No, in general only cell phone service providers charge for SMS
messages sent to and from their phones. Most providers, however, have
ways of getting messages sent without relying on phones at all; these
methods are known as 'gateways'.
Some samples of APIs to allow SMS sending:
https://www.vazu.com/api/index.php
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Best/free-sms-api.html
The Wikipedia provides extensive information on SMS messaging:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_message_service
and more specifically, on messaging gateways:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_gateways
with a partial list of US email/WWW gateways as follows:
"Carrier Email to SMS Gateway Web to SMS Gateway
AT&T Wireless number@mmode.com http://www.mymmode.com/messagecenter/
Cingular number@mobile.mycingular.com http://www.cingular.com/sendamessage
Nextel number@messaging.nextel.com http://messaging.nextel.com/
Qwest number@qwestmp.com http://www.qwestmp.com/
Sprint PCS number@messaging.sprintpcs.com http://messaging.sprintpcs.com/
T-Mobile number@tmomail.net http://www.t-mobile.com/messaging/
Verizon number@vtext.com http://www.vtext.com/
Virgin Mobile Canada number@vmobile.ca
Virgin Mobile U.S.A. number@vmobl.com
Vodacom South Africa number@voda.co.za http://www.vodacom4me.co.za/
(registration required"
A program that makes use of some types of gateways:
http://www.mawnet.com/sms/manual.html
This program lets you send free messages:
http://www.stumbleinside.com/
I also came across this SMS modem, which is completely unnecessary
with the right software and is a SCAM:
http://www.openxtra.co.uk/product.php/78/1/
Hope this answers your question! Please let me know if you need any
further clarification. Thanks for choosing Google! Answers!
-- bookface-ga |
Request for Answer Clarification by
sigepjedi-ga
on
21 Aug 2006 11:46 PDT
However, none of these options would allow for a dedicated short code
which would allow for users to respond to text messages. Please take a
look at twitter.com
I am looking for the ability to send text messages from a dedicated
shortcode, allowing for the ability to also receive text replys to
this shortcode. This also needs to be cost effective, as send/reply
messages could easily get out of control.
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
sigepjedi-ga
on
21 Aug 2006 12:02 PDT
Also, got an answer from one of the guys at twitter.
Though he would not disclose who they used, he said it was one of the following:
Simplewire, Mobile365, and mblocks
After looking into these companies, their services are expensive from
a small budget perspective.
|
Clarification of Answer by
bookface-ga
on
30 Aug 2006 16:03 PDT
I apologize heartily for both misunderstanding the question and for my
delay in responding to your clarification request. (My father was in
the hospital for a week or so -- he's okay, but as you can imagine I
was distracted from some of my other obligations.)
I see now that I did not fully understand your question. I don't have
an answer for you at the moment, but I have placed several inquiries
with companies that do provide bulk SMS with a dedicated shortcode for
incoming and outgoing messages. At this point I do not believe any of
these services are available without a per-message charge; however,
they are deliberately ambigious in order to leave room for negotation.
I will update you again when I hear back from them.
I don't know what your timeframe is, and understanding that I have hit
some delays in giving a response, I would like to inform you that
refunds or reposts may be requested at:
https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=refundrequest
Your question ID is 754254.
However, if you are willing to take a bit longer and continue this
process, I will do my best to find the appropriate service provider
for your needs and get back to you, and my apologies for the delay.
-- bookface-ga
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
sigepjedi-ga
on
31 Aug 2006 07:28 PDT
Thanks for your reply....
I will continue to wait!
Thanks!
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
sigepjedi-ga
on
06 Oct 2006 12:24 PDT
Still waiting on this answer.......
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
sigepjedi-ga
on
21 Nov 2006 14:04 PST
Here is another site/company that is doing something similar to twiter:
http://www.saynow.com/index.html
how can they afford to offer these free text messages?
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