

Ask HN: How to setup a custom query & response SMS server? - gates2010

Here is what I am trying to do: A user sends a sms to a number with a certain key-word, the server would respond immediately with relevant info.<p>Similar to the Bank of America text banking, you type and send the word "BAL" to the BoA Text banking number and it responds with your balance.<p>How is this setup?
Thank you.
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zachster
This is a big topic. If you want users to respond to a shortcode (like 40404),
you have to register that and pay a monthly fee for it's use ($500 -
$1000/mo). If you go that route, you probably want to pay a mobile aggregator
like mBlox to manage the connection for you. They have an API and you can
integrate that into your application.

If you don't mind using a long code (10 digit normal phone number), you can do
it with a GSM modem hooked directly to your server. But that has some
redundancy and reliability issues. There is free software to support this
though: <http://www.kannel.org/> <http://www.gnokii.org/>

If you don't mind your users needing to use a keyword at the beginning of all
your messages, like "BofA BAL", you can use a shared shortcode. That's a lot
cheaper and there are a bunch of providers who can supply that service.

Sorry there's not too much specific here. It's a big topic. But if you google
around using some of these terms, you should find more info. Or respond back
with some more specific questions.

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gates2010
Appreciate the response. This is great starting point. Thank you for all the
info.

