160char.com

Follow System in SMS

Uttam Pegu — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:02:32 +0000

Have you recently noticed many FOLLOW 58888 advertisement with any news item on Bollywood stars in Times of India ? Specially in their supplementary editions! They have recently launched Follow system in their SMS portal 58888!

Indiatimes 58888 is proud to announce the launch of a new SMS-based service called “58888 Follow” that allows consumers to stay updated on their favorite celebrities, all from their mobile phone. 58888 Follow is incredibly simple to use- the user sends a text message: “Follow [Celebrity’s Name]” (e.g. “Follow Lara”) to 58888, and that’s it. They’ll automatically receive regular updates about the star’s day-to-day happenings. Best of all, the service is free*.

The 58888 Follow team has also worked hard to make sure the experience is as rich as possible for the user. In addition to text updates, the user will get exclusive photos, videos, and audio clips about their celebrity as they unfold. And it’s accessible to all cell phone users in India, through the most recognized short code in the country – 58888.

Simply put, 58888 Follow is the premier method of keeping up with all of your favorite stars, free for anyone in India with a cell phone connection.

Rishi Khiani, CEO of Times Internet Limited, says: “We are always striving to cater to and engage with the youth of India on virtually every medium or device, around the things they care about. For this reason, we are excited to launch a service that will let users stay connected real-time with their favorite stars on the go. 58888 Follow will send across the celeb’s hottest news updates, public appearances, and social interactions as they happen. We hope to expand the service even further as it gains traction.”

Technorati Tags: Follow Bollywood star, Follow by SMS, SMS Follow

Usage of SMS in Telematics

Uttam Pegu — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:27:24 +0000

What is Telematics ?
Telematics is remote monitoring, measurement and presentation of data at a centralised location. Various information like weather, temperature, water level etc. information are collected and transferred in real time and those information are stored and displayed at a centralised location. This is telematics or telemetry.

SMS ( short messaging service) can be used for SMS telemetry. SMS is a wonderful way of sending and receiving short information in wireless ( GSM and CDMA ) network. Though SMS is thought as a feature built in mobile phone, but there are other equipments too which can send and receive SMS. GSM modem is such product which uses a mobile SIM card, has a computer connectivity through USB or RS232 port. FCT ( Fixed Cellular Terminal) is another product which can be used for sending and receiving SMS using AT commands.

There are many embedded equipments or even single board computers which can control GSM modem to send information by sending SMS and receiving SMS command from the centralised location. GSM modems support AT commands as well as GSM specific commands like sending and receiving SMS. Any embedded system with RS232 port can be programmed to send SMS through GSM modem. Single board computers are good option as they can control GSM modem for exchanging information between centralised location and then gathering other information through other embedded systems which are used to collect weather data, temperature, water level etc.

A typical example would be home security. Any burglar alarm could be connected to one GSM Modem and it would send an SMS to you apart from sounding alarm in police station even when you are away from home. Also, you could operate your washing machine, microwave oven, water pump remotely! How do you think about warming home from your office before you reach home remotely so that you enter into your ‘warm’ house ?

SMS has many potential application as it can exchange short messages ( upto 160 character per SMS) between two GSM modem.

SMS has come a long way as being mere text messaging! Never under estimate the power of 160 characters!

SMS 56877 launches Laxmi Mantra Service in Reliance Mobile, India

Uttam Pegu — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:59:08 +0000

Definition of the Service :

Lakshmi is the goddess of light, beauty, good fortune and wealth. To please Goddess Laxmi and bring prosperity in your life, we bring some mantras for you. These Mantras are for abundance in wealth, strength and wisdom.

Benefits of these Mantras:

Physical – to energize the system (to tone up the system)
Mental – to remove depression/obstacles/mental blocks.
Spiritual – Attaining Siddhi, self-development/specific areas of growth(strengthening the inner-personality by projecting positive powers inwards; over-coming/eliminating negative traits).
Improving the financial situation

End User Pricing:

End User pricing will be Rs 3/- per SMS.

Shortcode-

56877 in all circles.
Launch Date – 6th October 2009.

How It Works

This section describes steps involved in flow of application

In this service user can get Laxmi Mantra by sms.

• User has to send LAXMI to 56877 to initiate process.

• User will get a message in response in which he/she will be given the details of how to get the suitable Laxmi Mantra as per his/her zodiac by using the keyword LM. If the user doesn’t know his/her zodiac then also he/she can use the service to get the general MahaLaxmi Mantra by using the keyword MLM.

