How to Build an SMS Service
ISBN: 789742233
EAN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2007
Pages: 52
Pages: 52
Introducing SMS > Definitions
Before we get much further, it will be useful to establish some common terms that will come up throughout the guide. These include:
Short code
A 4- to 12-digit (in the U.S.) number to which mobile phones can send and receive text messages. While they are technically unique to each carrier, the Common Short Code Administration (http://www.usshortcodes.com) acts as the common registrar in the U.S., ensuring that the same short code is not issued by different carriers to different application providers.
GSM
Digital cellular technology used by virtually all carriers worldwide (but see below).
CDMA
Digital cellular technology used in the U.S. by Sprint and Verizon.
SIM card
Removable smart card found in GSM phones. Contains configuration data (e.g., phone number, SMS-C connectivity info) as well as user data (e.g., portable phone book). Contains a small CPU that processes SMS messages.
WAP
Wireless Application Protocol. Open international standard for encoding Internet data for mobile devices. WAP sites are generally written in XHTML MP.
SMS aggregator
A service that provides an interface to application providers (that's you) to send and receive text messages. An SMS Aggregator typically exposes web interfaces to the application providers and connects directly to the SMS gateways (SMS-C) of multiple carriers to send and receive the messages.
Application Provider
A service that provides the content and logic behind an SMS service. This could be you!
Carrier (aka Operator)
A company that sells or rents telecommunication transmission services such as telephony and data communication. For example, T-Mobile, Cingular, and Sprint in the U.S., and Orange and British Telecom in Europe.