Send MMS Message from PHP Script
Note: For additional APIs for sending and receiving SMS and MMS messages, please see our Developer APIs for SMS + MMS page. Back in 2003, we posted an example PHP script for sending MMS via NowSMS on our discussion board at https://nowsms.com/discus/messages/1/1113.html. While this script has worked well over the years, it has a serious limitation in that it does not support SSL/TLS. Version 2...
Read MoreSend SMS from PHP Script
Note: For additional APIs for sending and receiving SMS and MMS messages, please see our Developer APIs for SMS + MMS page. Back in 2003, we posted an example PHP script for sending SMS via NowSMS on our discussion board at https://nowsms.com/discus/messages/1/867.html. While this script has worked well over the years, it has a serious limitation in that it does not support SSL/TLS. Version 2 of...
Read More2-way SMS access to Microsoft Office, Excel and VBScript
NowSMS 2-way applications are usually built on web technologies, using PHP or ASP.Net scripting. But we do get a fair number of support questions from customers who want to use VBScript. The advantage of VBScript is that there are numerous examples available for interfacing with Microsoft Office, especially Excel, and no extra programming tools or environments are required. As a starting point...
Read MoreSend WAP Push and Binary SMS with Android phone as modem
We’ve posted an interim release of Now SMS/MMS with some additional features requested by customers using Android phones as modems. It should be noted that most Android modems do not support special binary SMS message types such as WAP Push. This update adds support for binary SMS message types with Android modems, but only for HTC phones, or rooted phones, as described below. Version...
Read MoreNowSMS Compatibility with Verizon & Sprint
One of the major benefits of supporting Android modems is compatibility with CDMA and LTE based networks. For years, US based customers have asked us about modems that can support Verizon and Sprint. NowSMS has long supported GSM modems. GSM modems are specialized devices that accept a SIM card, and connect to a GSM-based mobile network, but are designed to be used by applications and other...
Read MoreEditing Distribution Lists and Address Books in NowSMS
One feature of NowSMS that is not very well documented is distribution lists. Distribution lists are part of the NowSMS web interface, but they are also available for use by other applications. It is possible to send a bulk SMS message to all of the phone numbers in a distribution list via direct URL submission without using the built-in NowSMS web forms. To keep your distribution lists...
Read MoreSMPP Character Set Issues
This article provides troubleshooting advice when sending SMS messages with NowSMS and experiencing one or more of the following issues: a.) Some characters such as @, $, £ or € are not correct. b.) Some or all messages are truncated or garbage (possibly only messages over a certain length). c.) Some accented characters are not correct (è, é, etc.) d.) Some or all Greek characters are not...
Read MoreMobile Operator MMSC APN & Settings (Updated)
The Now SMS & MMS Gateway can use a GSM/GPRS or 3G/UMTS/WCDMA modem to send and receive MMS messages via an operator MMSC. In this type of configuration, there is no special setup requirement required by the mobile operator. The Now SMS & MMS Gateway sends and receives MMS messages using the same protocol that is used by the MMS client in a mobile phone, so it simply requires that the SIM...
Read MoreNowWAP and HTTP Header Enrichment (HHE)
The HTTP Header Enrichment (HHE) capability provides solutions for a content provider to identify a subscriber. Basic HHE allows the subscriber to be identified by their MSISDN. Aliased HHE allows the subscriber to be identified without divulging the subscriber’s MSISDN. A standard feature of the NowWAP Proxy is to provide Basic HTTP Header Enrichment to facilitate operator billing for...
Read MoreSMPP Asynchronous Mode
One of the biggest limitations to SMPP performance is protocol implementations that do not support SMPP asynchronous mode, or to state it more correctly, do not take advantage of the speed boost that is possible with SMPP asynchrnous mode. SMPP Synchronous Mode = One Message at a Time In SMPP Synchrnous mode, each side of the SMPP client has only one outstanding transaction active at a time. ...