Flow of application for the keyword MLM

• User can ‘‘Get effective Laxmi Mantra sms & bring prosperity in his/her life. Send MLM to 56877 for Laxmi Mantra sms’’.

Flow of application for the keyword LM

• User has to send LM to get MahaLaxmi Mantra .

• User can ‘‘Get effective Laxmi Mantra sms & bring prosperity in his/her life. Send LM to 56877 for MahaLaxmi Mantra sms’’.

• If the user sends the Zodiac sign with wrong spelling, then also he/she will get correct mantra as the application uses only first three characters of the Zodiac sign. E.g. If the user type AQUARIS instead of AQUARIUS, then also he/she will get right mantra sms according to his/her Zodiac sign.

• If user sends request without mentioning his/her zodiac sign, he/she will be replied as – “Zodiac sign missing. If u do not know ur zodiac sign, send MLM to 56877 to get MahaLaxmi Mantra.”

• If user put any symbol before their zodiac sign he/she will be replied as –“Wrong or missing Zodiac sign. If u do not know ur zodiac sign, send MLM to 56877 to get MahaLaxmi Mantra.”

Source : www.my56877.com

Technorati Tags: 160 char, 160 character, 160char, 56877, laxmi, laxmi mantra, rcom, reliance, reliance mobile, SMS, sms vas

New Short Code in RCOM

Pranjal — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:01:21 +0000

There was a new short code “56877″ launched in RCOM GSM, CDMA and RTL networks on 15th of July 2009. I want to write about this because of some unique services they are providing through “56877″

Following are some of the new services and how it works:

1. Know your personality from your name – Users can know about their personality from the first name. As reports from the service provider they use an algorithm to find out the personality of a person from the name. To avail this service people have RELIANCE number should type “NAME” leave a space, then type the First Name and send to 56877.

For Example – NAME RAHUL to 56877

I personally liked this service very much and it costs only Rs. 3 per SMS.

2. Amazing Facts – This is a very good service for those who likes to know more about the Nature, Earth, Animal Life and Forests. There are lost of hidden truth to be explored. To avail this service you have to type “GYAN” and send to 56877.

For Example – GYAN to 56877

This service can be very useful to the kids and it costs only Rs. 3 per SMS

3. Know your past life – We all love to know our past life, don’t we? I like to know whether i was a male or female, where i born in my past life, how i earned to live my life. Believe me this service tells everything of those. I checked twice with the same date to check the accuracy and it was accurate. To know about your past life you have to type “PL” then leave a space and type your DOB(ddmmyy) then send to 56877.

For Example – PL 140278 (For 14th Feb 1978) to 56877

I liked all these services very much and i will keep updating you about new services from this short code. Hope to write again soon about more services like this.

Technorati Tags: 56877, SMS

SMS Subscriber Services

Pranjal — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:50:10 +0000

SMS contains two basic point-to-point services. They are:

MO – Mobile originated short message

MT – Mobile terminated short message

When you send an SMS, Mobile-originated (MO) short messages are transported from the MO-capable handset to the SMSC and can be destined to other mobile subscribers or for subscribers on networks such as GSM, CDMA, Paging Networks and Internet Protocol.

Mobile-terminated (MT) short messages are transported from the SMSC to the handset and can be submitted to the SMSC by other mobile subscribers via MO-SM. For MT, a report is always returned to the SMSC either confirming the short message delivery to the handset or informing the SMSC of the short message delivery failure and identifying the reason for failure (error code). Sometimes when SMSC doesn’t receives the report of delivering, it keeps sending the SMS again and again.

Similarly, for MO, a report is always returned to the handset either confirming the short message delivery to the SMSC or informing of delivery failure and identifying the reason. Depending on the access method and the encoding of the bearer data, the point-to-point short messaging service conveys up to 160 characters in GSM networks and from 120 to 205 in IS-41 networks.

In GSM networks, the type of messaging service is identified by the protocol identifier information element, which identifies the higher-level protocol or interworking being used. Examples are telex, group 3 telefax, X.400 messaging, European Radio Messaging System (ERMES), and voice telephone.

Technorati Tags: GSM, MO, MT, SMS, SMSC

SMSC or SMS Center

Uttam Pegu — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:17:34 +0000

What is SMSC or SMS Center ?
Have you ever called your mobile customer care while you face problems in sending or receiving SMS ? If you have done so, then you might have been told few things about SMSC! Specifically, customer care executives must have asked you to check message center number in your mobile! Which you normally check by going to Messages, and then going to Message Options. There you see a Message Center Number!

