How to Build an SMS Service

Book description

The simple text message application that appears on virtually all mobile phones is the ultimate thin client, allowing your users access to the full computing power and informational depth of the Internet from a cheap cell phone on a mountaintop. Building an SMS service can be quite simple. This tutorial guides you through a variety of implementations, giving you the information you need to choose one that best fits your unique needs and circumstances. More than that, though, it seeks to help you understand the core principles necessary to make your service a success.

Table of contents

  1. How to Build an SMS Service
    1. A Note Regarding Supplemental Files
    2. Introducing SMS
      1. Message Format
      2. Definitions
      3. International Issues
    3. Types of SMS Service
      1. Notification
      2. Lookup
      3. Messaging/Social Networking
      4. Action
      5. Art
    4. SMS Interaction Design Considerations
      1. Short message length
      2. Intrusiveness
      3. High Barrier to Input
      4. Slow Interactivity
      5. Minimal Affordances
      6. Limited Character Set
      7. Always On Everywhere
      8. Store and Forward
      9. Multitasking and Stealth
    5. SMS Short Codes
      1. More Is Less
    6. SMS Fundamentals
      1. Pricing: Paying for SMS Messages
      2. Premium SMS: Getting Paid for Your Service
    7. Six Ways to Implement SMS
    8. Using an SMS Aggregator
      1. The Basics
      2. Advantages and Disadvantages
      3. Example Service: Conference Messaging
        1. How to: Conference messaging using Clickatell
          1. What you'll need
          2. Clickatell basics
          3. Static configuration
          4. Simple Clickatell script
          5. Batching
          6. Web frontend
          7. Receiving messages
          8. Running the service
    9. Using a Smartphone as an SMS Modem
      1. The Basics
      2. Advantages and Disadvantages
      3. Example Service: Echo and Hello World Using a Smartphone
        1. How to: Using a Smartphone to send and receive SMS
          1. Installing the Microsoft Research SMS Toolkit
          2. Getting started
          3. Sending a message
      4. Server Architecture
      5. Tips and Tricks
    10. Using Email to SMS Gateways
      1. The Basics
        1. Advantages and disadvantages
      2. Example Service: Weather Updates
        1. How to: Weather updates using email to SMS
          1. Static configuration data
          2. Setting up the database
          3. The registration service
          4. Generating unique codes
          5. Sending an SMS via email
        2. Processing a registration
          1. Verifying users
          2. Getting the Weather
          3. Sending our forecasts
          4. Scheduling
          5. Receiving SMSs via email
    11. Using a Mashup: 411Sync
        1. Advantages and disadvantages
        2. Example service: Email registration
        3. How to: Email registration service with 411Sync
          1. Register with 411Sync
          2. Create the service
          3. Register your keyword
          4. Try it
    12. Using Twitter to Build a SMS Service
      1. Twitter Overview
      2. The Twitter API
      3. Advantages and Disadvantages
      4. Example Service: Echo
        1. How To: Creating a Simple Twitter Service
        2. Functionality
        3. The Echo application
    13. Using Windows Live Alerts
    14. Summary
    15. About the Authors

Product information

  • Title: How to Build an SMS Service
  • Author(s): Jordan Schwartz, Brian Retford
  • Release date: June 2007
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9780596558024