SMS integration

press711

Can any one tell me what is involved in setting up a SMS service with PHP? What methods (software and hardware) are available? Are there any modules or interfaces or gateways available?

Also what is the preferred method of achieving this objective?

Thanks in advance.

morbidchick

What are you intending to do?

PyroX

You will need a gateway to send through.

You end up having to pay someone, somewhere, for the ability to send sms messages. Usually this it a monthly fee, sometimes it is a banked fee which buys X number of sends through their gateway.

You could setup a modem and phone line to send the messages, but most apps that use that method cost money as well. ( Plus the long distance charges would kill you )

Its not ecconomical, (at least the last time I checked into it) unless your going to chage a decent fee per user and open a large site.

And then there is international numbers, carriers, restrictions, ect. to deal with.

It is a huge head-ache.

That has been my experiance. The best of luck to you though.

press711

More Info:
I have a client interested in a dating website with sms service.
Thanks PyRox I had a look around the web and thats all I found as well. I was hoping there was something else available, which I have overlooked. By the way if osmeone has any experineces with any Australian SMS gateway please let me know.

Thnaks,
Kunal

Damien_Buttler

I searched for SMS services in Australia only a few months ago and decided that the overseas options were better. I can't quite remember my reasons but I am pretty sure price was a major factor. I signed up with aspsms.com (in Switzerland) which was reasonbly priced and gave free credits for testing purposes.
They also provide example scripts but the PHP one is incomplete.

I have put the SMS project off for a while so I can't say how well it works.

Regards,
Damien.

vronsky

This is the project I' involved in.

I know aspsms.com - There are may sms gateways in Switzerland,
all quite expensive,the one I worked with is

http://www.sms-wap.com

and for that I have a complete php script to work with, anybody
interested can ask me for this by mail.

I suggest to have a look to
http://www.kannel.org
to have an idea how you can work with sms protocols.

Now I'm looking for a cheaper sms gateway,and I 'm testing
the
http://www.mblox.com
services.

For any help feel free to ask me.

morbidchick

I am setting up a micropayment solution in the UK mblox are not the best choice as they dont have global coverage, but it all depends on what your service is.

Are you just wanting to send sms or are you wanting some kind of payment service?

I would recomend

www.netsize.co.uk

www.wapmx.com

these both have great coverage but as far as premade scripts they dont give any help as their gateways are used for many many uses.

press711

Beautiful.
Thanks for all your help guys. The client still hasnt accepted the requirement anaylsis. But my assumption is that the SMS will be used for notifications in the website and probably even SMS communication but I dont see much use of that. As the messages are not being monitored the users at the first contact via Email can simply ask the user for their mobile number. Plus I dont see a reason for sending SMS as the first contact as the message is limited in length.

Any idea about how websites like match.com are using such a service. I had a look at their website but couldnt find much info. I dont want to be paying for a full membership to find out.

Anyways I am keeping this thread open to learn more about the sms gateway and service providers online.

Thanks again

hostinsa

use bulksms.net

AndyMoore

www.bondwireless.com = australian sms provider = very good - we use them for our connectivity over there