Make your IT system reliable
There are several options in an SMS gateway
to ensure the reliability and security of your corporate IT system. In this
article you can read about how you can make your IT environment more reliable
if you decide to build an SMS system.
Introduction
If you decide to add SMS functionality to your corporate IT
environment, you need to consider reliability and safety of your system as they
are essential issues in a corporate IT infrastructure.
Especially in corporate IT systems it is inevitable that the system has to work
properly and at the same time it is necessary to be secure, reliable and stable.
SMS technology has several benefits that can be noticed immediately after its
implementation. When you use SMS technology you can further improve corporate
communication and you can do this time and cost efficiently. Moreover,
your company also will be up-to-date and more attractive to customers
and business partners. With this solution you can ensure reliability and
security; and you can send and receive SMS messages even if you are on the move.
You will always be available in case of emergency
or critical problems. Furthermore, you can reach anybody in case of problems as
SMS messages are sent to given mobile phones. Beside sending important
information and notices, SMS technology can be used in several other actions. For
example, for sending news letters, promotions, notifications, alerts, etc.
These are the obvious advantages of using SMS technology.
On the other hand there are further issues that can be guaranteed by the use
of the proper SMS software. You can achieve these benefits if you setup a
powerful SMS gateway software. This software
will provide SMS extension to your IT system and ensure other benefits. This
article explains these further issues and improvements.
Reliable, long-term, fail-safe SMS systems
There are large companies that are in contact with several
customers, business partners and even their own employees. These corporations
operate with hundreds of SMS messages per day. In these cases it is inevitable
that their IT system needs to work in a reliable way. Beside reliability
the long-term fail-safe operation, safety, high performance, and manageability
are important options for companies and even for SMS service providers.
To achieve these properties you need a well-functioning and stable SMS gateway
software such as Ozeki NG SMS Gateway. Now you can read about how this software
can satisfy these various demands.
Businesses operating with large numbers of SMS messages want a well-functioning
system. In this way they especially want to avoid SMS losses. Ozeki NG SMS
Gateway has been
designed to be able to prevent these losses. This excellent function is due to
the fact that solutions for the possible difficulties that can occur during
SMS and MMS sending has been worked out. Therefore the software is able to
handle the temporary connection breaks with the mobile network, temporary
overladen, or the cases originate from false data input of the user.
Though it needs to be
mentioned that if you want a well-functioning and stable system then it is
recommended to use a high-quality hardware. In case of GSM modem connectivity
industrial GSM modems are proper for operating without faults in long-terms.
We recommend a Wavecom Fastrack, a Maestro, or
a Siemens modem to use.
On the other hand, traditional mobile phones are not recommended to setup a
high-capacity SMS system. During the use of such handset devices there can
be several problems with the batteries or with the unstable software of the
device. This instability is due to the fact that there are too many functions
have been integrated in the software. The software of industrial GSM modems is
simple and optimized for long-term operation. In case of GSM modem connection
it is also very important that the program should use the resources of
computers economically. It is especially important if you want a long-term
operation without faults. To avoid these problems Ozeki NG SMS Gateway rotates
the logfiles of the system. During this rotation it is able to delete the old
SMS messages from the system. In this way it makes place for the new messages
and the hard disc will never be fulled.
Clustering, redundancy
Redundancy is another option of a reliable IT system. With
this solution you can setup a stable and a constantly functioning system.
The aim of setup clusters is to eliminate hardware errors. In a cluster there
are several computers to operate. If one member of the cluster goes wrong then
an other computer takes over the operation. In this way you can minimize
shutdowns. Ozeki NG SMS gateway supports the setup of clusters containing two
or even more computers. You can do it with the clustering service of Windows.
This function is available in the windows server operational system.
Redundant SMS service provider connections
In a system with high capacity it is important to develop a
redundant service provider connection. In practice it means that there needs to
be at least two connections between the service provider and the SMS gateway.
If there is a break in one of the connections then the system can operate
on another connection. In this way this function makes a constant workflow
possible. In Ozeki NG SMS gateway there is an automatic, built-in backup routing
function. This function makes it possible to notice the line breakage
automatically. Therefore, the system can automatically switch to another
operating connection. This connection can be a GSM modem or an IP SMS connection.
This automatic backup routing functionality makes it possible to notice if the
broken network connection is operable again. In this case it sets back the
service to the original connection.
The configuration of a high safety level VPN connection
Safety is another important aspect of a reliable SMS
communication system. If you want to setup a system with high-quality but at
the same time you want a secure system you need to do the follows. In these
cases we recommend to setup an IP SMS connection
through a VPN channel with the mobile service provider. This VPN connection can
be setup with L2TP and PPTP. With the help of VPN connection you can connect
your IT system to the mobile network over the Internet or a leased line, which
is in direct connection with the service provider. This connection uses IP SMS
protocols (such as SMPP, UCP/EMI, CIMD2, HTTP). These are setup for TCP/IP
transfer and they make it possible to transfer "keepalive" messages. These
messages makes it possible to keep alive the connection. In Ozeki NG SMS Gateway
you can configure this "keepalive" interval freely.
Encryption, firewalls
There are further aspects of safety: the user authentication
and the secure handling of the accessibility of the user interface. Therefore
Ozeki NG SMS gateway stores the user password encrypted. The encryption process
has been setup on the basis of MD5 technology. By default the user interface of
the program is available from a web browser. This web browser connection can be
setup through an encrypted HTTPS channel. To this HTTPS connection you can
freely assign the digital signature of the administrator. This digital
signature will function as a server certificate. Furthermore, you can control
the accessibility of the user interface. You can do this with the use of an
external firewall or you can install one on your computer. In this firewall
you can determine which port can be accessed from which IP address.
Load share among more SMS service provider connections
If there are more than one service providers then you can
configure a load share among the service provider connections.
You can do this if you connect the service provider connections together. In
practice it means that the capacity of the two or more connections are added
together. In this way the whole transfer capacity can be increased. It can be
important in cases when you need to transmit a huge amount of SMS messages
within a short period of time to the service provider. The load share function
of Ozeki NG SMS Gateway increases the error margins. It means that if this load
share function is set and one of the participant connection is broken, then
the whole loading is switched to the remaining operable connections. Due to this
function the service remains operable only with a lowered capacity until the
line breakage is restored again.
Manageability
Ozeki NG SMS Gateway is easy to integrate into various
installation manager software systems. It is possible because it has a standard
MSI installation package. After the installation the Ozeki NG SMS Gateway
software can be connected to network management systems which support SNMP.
The status of the connection with mobile service providers also can be
monitored via SNMP. Therefore, you can be informed about line breakage and can
query other important system parameters.
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