SMS is used for Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Cyril and other non-latin languages, (and for Latin languages that have characters, that are not included in the GSM alphabet).

A multipart SMS message is used if the size limit of an SMS is not enough to carry the content. For example if the mobile user is sending a standard text message longer then 160 characters using the standard SMS alphabet, a multipart message is used. If a text message, that contains Unicode characters is longer then 70 characters it is also sent as a multipart SMS. In a multipart SMS message, the message text is segmented and sent as several SMS messages through the mobile network. The recipient mobile phone of the message assembles the message segments and displays the message when all parts (all SMS messages have arrived). To make the segmentation and reassembly possible, some of the available space used for the message text is consumed. This means the for standard text messages only 153 characters can be sent in one message segment. For Unicode messages only 63 characters can be sent in one message segment. Multipart messages are also used for carrying long binary content.

A binary SMS is used to carry binary data. A maximum of 140 bytes (octets) is available in a binary SMS.

A WAP Push/webpage link and WAP Push/webpage bookmark message contains a text and a hyperlink, that can be opened with a single touch of button if the recipient mobile phone has an integrated web browser.

Phone and network settings can also be sent in SMS messages. This feature is mainly used by mobile network operators to configure the handsets in their network. This feature is called Over the air configuration (OTA).

VCard SMS messages contain business card information and can be saved in the phone's addressbook in a very easy way.

A Vcalendard SMS contains a calendar entry.

Indication SMS messages are used to indicate voicemail, fax or videomessage waiting status for cellphones. There are two types of indication messages, one is used to set and the other is used to clear the indication.

What is EMS?

EMS stands for Enhanced Messaging Service. It is an extension of the SMS standard.

EMS was introduced, because besides the data size limitation, SMS has another major drawback: an SMS message cannot include rich-media content such as pictures, animations and melodies by default. The EMS standard was developed as an application-level extension of SMS. An EMS message can include pictures, animations and melodies and other content, and provides the formatting of the text. For example, the message sender can specify whether the text in an EMS message should be displayed in bold or italic, with a large font or a small font. The drawback of EMS is that it is less widely supported than SMS on wireless devices. Also, many EMS-enabled wireless devices only support a subset of the features defined in the EMS specification. A certain EMS feature may be supported on one wireless device but not on the other.

What is an MMS?

MMS stands for multimedia message

Multimedia Messaging Service, or MMS, is a telecommunications standard for sending messages that include multimedia objects (images, audio, video, rich text). MMS is an extension of the SMS standard, allowing longer message lengths and using WAP to display the content. Its most popular use is sending photographs from camera-equipped handsets, although it is also popular as a method of delivering ringtones as well. The standard is developed by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), although during development it was part of the 3GPP and WAP groups.

What kind of attachments can I use in an MMS?

Text, picture, sounds, videos, applications, and any other file types.

Each MMS attachment can have a MIME type and a content. A complete list of available messages types supported by the Ozeki NG SMS Gateway can be found at the MMS content format list page.

Is it possible to push SyncML setting via your SMS sever to mobile phones?

Ozeki NG SMS Gateway can be used to push SYNCML settings to mobile handsets. It can use a GSM Modem attached to the server with a phone-to-pc data cable, or it can use IP SMS connections (SMPP, CIMD2, UCP/EMI protocols) to send this information.

To send syncml settings, you can use an HTTP request to post the settings in XML form to Ozeki NG, or you can use a database server (such as Oracle, MSSql, MySql, etc.), and put the settings into a datbase table. Ozeki NG will read the table and push the settings in SMS to the destination mobile phone.

To use Ozeki NG to push SyncML settings in SMS to mobile phones from applications you should use the SMS:WAPPUSH:OTASYNCMLSETTINGS message type. If you want to test the system, you can select the WAP OTA SyncML Settings option in the compose menu.