Read MoreNowSMS/MMS API Information
The primary API for sending and receiving SMS and MMS messages with NowSMS is HTTP-based. Because the API is HTTP based, applications that wish to send or receive messages via NowSMS do not have to run on the same physical server, they can interface with NowSMS over a network. This page contains links to additional information that describes the raw HTTP interface, as well as links to example...
Read MoreSMPP Receipt Message ID Tracking Over Multiple Connections
One of the standard capabilities of NowSMS is the automatic mapping of receipt message IDs when routing messages to an upstream SMSC connection. The reasoning/logic is simple. When NowSMS accepts a message from a client, NowSMS needs to assign an ID to the message. When the message gets routed to an upstream SMSC, that SMSC will assign a new message ID. NowSMS saves the message ID assigned by...
Read MoreNowSMS Update – Interim Release 2010.05.07
An interim update release of NowSMS is available for download at https://nowsms.com/download/nowsmsupdate.zip. The most interesting updated features/capabilities include: Major SMS performance enhancements (and reduced CPU overhead) for configurations with large outbound message queues and/or a large number of outbound SMSC connections. A simpler way to define multiple transmitter, receiver...
Read MoreOperator MMSC Accounting – Detecting Roaming Subscribers
One important consideration when charging for MMS messages is whether or not the user is roaming. The NowSMS MMSC can provide this information to the MMS accounting callbacks, however the requisite information is not included in the MMS accounting callbacks by default. Before the MMSC can pass this information to the accounting callbacks, the MMSC must receive this additional information from the...
Read MoreNowSMS and SSL Certificates – 2048 Bit Key
In the last 6 months, many SSL Certificate Authorities (CAs) have made a switch to requiring web servers to use 2048-bit private keys. It is believed that increased computing power will make the commonly used 1024-bit keys possible to break by 2011. There is a side effect in switching to the larger keys that some old web browsers don’t support > 1024 bit keys. I can’t find a good...
Read MoreMobile Number Portability (MNP) and the NowSMS MMSC
When the NowSMS MMSC is used in environments with mobile number portability (MNP), the MMSC may need to query a database to determine whether a recipient is local to this MMSC or if it belongs to another operator. The interface to support this is defined in the following article: Mobile Number Portability (MNP) and the NowSMS MMSC However, there is an additional issue that is not discussed in...
Read MoreXML Status Query for SMSC Connection Status and Statistics
We posted details about an XML-based NowSMS status query in an earlier posting: https://nowsms.com/xml-status-query-for-smsc-connection-status-and-statistics This query reports information similar to what is reported on the “Status” page of the NowSMS configuration dialog. The query results include information about SMSC connection status, the number of messages processed via the...
Read MoreNowSMS Group Text Messaging
The NowSMS Group Text feature is designed to facilitate group communications over SMS. At it’s core, it’s about sending a single text message, and having that text message automatically forwarded to a group of people. NowSMS Group Text is a free add-on for the Now SMS & MMS Gateway and NowSMS Lite. NowSMS Group Text will only work with NowSMS or NowSMS Lite versions 2008.06.03...
Read MoreBug Sending Long Binary SMS Messages to Java Apps on Motorola Devices
One of the more interesting technical support incidents of the past week comes from Mohit Kumar Sethi at 3i Infotech Consumer Services Ltd. Mohit is using NowSMS Lite to send binary SMS messages to a Java application that his company is developing. He noticed that when sending SMS binary messages longer than 140 bytes, the messages were received correctly by Nokia and SonyEricsson devices,...
Read MoreSMS and MMS with the Novatel Merlin XU870 ExpressCard Modem
If you are using NowSMS in a laptop with an available ExpressCard slot, the Novatel Wireless Merlin XU870 ExpressCard Modem is a good modem to use with NowSMS to send and receive SMS and MMS messages. This modem supports HSDPA up to 7.2 Mbps (although locating the appropriate firmware driver update seems to be a challenge, without it, it is limited to 3.6 Mbps). That is good for receiving...
Read MoreNowSMS NextGen for Linux
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