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1. SMS technology

1.1 SMS basics

• What is SMS?
• Which standardization body is responsible for the SMS standard?
• Why use SMS?
• Is it possible to send a single message to multiplre recipients?
• How can I send longer text? What are concatenated SMS messages?
• What happens if an SMS message is sent to a mobile phone that is offline?
• What is SM-MT (short message - mobile terminated)?
• What is SM-MO (short message - mobile originated)?
• What are the classes of SM-MT (mobile terminated) messages?
• I have one issue. If we send SMS through ozeki s/w and receiver number does not exists then what happen?
• I have one issue. If we send SMS through ozeki s/w and receiver has switched off his mobile. Will updated value of status field of ozekimessageout table show the status?

1.2 Why is SMS so successful?

• What makes this technology so successful?
• Is this technology successful, because SMS messages can be sent and read at any time?
• Is the SMS technology successful, because it is more polite?
• Is the SMS technology successful, because it is global?
• Is the SMS technology successful, because it can be used by wireless applications?

1.3 Example applications of SMS messaging

• What applications can SMS messaging be used for?
• What is Person-to-Person Text Messaging?
• What is Information Provision?
• SMS messaging for Alerts and Notifications?

1.4 SMS number formats

• What kind of number formats are available for SMS?
• What is a short code?
• What is the local number format?
• What is international number format?
• What is a long code number?
• What is the alphanumeric number format?

1.5 Mobile message types

• What kind of messages can I send to a mobile device?
• What kind of SMS message types are available?
• What is an EMS?
• What is an MMS?
• What kind of attachments can I use in an MMS?
• Is it possible to push SyncML setting via your SMS sever to mobile phones?

1.6 SMSC

• What is an SMSC?
• Can I operate my own SMSC?
• Do I have to pay for SMS messages if I operate my own SMSC?
• Can I connect to the SMSC of a mobile network operator (MNO)?
• Can I connect to the SMSC of a mobile network operator through SS7?
• Is there anyway using any ozeki product to do HLR Lookup to see if numbers exist before sending text?

1.7 SMS Gateway

• What is an SMS Gateway?
• How does an SMS gateway communicate with the mobile network?
• Who are using SMS Gateways?
• What other functionalities are provided by an SMS gateway?
• Do I have to pay for SMS if I have my own SMS Gateway?

1.8 Two way SMS systems

• What is a two way SMS system?
• When a mobile user replies to my SMS, can I tell which message did he originally reply to?
• Can I use keywords to match replies to submitted messages?
• Can I use long codes to match replies to submitted messages?
• Are there any threats with autoresponding systems?
• Can I query a database and return data in a response SMS?
• Can I return a webpage if I receive a certain keyword?

2. Installation and configuration of an SMS Gateway

2.1 Prerequisites

• What is the minimum hardware requirement for the PC I will use to run the software?
• What is the recommended hardware for the PC I will use to run the software?
• What is the recommended Operating System?
• Does Ozeki NG support 64bit operating systems?
• What are the software requirements?
• Is there any additional software required?
• Do I need a dedicated server?
• Can I run it in my office, or do I need to place it into a server hosting facility?
• Does the software require a database server? Does it require any database connectivity drivers, such as ODBC drivers?
• Can I use Ozeki NG and Ozeki Message Server 6 on the same computer with the same GSM modem at the same time?
• Can I use Ozeki NG and Ozeki Message Server 6 on the same computer with two modems?
• Will the software run on a Virtual Machine, such as VMWare, Microsoft Virtual PC?
• Which phone models/GSM modems do you recommend?

