Receive SMS messages by web application

Question

We are building a web app that should be able to receive SMS messages and store the information contained in it in database.

Which methods have you used? Which service providers are out there that can assist?

Answer 1

http://www.clickatell.com/ are massive and it works exactly like it says on the tin. You pay for a phone number and sms messages sent to that end up hitting a URL on your site to deliver them just like someone posting a form.

Answer 2

I haven't done it yet, but I guess you could also setup an Asterisk system on your server, then get a regular VOIP acccount (which Asterisk hooks into) and configure the Asterisk server to forward all SMS to your application. This article might help setting up the Asterisk server.

Answer 3

+1 on sebastian i was jsut writting pretty much the same

if you are working with ruby you might want to have a look at adhearsion

Answer 4

I've had experience using MX Telecom as an SMS Gateway. Essentially they posted data to our web service every time we received an incoming SMS. The application in question was also sending SMS messages as well and we just did an http GET to a web page of theirs.

I can't speak to the business end (i.e. cost), as I was just in charge of implementing the features - but working with an SMS gateway is really very simple from a development perspective.

Answer 5

I'd recommend using a service such as TextMarks. TextMarks is free, and lets you pick a keyword for your service that allows users to route messages to you through TextMarks' shared short code, 41411. The only catch here is that they reserve 20 characters in each message for short advertisements to pay for their services.

If you ever outgrow their ad-sponsored services, you can upgrade to a premium version that doesn't include ads.

Answer 6

you can try : the integration code from SMSIntegra

Answer 7

You can use SMS gateway software which will receive SMS messages through a GSM or 3G modem connected to a PC and POST them to your website via HTTP. Eg: SmsEnabler.com

Answer 8

Another (cheaper) alternative is to have your users send text messages to an email address like [email protected]. Then you can have a background thread that's looking at the email account and puts the messages into the database.

I've implemented and tested this approach with major US carriers with everything from smart phones to pay-as-you-go "crappy" phones without a hitch.

When the user sends the SMS to your email address you get the SMS email gateway address (e.g. [email protected]) so you can send response messages.

The only downside is that it's a bit more difficult to find the "send to email address" options on most phones, but it is (basically) free for you. This is especially helpful for reducing costs while testing out workflows. Those ~3 cents for each SMS add up pretty quickly, especially during automated testing.

When you want to support SMS numbers you can configure most SMS gateways to send an email to an address, so you won't have to change your infrastructure to support a "real" SMS messages.