

Ask HN: Adding SMS Integration to Web App - code_devil

I am developing a web application(using codeigniter) and want SMS integration so data can be queried over a cell phone in US. Do I need to talk to the phone service providers ? How does it work ?
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wave
Cheapest way <http://www.textmarks.com>

Also been discussed in the following posts:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=224324>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=211853>

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markbao
If you're looking to receive data through SMS, like Twitter does (through
sending a SMS to 40404 to post to your account) you'll need a SMS short code.

For a selected shortcode they run about $1000 a month, while a random
shortcode might run around $500 a month, in the US.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_code>

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chrisbolt
You can use an SMS gateway like <http://www.clickatell.com/>

~~~
nasser
Our service (frucall.com) heavily relies on SMS, and I had very bad experience
with ClickATell. While their web site looks pretty legit, their service is
very unreliable (and by the way they never sent us the refund after we
canceled with them).

It is important to notice that 2-Way SMS in the US has strict regulations -
you have to use a short code, otherwise your service is considered illegal and
the carriers can shut you down. ClickATel does not operate based on
shortcodes, they use SMS modems which is basically a way to hook up a cellular
line to a computer and intercept SMS messages.

There's quite a bit of details that one should be aware of if one wants to run
a business grade SMS service in the US due to the way carriers control the SMS
traffic. If there's interest from the readers I'll be more than glad to write
down some of the details.

~~~
meredydd
If you wouldn't mind, I'd find that very useful. I live and work in non-US
markets, and US carriers' behaviour strikes me as idiosyncratic and frankly
bizarre :)

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phpdev
I recommend <http://zong.com/>

They have an API.

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pjackson
Most carriers have integrated SMS-to-email. If you can bother your users to
send their SMS messages to an email address instead of a shortcode or NPA-NXX
style number, you'll be way better off in terms of integration and cost.

This only works if you know the carrier that your user uses, because
presumably you have to route a reply back to them through an email-to-SMS
gateway.

I don't personally know of any frameworks in PHP that will help you, but for
Rails there are SMSFu and MMS2R, both of which are good at handling gateway
SMS traffic.

You might peek at their code to see how they did it. Both are MIT Licensed.

~~~
code_devil
Thanks ... I will definitely take a peek on it.

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laxman
I am developing a web application using php language.I want to integration sms
in my website.what should i do?cost is no problem?

------
schtog
Related/similar: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=224324>