2.2 Network requirements

• Do I need Internet connection to operate Ozeki NG SMS Gateway?
• Do I need a public IP address?
• Do I need a fix IP address for the SMS Gateway?
• Can I use a leased line connect to my mobile operator, instead of an Internet connection?
• How much bandwidth do I need on my Internet connection?
• Can I use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection?
• My Internet connection is not reliable. Will this be a problem?
• Can I use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection?
• What kind of communication ports and protocols are used? Should I open any ports on my firewall?
• I am interested in installing your SMS Gateway and integrating it with a web site. I am going to host the website in the US however the gateway has to be locally in Ireland. Does the g/way require a fixed IP address or is there any way dynamic address can be used and how?
• Ozeki NG SMS Gateway uses the http://127.0.0.1:9501 address. Can I change this to my IP address, so I can access it on my LAN or over the Internet?

2.3 General information

• Does the software run as a Windows Service?
• The software runs as a windows service by default. Is there a way to run it as an application?
• What kind of user interface is available in the software?
• What is the default username and password?
• Can I access the web based user interface remotely?

2.4 Message routing

• What is SMS routing?
• What is outbound SMS routing and how can I use it?
• What is inbound SMS routing and how can I use it?
• How can I send SMS messages reliably to different global destinations?
• Is there any way I can tell if an incoming SMS message is a reply to my previously sent SMS?
• Can I change message parameters during routing?
• How can I reject certain messages starting with a specified telephone number prefix?
• How can I change the recipient field to a fixed mobile number so all texts submitted go to that mobile?

2.5 Message types

• What kind of message types can be sent as SMS?
• How are long (multipart) SMS messages handled?

2.6 Delivery reports

• What is a delivery report?
• Can I adjust how long a message is stored in the SMSC?
• How does Ozeki NG SMS Gateway handle delivery reports?
• How does Ozeki NG SMS Gateway handle delivery reports for multipart SMS messages?
• Why are my delivery reports dropped?
• What can I see in the delivery report registry GUI?
• Can I change the time setting after which messages that got no delivery report are removed from the list?
• How can I reset the delivery report registry queue?
• The delivery report (onMessageDeliveryFailed) is retrieved for every failed attempt or is just retrieved when the max number of tries is reached?
• Is it possible to store the incoming SMS delivery reports into SQL?
• If I send SMS from a GSM modem, the GSM protocol allows a max. number of 256 callback id's for delivery reports. How do you distinguish delivery reports that have the same id.
• Delivery reports are coming in as SMS messages to my system. When I configure my connection for sending only, will it dismiss my delivery reports?
• How does the inbound routing table effect the incoming delivery reports?

3. SMS service provider (SMSC) connectivity

3.1 GSM Modem

• What is a GSM modem?
• What GSM modem do you suggest for using with Ozeki NG – SMS Gateway?
• Can I install multiple modems in Ozeki NG?
• Can I connect a GSM modem over IP to the software?
• Can I change the sender phone number if I use a GSM Modem?
• Can I send SMS messages through more than one service providers?
• Is your gateway fully compatible with Huawei hardware SMSCs?
• When I try to submit a message, I receive an error. What can be the reason?
• I can send SMS, but I cannot receive with my modem. Why?

3.2 SMPP

• What is an SMPP connection?
• How can I use SMPP to send/receive SMS messages?
• What kind of parameters do I need to connect to an SMPP service provider?
• What is an SMPP transmitter connection?
• What is an SMPP receiver connection?
• What is an SMPP transceiver connection?
• Can I become an SMPP service provider
• Which SMPP version is the most common?
• What is SIM hosting and how is it related to SMPP?
• Can I become a SIM hosting provider?
• Can I define a unique service type parameter for each message?

3.3 CIMD2

• What is an CIMD2 connection?

3.4 UCP/EMI

• What is an UCP/EMI connection?

3.5 HTTP

• What is an HTTP connection?

3.6 SMTP

• What is an SMTP connection?

4. Application connectivity in SMS Gateways

4.1 API

• What is an API
• What APIs do you provide?

4.2 SQL to SMS

• What is an SQL database?
• Can I save incoming SMS messages (sender address, message text, timestamp) in a database server (MySQL/MSSQL)?
• We would like to specify different sender mobile numbers for outgoing messages. Is it possible to do it in the SQL tables to assign the sender mobile number?
• I would like to use one database for many "database users". Is this possible?

