Here's what industry insiders say about SMPP SMS gateway

An SMPP SMS gateway is one of the most widely used SMS gateways in the world. It is often preferred by many business owners due to the distinct technical advantages that they provide. The distinct technical advantages offered by this gateway have naturally increased the demand for an SMPP Provider that can help business firms to send bulk quantities of SMS messages for their own requirements. The acronym SMPP actually stands for “Short Message Peer to Peer Protocol”. The SMPP SMS Gateway is used for sending and receiving messages to and from GSM, iDEN, UMTS, TDMA and CDMA cell phones. SMPP is a level-7 TCP/IP protocol and it is widely known for facilitating faster delivery of SMS messages.

By using the SMPP protocol for sending SMS messages instead of using a GSM modem, one can have the following advantages:

• Since the SMPP messaging protocol is based on TCP/IP, there is no need for GSM hardware;
• The users can send SMSs to only a simple short code, which is not possible while sending SMS to a standard GSM phone;
• The SMPP messaging protocol provides with high throughput (up to around 200 messages per second); 
• It is also possible to assign an alphanumeric sender address with the SMPP messaging protocol

SMPP is extensively used by various business clients for connecting to a Short Message Service Centre or SMSC. In SMPP terms, a client is known as Extended Short Message Entity or ESME. The SMSC's can even exchange data by using a reliable SMPP connection. The messages that are sent to the SMSC are known as Mobile Terminated or MT messages, since they are directly sent to the mobile phone. The messages that are received from the SMSC are known as Mobile Originated or MO messages as they originate from the sender’s mobile phone.

When an ESME chooses to establish a connection by using an SMPP SMS Gateway, it can be accomplished in three modes. These include the Transmitter, where the ESME entity can only submit the messages to a SMSC; the Receiver, where the ESME entity can only receive the messages or the delivery reports from a SMSC; and the Transceiver, where the EMSE entity can send as well as receive the messages to/from the SMSC.

There are a number of applications for which the SMPP SMS gateway solutions can be used:

• For sending voicemail alerts to the mobile users;
• To aid in information services, like sending traffic jam alerts, stock exchanges alerts or the weather forecasts;
• For sending SMS notifications to the mobile users when the server is down; they can also be used for sending SMS messages that perform specific functions;
• It can be used for sending MMS notifications, particularly when the users pay for Java applications and ringtones, the download location can be send by a WAP Push message or MMS notification;
• It can be used for the purpose of voting and for processing votes from the mobile users;
• For telemetry applications

15 tips to avoid failure in SMS gateway

An SMS marketing campaign is one of the best ways in which you can promote your business and take it to the next level. Here are some tips that will help you to avoid failures as you use an SMS gateway server service to take your business to the highest levels of success.

• Make sure that you grow your company’s opt-in list with the help of proper consent methods. Do not send your SMS marketing campaigns to those who do not opt for it as that can only get you a bad press. To achieve the maximum success in your marketing campaigns, it is important that you are aware of the rules and regulations associated with SMS marketing.
• Always make use of a simple and clear call to action (CTA) message to get users do what you want them to do. Stay away from any confusing messages as it will never help you to get the most from your SMS gateway. 
• Always stick to your company’s campaign strategy. This means that if you have settled for sending 2 messages in every week; make sure that it does not exceed that limit.
• To make sure that the marketing campaign is able to produce the desired results, it is necessary to send the message at the best hours of the day. Since the time zones in different parts of the world vary, the marketing SMSs should be sent in the working hours of the day and not on improper hours.
• The SMS campaigns should not contain bulky messages. They should be short, simple and to the point.
• It is important to use the name of the brand and the product as much as possible since it encourages the prospective customer to take an interest in the business.
• The SMS gateway solutions must be chosen wisely so that they provide sufficient flexibility in planning the marketing campaigns.
• With SMS, a brand can gain extensive reach as well as build lasting relationships. Therefore it is necessary to come up with a highly effective strategy for building the database and optimizing a campaign in real-time through metrics.
• While you will need to get yourself a reliable SMS gateway provider to ensure the maximum efficiency of your campaigns, you should avoid the whole DIY approach and hire the help of a professional SMS marketing expert who can help you to generate the maximum ROI.
• Make sure that you are clear about the financial resources that you have before you start with an SMS campaign as this will help you to plan your actions in the best possible way.
• Opt for an SMS gateway server that can deliver a large number of SMSs within a very short time. The server should also offer fast delivery services to ensure the success of your campaigns.
• Avoid sending the same type of messages repeatedly as it only serves to put off your customers.
• Make sure that your marketing content is unique enough so that it generates greater interest in your brand.
• Plan your SMS content in such a way that you can say more by putting in less number of words. This never fails to garner the desired response from the customers.
• Formulate your SMS content according to the individual desires and preferences of your target customers. 

The problem with SMS aggregators

SMS aggregators offer the means for companies to connect to multiple operators, SMS hubs, SMS whole sellers and other SMS aggregators and deliver targeted SMSs to all existing and prospective clients. While these aggregators surely do play an important role in ensuring success for a marketing campaign, it is necessary to choose a reliable service provider without which the campaign would just fall flat on its face without producing the desired results. Poor quality SMS aggregator can lead to SMS delay and even non-delivery of the SMS messages. They can also provide with unreliable delivery reports. Such issues can lead to client dissatisfaction as well as drop in the SMS volume which can lead to reduced market profits and shares.

There are a number of problems that can emerge due to the use of poor quality server SMS gateway solutions. Some of them are discussed below in brief. 

• It is often difficult to achieve a routing module which can manage multiple Gateway connections while at the same time remain scalable and reliable enough for handling the ever increasing volumes of SMS messages.

• An SMS gateway solution finding it difficult to handle high SMS Volume (TPM and/or TPS)

• An efficient and experienced technical team, whether outsourced or in-house that can come up with a scalable platform having detailed controlling features set at the GUI level.

• Poor quality SMS programs invariably giving rise to a time consuming process of identifying the gateway that is mainly causing the problems and the best corrective actions needed to rectify such issues.

• The inability to immediately detect whether there are any issues with the services, unless a client reports about non delivery issues or other problems.

• The lack of automation while dealing with the routing of gateways in the case of a downtime and other situation based scenarios, leading to loss of time in resolving issues and also needing to change the routing manually every time.

• Absence of the necessary operation handling resources through the GUI is another major problem with program SMS gateway solutions. In most cases, it is necessary to access the Source Code which can be a major time consuming ordeal. The solutions are also delayed while dealing with a time critical environment.

• The inability to monitor, track and control SMS Traffic resulting from the user, thereby getting them segregated according to various plans and eventually routing them through gateways.

• Excessive involvement of the support team for handling downtime and resolving problems, thus increasing time and cost of human resource as well as losing valuable clients in the way. 

To manage such difficulties, it is always necessary to get an SMS gateway program from the start that provides with good speed as well as Multiple Gateway Connections HTTP or SMPP. The program should also be able to autoroute the SMSs from the main gateway to another in case the former is experiencing downtime. The GUI of the program should also be enabled with features that offer the scope of fast handling of issues.