How to become an SMS service provider
Ozeki NG SMS Gateway is a perfect platform for SMS service providers. It
has a built in SMSC, that makes it possible to sell SMS services for corporate
clients and it has advanced interfaces that can be used to create in-house
SMS content services such as Voting, Quiz games, etc... .
Figure 1 - IP SMS link to the SMSC of SMS Service Providers
Setting up an IP SMS link
Figure 1. illustrates the most common architecture for SMS service providers. On
the diagram please take a look at the links between the two SMSCs and the Ozeki
NG SMS Gateway. This link is called the IP SMS service provider connection. If
you wish to create a professional SMS system, the first thing you should do is
to connect your Ozeki NG - SMS Gateway directly to the Short Message Service
Center (SMSC) of one or more GSM Mobile Network operators (or independent SMS
Service providers) using an IP SMS connection.
These connection(s) will be used to deliver the messages to the mobile users.
IP SMS connections use the Internet to send large volume of messages directory
to the SMSC. The connection(s) between your system and the GSM Mobile Network
operators will use one of the common IP SMS protocols: CIMD2, UCP, SMPP. The
protocol to use depends on the SMSC interface of the Mobile Network Operator.
For example a Nokia SMSC will accept connections over the CIMD2 protocol. Ozeki
NG supports all of these protocols.
Hint: To be able to setup an IP SMS link, you need to sign an agreement with
the Mobile Network operator. To find the appropriate representative at the
Mobile Network Operator, you should ask for the person responsible for High
Volume SMS messaging.
Hint: Sometimes, the IP SMS connection between your system and the SMSC is
protected by a Virtual Private Network (VPN). To setup a VPN you might need a
Cisco VPN router.
Creating SMS content services
After the IP SMS link is setup your system can be used to create SMS content
services and SMS applications.
Figure 2 - SMS Voting, SMS games, and other SMS content services
Content services are usually applications that interact with users. In most
cases these applications serve mobile users automatically. The mobile users
send SMS messages to the system, the application receives these messages,
processes them and optionally generates an automatic response. These
applications are called data query applications. Other applications, can
send alerts to mobile users about various events, for example security
events, stock market events, credit card transactions. These applications
are called notification applications. If you want to run several applications
on your system at the same time, you can install a content server to increase
performance (Figure 2.). A
content server is responsible for routing the incoming and outgoing messages
to/from the appropriate application(s) and for maintaining statistics
and extracting nice and useful reports for the system administrator.
Hint: The content server functionality is optional.
Serving corporate clients
Ozeki NG SMS Gateway has a high performance SMSC built in. This enables you
to setup SMPP user accounts and to become an SMS service provider. As an
SMS service provider you can accept IP SMS connections initiated
by your customers, who want to use your SMS service.
Figure 3 - Built in SMSC, SMS Users over SMPP
Figure 3 demonstrates, that the built in SMSC enables you to sell SMS services
to your customers. Once you have this service in place your customers do not
have to buy the SMS service from a GSM Mobile Network Operator, they can buy it
from you. Since Mobile Network Operators often react slowly to customer requests
and often the connection setup and maintenance costs are high, it can be
benefitial for your customers to connect to your service instead of the IP
SMS service offered
by a Mobile Network Operator. Ozeki NG supports billing and accounting, message
routing, customer based logging and advanced user account management to support
you in providing SMS service to your corporate clients.
Hint: Corporate clients can connect through the Internet or through a leased line.
Related:
Full size system
architecture in .jpg format.
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