Connect your IT system to the mobile network
In the previous article we have discussed,
why
it is recommended to use an SMS gateway in your company if you wish to send
and receive mobile text messages (SMS). This article gives you information about
the possible alternatives you can select from, when you connect your corporate
system
to the mobile network. In general two main areas are covered: a wireless
connection to the mobile network and an Internet based connection.
Introduction
With SMS communication technology you can improve the
communication in your company. You will be able to send and receive SMS
messages from your IT system which makes it possible to improve the efficiency
of your business communication. SMS messages are fast and simple ways of
communication.
With the help of them important messages can be sent in any time. There is a
very important advantage of SMS communication: you can always send your messages
to the mobile phone of the competent people. Which means, you can reach them
any time no matter where they are.
To achieve these features you need to setup an SMS
gateway software. This software will make it possible to send and receive
SMS messages from your IT environment. After you have installed your SMS gateway,
you need to
connect it to the mobile network. In this article you can read about how you can
do these connections.
Wireless connection
To connect your SMS gateway to the mobile network you can use
a wireless connection.
In practice it means that you attach a GSM device to
your computer and you will use this to connect to the mobile network.
The GSM device can be a GSM modem or a mobile phone. You also need an
RS232
data cable or
USB
cable to attach the GSM device to the computer. You can also
use
Infrared
or BlueTooth
connection, but you should keep in mind that cable connections are more reliable.
A SIM card is also necessary, it can be obtained from any mobile network operator.
The SIM card is inserted into the device and it will give you the mobile phone
number, that you can use to operate. After you have plugged everything together
the SMS gateway will control the GSM device and will use it to send and receive
SMS messages. Please take a look at the following video to see how you can attach
a GSM modem to your computer to setup a wireless SMS connection to the mobile
network.
IP SMS connection
The other possibility to connect the SMS gateway to the mobile
network is the
IP SMS connection. It means that you connect
the SMS gateway
directly to the Short Message Service Center (SMSC) of the mobile service
provider over the
Internet or a leased line. In this case the SMS messages are sent directly to
to the SMSC of the service provider through TCP/IP. To connect to the service
provider's SMSC
you need a contract with them and you will be given their IP address, port
number, a username and a password. If you setup an IP SMS connection, the
SMS gateway software will manage the link and will convert your messages
to and from the appropriate SMS protocol (CIMD2, UCP, SMPP, HTTP, etc).
Operating multiple connections simultaneously
In some systems there can be demand
for increased message throughput, redundancy or logical separation of services.
In these cases you can setup more than one connection to the mobile network and
you can have your SMS gateway manage these connections simultaneously. Multiple
connections are often used if high capacity is needed or if you want to increase
operation safety, cost-effectiveness, functional separation of services,
or for regional localization. In practice more than one connection means
that the gateway simultaneously manages more than one GSM device. Or in case
of IP SMS connection it communicates using multiple IP links with one or more
SMS service providers. Of course your gateway can operate wireless and IP SMS
connections at the same time.
Multiple connections to the mobile network give you the ability to setup
least cost routing.
For example, if you have least cost routing setup, and
there are three mobile service providers in your country then your company can
connect to all of
their SMSC through a dedicated link. You can do this if you connect to them
using three modems with three different SIM cards or if you setup 3 different
IP SMS links. With a least cost routing setup you can direct messages to the
appropriate mobile network based on telephone number prefix. With this setup
you can save
money if we assume that sending SMS messages within a network of a service
provider is cheaper. (Ozeki NG SMS Gateway can be used to setup least cost
routing.)
With multiple connections you can gain other advantages, such as
backup
routing.
It is a common practice to use an IP SMS connection and a
wireless GSM modem connection on the SMS gateway at the same time. With this
setup you can use the wireless link as a backup connection. In case the IP SMS
connection goes down for any reason, the wireless link can take over. This
solution helps you avoid SMS losses and delivery problems and allows you to
achieve better service levels. (You can configure backup routing in the outbound
routing table of Ozeki NG SMS Gateway.)
Some companies setup multiple links to increase the message throughput of their
system. For this purpose load balancing needs to be configured. In a load
balancing configuration the messages are distributed evenly on the available
connections. If one of the connections fail, the others take over.
(Load balancing is also handled by Ozeki NG SMS Gateway.
Ozeki NG SMS Gateway for mobile network connection
Ozeki NG SMS Gateway
can be properly used in the above
mentioned ways. It supports all the possible connections and configurations. In
case of more than one connections inbound routing and outbound routing tables
can be used to make sure SMS messages will end up where they should. In the
software the mobile network connection options can be configured easily and
operate very reliable. It does not matter whether you use a
wireless GSM modem or an IP SMS connection because it functions in an excellent
way with both options.
Ozeki NG SMS Gateway is able to do the above mentioned tasks in the following
way:
In case of GSM modem connection the gateway software manages the modem
with the use of AT commands. The software reads the incoming SMS messages from
the modem and also sends the outgoing messages. In case of IP SMS connection
the SMS gateway uses the appropriate TCP/IP based SMS protocol which is
necessary to communicate with the mobile network. It transmits the messages
to the SMSC of the service provider and receives the incoming delivery reports
and messages. Ozeki NG SMS Gateway is also prepared to handle problems originating
from network overload, connection breakdowns and other errors. Ozeki NG SMS gateway
manages these problems in a way that all of the SMS messages will be forwarded
if possible and if not the end user will be notified about the error cause.
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