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

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1796212

by gates2010 • 16 years ago

2 2 16 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

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.

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.

How is this setup? Thank you.

zachster• 16 years ago

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.

gates2010• 16 years ago

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

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

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