What is an SMS Gateway?

Posted by TeleOss on January 30th, 2020

Among the issues with SMS messaging is the variation in the development of SMSCs by separate firms. As a result of this, a different communication protocol which is peculiar to each firm is being used for its SMSCs. For instance, A firm called CMG uses EMI has its communication protocol, whereas, Nokia uses CIMD.

So how do we connect these SMSCs with different communication protocols together? To solve this, an SMS gateway is placed, which serves as an electrical relay/passage between the two SMSCs, translating one protocol to another. The SMS gateway allows two separate wireless carriers to interlink their SMSCs for operations such as exchanging SMS messages between inter-operators.

Apart from wireless carriers, SMS software developers and content providers may also need to use SMS gateway in some specific situations. For example, if an SMS software provider needs to send and receive SMSes with its software, it needs to connect its server to the SMSCs of a wireless carrier through an SMS gateway. However, for the SMS software to be able to send/receive SMSes from different SMSCs, it’ll also need to support more than a single SMSC’s communication protocol. Thereby, increasing the development time and complexity of the SMS gateway software.

To do away with these complexities--increase in development time--an SMS gateway may be easily fixed-in to manage the connections between SMSCs. When the fixing has been done, the SMS software will now only have to link up with the SMS gateway. To make the SMS gateway support several SMSCs, some modifications we’ll be done to its settings. There are no necessary changes to be done to the SMS software source code.

In order to establish a connection with an SMS gateway, various protocols can be used, such as CIMD and SMPP. HTTP/HTTPS interface is also supported by some SMS gateways. The HTTP/HTPPS interface, however, has lesser features but easier to manage when compared to SMSC protocols. For instance, as an SMS reseller, you need to send picture messages via HTTP/HTTPS interface, this won’t be possible on some SMS gateway.

Apart from connecting directly to the wireless carrier’s SMSC, there is another way of sending and receiving SMS messages via a computer system. And that is by using a GSM/GPRS modem or mobile phones. In order to get this done, your SMS messaging app has to know how to intercommunicate with the GSM/GPRS modem or mobile phone using AT command lines.

A few SMS gateways have the ability to manage connections done to GSM/GPRS modems and mobile phones. However, in order to send SMS messages and receive them through a GSM/GPRS modem or mobile phone, the SMS gateway software just has to know how the communication process we’ll be done to the SMS gateway without minding the AT commands.