Now that is the SMSC or SMS Center. When you are sending an SMS to your friend, actually you are sending the SMS to this SMSC! SMSC receives your SMS along with the information where you are sending, and SMSC in turns delivers the SMS to the recipient, which is the mobile number of your friend! Once SMSC delivers the SMS to your friend’s mobile, it gives you a delivery report!

So what happens if your fiends mobile is switched off or out of service ? Well SMSC will not able to deliver the SMS and you will not receive delivery report. How long SMSC keeps trying to deliver the SMS ? that period can be set by you, in Message Option of your mobile! Once delivery period is over, SMSC no longer tries to deliver the SMS to the recipient.

How do you send SMS to your friend who does not have the same mobile operator as you ?
Normally, one operator has one or more SMSC depending on the SMS traffic in its network. If number of SMS is more, than mobile service providers install more SMSCs and ideally they should install one SMSC in one circle! So when you send SMS to your friend whose number is not of same operator as you, how does he receive the SMS ? In that case, SMSC of your operator send the SMS to SMSC of other network.

SMSC has dedicated work for exchanging SMSes between mobiles. It also sends out various SMS alerts about billing, announcements etc.

Technorati Tags: Mobile Operator, SMS Center, SMS Centre, SMSC

What SMS Can Do!

Uttam Pegu — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:08:59 +0000

SMS ( Short Messaging Service) has been very popular in the world! With SMS you can many things! Here is a list to do with SMS:-

1. Exchange Message
Oldest use! Called party is unreachable, not taking your call, just disconnecting your call, send SMS! At least you are sure you had sent a message, on record. Exchange pleasantries!
2. Advertising
Yes, you can do SMS advertising to promote your product! Huh, why advertise on SMS ? Ask any person who reads news paper that how many of them remember advertisements in the morning news paper! But if you get an SMS, you read once! maybe you delete that, but you at least see the sender!

3. Astrology
Yes, you get to know your future! Many value added service provider companies provide astrology service on many short codes like 56877, 56969 etc.!
4. Cricket Score
Are you in office ? Can not watch India-Pakistan One day match ? Turn your mobile to silence mode and subscribe to 56877’s daily Cricket Pack!, you will get cricket update as soon as Dhoni hist a four or Pathan scalps a Pakistani batsman out! It does not replace TV with Pepsi, but you do not miss the excitement too!
5. Exam Results
Type your roll number and send to many short codes! ( like 56877, 56969) You will get to know your board exam results! You thought SMS was used only to send birth day wish ?
6. Dating
Yes, even this is possible in SMS! Wow! Dating at your fingertips! Just try sending DAT to 56877 or any other short code like 56969 and enjoy SMS dating!

The list will continue! All short codes above are example and may work in India only. Any SMS sent to short code is charged premium.

Technorati Tags: Bulk SMS, Bulk SMS India, Free SMS, Send SMS, SMS Advertising, SMS Dating, SMS Flirt, SMS usage, sms vas

Why length of one SMS is 160 letters ?

Uttam Pegu — Thu, 07 May 2009 10:53:39 +0000

Yes, there is an answer to that question! It might just surprise you that the reason for having 160 characters ( letters) in one SMS is not about any big technical issue, but just a matter of choice or opinion!

Friedhelm Hillebrand, who was chairman of nonvoice services committee within the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), had decided that they would use control channel in its idle time to transmit few text messages between subscribers in 1985. Why he decided that way is an interesting story, but that is how we now have 160 characters in one SMS!

Here is the excerpts and the link to the complete story :
“Alone in a room in his home in Bonn, Germany, Friedhelm Hillebrand sat at his typewriter, tapping out random sentences and questions on a sheet of paper.
As he went along, Hillebrand counted the number of letters, numbers, punctuation marks and spaces on the page. Each blurb ran on for a line or two and nearly always clocked in under 160 characters.” Source and full article.

Technorati Tags: cdma, global system for mobile, GSM, SMS, sms length, text message

Should be promotional SMS banned?

Pranjal — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 11:17:10 +0000

I was browsing through a community and came across this issue. I should tell you about some promotional SMS facts. Promotional SMS are targeted to cell phone users for better interaction with the people. It reaches to the masses instantly and hence the business houses nowadays prefer promotional SMS than print ads.