4.3 HTTP to SMS

• If I uninstall a user named "AAA" then try to create a new user also named "AAA" the system tells me "AAA" already exists, even if it has been uninstalled. How do I delete these uninstalled users definitively?
• Why changes in the physical configuration files are not reflected in the web Admin interface?
• Why sometimes do I get a message from my HTTP client user that says it could not resolve the name corresponding to the URL it is calling?

4.4 E-mail to SMS

• Can I forward a single e-mail to many SMS numbers?
• Can I forward an incoming SMS to many e-mail addresses?
• Can the software download e-mails from POP3 accounts and forward them as SMS messages?
• Does the software have escalation capability? In more detail, can we create a script by a specific keyword in incoming email with the following rule: "Forward SMS to 1st Number, wait for the response within specific time: 3 minutes. If there is no response, forward SMS to 2nd Number, wait for the Response within specific time: 3 minutes, ... up to 10 numbers."?
• Does the software support secure SSL based POP3 connections for downloading e-mail?
• Does the software support Secure SSL based SMTP connections?
• If I create 500 e-mail to SMS Accounts and Ozeki is set to pick up e-mail from 500 different POP3 e-mail accounts (account1-500@domain.com) every 90 seconds - What will be the impact on the system?
• If my SMTP server requires authentication, can I specify my SMTP username and password?
• Is the following number format supported: +322010444455@sms.domain.com?
• Is the software able to get email (Pop3) and send (SMTP) with clear from headers/footers/attachments codes – only first 160 characters that will send to SMS?
• Is there filtering capability by specific keyword on incoming email?
• Is there filtering capability by specific keyword on incoming SMS?
• When the built in SMTP server is used, which user account will send the messages?

5. Maintenance and management

5.1 Performance

• How can I configure an SMS gateway for best performance?
• How can I handle unreliable service provider connections?
• How can I increase the capacity of an IP-SMS service provider connection?
• How can I increase the reliability of this SMS gateway?
• Can I set credit limits for each client / each user?
• How do you set daily and monthly message throughput limits for SMPP Clients and other users (SQL user, E-mail users, etc.)?
• If you have 1000 SMPP Clients or other users (SQL users, E-mail users) connected, how do you control the various message queues? That is, how many messages to send from each queue in turn?
• Does your gateway support clustering over multiple servers and how does it occur?
• What is the scalability schema of the software?

5.2 Logging

• I have a database user in the system, and the logging is slow at times, the events appear in the log with some delay. Why? How can I fix this issue?
• What is the recommended database server for SQL logging?

5.3 Errors

• Any configuration lost after making any restarts? What can I do about this?
• There are errors with the error code 1365 in the log, and the messages cannot be sent. Why?

5.4 Reporting

• Can I create reports and statistics from the data of sent messages?
• Can I maintain a log of all sent and received messages in an SQL Server?
• Does the software provide a way that limits the maximum number of messages a user can send?

6. Commercial questions

6.1 Trial version

• Is there any test account or trial software?
• What are the differences between the trial and full versions?
• Why does the software still send messages with the text “Ozeki SMS Trial” despite I already purchased a license?

6.2 Licensing

• How can I purchase the product?
• Are there any hidden costs?
• Can I get a proforma invoice prior to the order?
• Will I get an invoice?
• What are the one time and the monthly costs?
• Can I install the application on two PC's.
• I have installed the software in a temporary machine for testing. When our final machine arrives, I want to transfer my license. Do I have to do a de-activate procedure on the temporary machine?
• What is MPM?
• What is MPS?
• If I have a 20 MPS license, how is this speed distributed between incoming and outgoing messages?
• Do delivery reports effect my message capacity?
• How do multipart SMS messages count in the MPS limit?
• If I have a high capacity license, but a service provider limits the maximum number of messages per minute, what can I do?
• What is a service provider connection?
• What is a user?