SMS Mod/Hack ?

[Bro_Joey_Gowdy]

Is it possible to create a hack that sends sms messages from vB through a sms site to a persons phone ? For instance it sends the sms no. and message query to the site (logs in first if a login is required) waits for a response - if the response is postive - a message comes back saying it's been sent (this is the general idea). Would it then be possible to have that perosn with the cell phone to reply to the message and post it on the site thru their id ?

In essence it would allow users to send sms mobile text message through the web - without paying anything. Any thoughts ?

[Bro_Joey_Gowdy]

*bump*

Any thoughts ?

[djnoz]

Interesting idea, you'd have to be careful not to latch onto a free sms site without permission though, otherwise they might get wind and block ya. I'm guessing that the mechanism for submitting sms messages would vary between sites as well, so the script would have to be customised where different services are used.

I wonder if there's any free sms sites that open themselves up to sydication with other websites though. That would rule.

[Tradjick]

This would rule!!! The ultimate solution for flashmobs based on userlocation or usergroup :)

[Bro_Joey_Gowdy]

Ive also made a thread about it here on vbhacks.us

http://www.vbhacks.us/forum/showthread.php?t=117

http://www.clickatell.com/brochure/products/2way.php

no mention of prices for 2 way however but it looks like you have to pay for incoming messages as well

http://www.clickatell.com/brochure/products/pricing.php

this is the prices for their service for outgoing tho as you can see the more you send the cheaper it is per sms

[Tradjick]

bump

[deathemperor]

ow, this would rule yea !
Users will get exitedment if they really can sens SMS via a forum.

[filth]

I very much doubt a free sms provider would allow you to do this or provide an api for you.

If you are willing to pay for the SMS messages then a service such as http://www.clickatell.com could easily be used (download their api and you will see how easy it is) of course there are many others as well.

As stated on my post in the vbhacks site for them to be able to reply you would need to have the 2 way facility (so when they reply the reply gets sent to a php script) the prices on clickatell do not state how much this costs but instead ask you to contact them to ask for details (presumably also to find out how many you estimate you will need)

Another problem is the maximum limit on characters allowed in an sms message what I said on vbhacks seems to be slightly inaccurate (I said 72 characters was the max) it is in fact

Max message parts exceeded *
The text message component of the message is greater than the permitted 160 characters (70 Unicode characters). Select Concat=1, 2, or 3 to overcome this by splitting the message across multiple messages.

basically if the max characters are exceeded then it splits them up into multiple messages (depending on how you have it set)

Values set are: concat=


Value Status
0 No concatenation - only 1 message
1 Concatenate of maximum of 1 message
2 Concatenate of maximum of 2 messages
3 Concatenate of maximum of 3 messages


the amount of characters is not changeable as I beleive they have chosen an amount that works with most networks.

REGARDING

For instance it sends the sms no. and message query to the site (logs in first if a login is required) waits for a response - if the response is postive - a message comes back saying it's been sent (this is the general idea).

this is easy enough it can be set to show when the message has been sent, when the network has received the message or when the message is received by the mobile.

it would be a very bad idea to have it set to have it hold on for a response as if there is a delay then the script would time out and I very much doubt a user would wait to see, for example if someone had their mobile turned off then you would not receive a message to say the mobile had received the message until the mobile was next turned on and if the user is anything like me I always forget to charge my phone and have it turned off for a couple of days at a time sometimes.