I saw many times people shouting at the Mobile Service Provider for sending promotional SMS to their handset trying to sell something. But guys its not the Mobile Service Providers, there are lots of companies in india who does promotional SMS in both legal and illegal ways. For sending a promotional SMS that company has to be registered with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for that particular service provider. And if he is not registered he is not authorized to send promotional SMS.

Now how to find out who has sent the SMS? - If it is coming from a short code like 56877 you can easily find out who is the company by dialing to call center of your service provider because service providers knows about the short codes running in their network. And if it is coming from a alphanumeric sender id like AX_CiNEMAX you can find out from which network it has come with the help of my earlier post TRAI Guideline on Alphanumeric ID.

If you dont want to receive such SMS call to the customer care today itself and tell them to activate Do Not Disturb (DND) service to you. And from the next time you will not receive any promotional SMS. If you are still getting SMS from alphanumeric sender ids, there might be 2 ways, you have registered your number in websites or while shopping you had given your number to the mall security.

I had come across to a company who does promotinal SMS with TRAI Registration and they told me that because of illegal SMS senders in India their company revenue has decreased hugely. So from next time you get an SMS, do not shout on your operator. Ask them from where the SMS orignates and take action with the help of the operator.

I am not annoyed by the promotional SMS, i get to know about the offers and i can easily find out where i can get a jeans for a cheapest price.

For people interested in sending promotional SMS for their product/service and SMS solutions can contact the company mentioned below. I am mentioning this website below for your reference.

www.nts-world.com

It should not be banned guys!! I mean common there are lot of people associated with these kind of promotions, instead of that if you do not want to receive promotional SMS apply for DND as i mentioned earlier.

Technorati Tags: MSP, NTS, Promotion, SMS, SMS Marketing

TRAI Guideline on Alphanumeric ID

Pranjal — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:03:12 +0000

The other day one of my friend got an SMS from his bank where the sender id was AX_SBI. So he was asking me about the AX came in front of the sender id SBI. Let me explain you also about the prefix recently introduced by most of the SMSCs in India with the direction from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Before this direction came to act, one could send SMS from any 11 character alphanumeric sender id. And if a customer wanted to lodge a complaint for unsolicited promotional messages from an alphanumeric sender id it was very difficult for the Mobile Service Providers to identify the operators network from where the unsolicited SMS originated.

So on a direction released by TRAI, dated 10th December 2008 directed all the Mobile Service Operators of India to make the alphanumeric sender ids of maximum 8 characters and prefix a 3 character identification code before all such IDs. The 3 characters of identification code represents:

First Character – Service Provider Code
Second Character – Service Area Code
Third Character – Hyphen (It is nothing but a differentiator)

For Example: If HDFC was sending SMS using ID ; which is 9 characters long and was routing the SMS using IDEA Cellular Ltd. Mumbai, it will be cut short to 8 characters and sender id will be something like where IM stands for IDEA MUMBAI.

According to me its a very nice step taken by TRAI and from now onwards i can complaint against the messages which disturbs me during my sleep in the morning!!!

I want to give you the whole list of codes for your reference. So here it goes:

LIST OF CODES FOR SERVICE PROVIDERS

AIRCEL (DISHNET WIRELESS) – D

AIRTEL – A

BSNL – B

BPL MOBILE – L

DATACOM SOLUTIONS – C

HFCL INFOTEL – H

IDEA – I

MTNL – M

RELIANCE COMMUNICATIONS – R

RELIANCE TELECOM – E

S. TEL LTD. – S

SHYAM TELECOM – Y

SPICE COMMUNICATIONS – P

SWAN TELECOM – W

TATA TELESERVICES – T

UNITECH GROUP – U

VODAFONE – V

LIST OF CODES FOR SERVICE AREA

ANDHRA PRADESH – A

ASSAM – S

BIHAR – B

DELHI – D

GUJARAT – G

HARYANA – H

HIMACHAL PRADESH – I

j&k – J

KARNATAKA – X

KERALA – L

KOLKATA – K

MADHYA PRADESH – Y

MAHARASHTRA – Z

MUMBAI – M

NORTH EAST – N

ORISSA – O

PUNJAB – P

RAJASTHAN – R

TAMILNADU – T

UP (EAST) – E

UP (WEST) – W

WEST BENGAL – V

So with the help of the list above you can know from where the promotional SMS was originated.

Technorati Tags: Codes, Sender Id, SMS, SMS Marketing, sms vas, SMSC, TRAI