

SMS Gateway Comparison: SMSGlobal Vs Tropo - dwilkie
http://dcwilkie.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/sms-gateway-comparison-smsglobal-vs-tropo/

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patio11
Twilio has been a dream for SMS implementation, though I don't think they are
appropriate if you need SMS outside Canada / the US at the moment. Their
customer service is quite nice, too.

Words cannot describe how crazy I think picking a platform based on $10 of
costs for development is, by the way.

~~~
jeffiel
Thanks Patio. BTW, do you know who the blogger is who wrote the review? I'm
curious to know his background, as this is the only post on his blog, and this
is his only HN post. Seems a bit odd.

-jeff twilio.com

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akalsey
Jeff,

His name's David Wilkie (not betraying any confidence - he lists his name in
those email threads he posted).

I don't know him personally, but he's been a regular in our IRC channel over
the last couple of months. I believe he's a web developer living in Vietnam.
Why do you ask?

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nir
[shameless plug]

If you have an Android phone around, you can just run your own gateway from
it: <http://kalsms.net>

Put an unlimited SMS plan SIM card in the phone, scan the QR image, configure
two settings and you're done, anywhere in the world.

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corin_
I personally like <http://www.tm4b.com>

Never used it in anything with enough volume to care about a cent or two here
and there, the API is excellent, and incoming messages work a treat too.

Related: I also like <http://tringme.com/> for actual calls, although their
documentation and support is terrific (or was when I checked), their service
is pretty good once you understand how the hell to use it.

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iwr
The cheapest small-traffic solution I've found is to hook one or more phones
to a PC and communicate with them via Hayes AT commands. Can look a little
hacky, but once you have the box set up, you don't have to worry anymore.
Switching "gateways" is the same as switching sim cards.

~~~
vampirical
I'm always a bit surprised this doesn't some up more often in these
discussions. I used to use little serial GSM/GPRS modems anytime I needed to
handle SMS, and that was while working for a voip company with lots of
infrastructure in place for that kind of thing (the modems always won based on
simplicity, speed, and consistency).

At the small scale spending $100 or so to have an unlimited test system seems
comparable, and for large scale I'd much rather be buying a few unlimited SMS
plans than paying per message. If the wireless provider supports SMS over GPRS
you can do something like 30/min so you may never need more than one modem and
sim. I wonder if it is just the barrier to entry, since you have to know that
such a thing is possible and hunt down hardware/software to fit your needs
rather than just buying in to one of these companies' pitches.

~~~
akalsey
There's lots of do it yourself ways to do SMS. You can also grow all your own
food, but grocery stores tend to be the more popular option.

Companies choose to work with an SMS provider because they don't want to have
to solve uptime, scale, and service issues themselves.

When you're small, running your company on a web server under your desk
connected to your cable modem probably works just fine. Doing the equivalent
with SMS might make sense at that stage, too. As you grow, your needs change.

One thing to note is that in the US, "unlimited" plans aren't actually
unlimited. Read the fine print on your contracts. Carriers define a limit to
the number of messages they consider to be reasonable use. It's a soft limit,
so they don't immediately block or ban you for going over once in a while. But
if you do it consistently, they'll start to charge for the overage.

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dmpayton
Has anyone used Tropo in a serious capacity? I'm currently using Twilio for
SMS, but Tropo's integration with various IM services and very slightly
cheaper SMS pricing may be compelling enough for me to switch.

~~~
akalsey
I'm Tropo's product manager. We've got quite a few companies using Tropo in
significant capacity. In fact, because of our ability to scale and telephony
expertise (Tropo's a product from Voxeo, the largest worldwide voice
application host), we regularly see customers switch from other providers to
Tropo.

