Text Message APIs and Gateways

[RedBassett]

So I am working on a client project that require the ability to send text message notifications to users. I have been using Twilio as my gateway so far, however tomorrow I have to pitch this design to the customer. My project manager has recommended looking for a cheaper alternative (Twilio charges 1¢US per text). My plan is to recommend Twilio, and only if the customer decides they can't afford it, to try using other solutions.

I know most cell providers provide a gateway something along the lines of ##########Cell the Superior.provider.com, however this won't work for some users (such as myself, who uses Google Voice and therefore doesn't have a provider).

Other than the two options above, does anyone know of good gateways or have suggestions for how to send texts?

[Chris]

Aug 2, 2012 9:43:34 GMT -8 RedBassett said:

So I am working on a client project that require the ability to send text message notifications to users. I have been using Twilio as my gateway so far, however tomorrow I have to pitch this design to the customer. My project manager has recommended looking for a cheaper alternative (Twilio charges 1¢US per text). My plan is to recommend Twilio, and only if the customer decides they can't afford it, to try using other solutions.

I know most cell providers provide a gateway something along the lines of ##########Cell the Superior.provider.com, however this won't work for some users (such as myself, who uses Google Voice and therefore doesn't have a provider).

Other than the two options above, does anyone know of good gateways or have suggestions for how to send texts?

the email method with a fallback to Twilio should be an effective sell since the majority of users will have the email method available, no?

[RedBassett]

Aug 3, 2012 13:48:49 GMT -8 Chris said:

Aug 2, 2012 9:43:34 GMT -8 RedBassett said:

So I am working on a client project that require the ability to send text message notifications to users. I have been using Twilio as my gateway so far, however tomorrow I have to pitch this design to the customer. My project manager has recommended looking for a cheaper alternative (Twilio charges 1¢US per text). My plan is to recommend Twilio, and only if the customer decides they can't afford it, to try using other solutions.

I know most cell providers provide a gateway something along the lines of ##########Cell the Superior.provider.com, however this won't work for some users (such as myself, who uses Google Voice and therefore doesn't have a provider).

Other than the two options above, does anyone know of good gateways or have suggestions for how to send texts?

the email method with a fallback to Twilio should be an effective sell since the majority of users will have the email method available, no?

That is an idea. Unfortunately I just handed the project off to other programmers today

That being said, is there an easy way to look up which provider a number goes to, or would that require asking each user what provider they use?

Also, my online research concluded that some gateways got mad if you tried to send too many texts at once.

[Marc]

Aug 3, 2012 20:38:42 GMT -8 RedBassett said:

Aug 3, 2012 13:48:49 GMT -8 Chris said:

the email method with a fallback to Twilio should be an effective sell since the majority of users will have the email method available, no?

That is an idea. Unfortunately I just handed the project off to other programmers today

That being said, is there an easy way to look up which provider a number goes to, or would that require asking each user what provider they use?

Also, my online research concluded that some gateways got mad if you tried to send too many texts at once.

In terms of looking up carrier information from a phone number, I would assume there are databases available for such a purpose (see WhitePages' reverse phone lookup, for instance), though I've not searched myself. However, personal experience has taught me that most carriers' gateways work intermittently at best. Approximately half of the texts that I sent out as tests never reached the phones I had sent them to, while a fair share of those that did go through took hours to do so. I would say your best bet is to stick with a dedicated SMS gateway provider, simply for reliability's sake.

As for alternate SMS gateway providers, I've personally been using Twilio for about a year now, and have yet to find a provider that offers as much for the same price. Other SMS gateways that I know of off the top of my head would be BulkSMS and Clickatell, but if I recall correctly both are more expensive than Twilio (with far fewer features).

[RedBassett]

Aug 8, 2012 20:40:56 GMT -8 Marc said:

Aug 3, 2012 20:38:42 GMT -8 RedBassett said:

That is an idea. Unfortunately I just handed the project off to other programmers today

That being said, is there an easy way to look up which provider a number goes to, or would that require asking each user what provider they use?

Also, my online research concluded that some gateways got mad if you tried to send too many texts at once.

In terms of looking up carrier information from a phone number, I would assume there are databases available for such a purpose (see WhitePages' reverse phone lookup, for instance), though I've not searched myself. However, personal experience has taught me that most carriers' gateways work intermittently at best. Approximately half of the texts that I sent out as tests never reached the phones I had sent them to, while a fair share of those that did go through took hours to do so. I would say your best bet is to stick with a dedicated SMS gateway provider, simply for reliability's sake.

As for alternate SMS gateway providers, I've personally been using Twilio for about a year now, and have yet to find a provider that offers as much for the same price. Other SMS gateways that I know of off the top of my head would be BulkSMS and Clickatell, but if I recall correctly both are more expensive than Twilio (with far fewer features).

Thanks!

I played with carrier gateways a long time ago. I don't remember specifically what happened, but I remember them being lousy for the most part.

[Marc]

Aug 10, 2012 19:55:18 GMT -8 RedBassett said:

Aug 8, 2012 20:40:56 GMT -8 Marc said:

In terms of looking up carrier information from a phone number, I would assume there are databases available for such a purpose (see WhitePages' reverse phone lookup, for instance), though I've not searched myself. However, personal experience has taught me that most carriers' gateways work intermittently at best. Approximately half of the texts that I sent out as tests never reached the phones I had sent them to, while a fair share of those that did go through took hours to do so. I would say your best bet is to stick with a dedicated SMS gateway provider, simply for reliability's sake.

As for alternate SMS gateway providers, I've personally been using Twilio for about a year now, and have yet to find a provider that offers as much for the same price. Other SMS gateways that I know of off the top of my head would be BulkSMS and Clickatell, but if I recall correctly both are more expensive than Twilio (with far fewer features).

Thanks!

I played with carrier gateways a long time ago. I don't remember specifically what happened, but I remember them being lousy for the most part.

No worries.

It was well over a year ago that I last attempted to use carrier gateways, though, so perhaps they've made improvements since then -- I doubt it, though.

[RedBassett]

Aug 11, 2012 15:19:14 GMT -8 Marc said:

Aug 10, 2012 19:55:18 GMT -8 RedBassett said:

Thanks!

I played with carrier gateways a long time ago. I don't remember specifically what happened, but I remember them being lousy for the most part.

No worries.

It was well over a year ago that I last attempted to use carrier gateways, though, so perhaps they've made improvements since then -- I doubt it, though.

Well, we know that cell companies have our best interests at heart…

[Charles Stover]

Google Voice has its own e-mail address as well.

I think it might have a secure hash in it though, but it definitely supports e-mail.

Which is why I hate that when companies do use the @email alternative, they don't usually offer Google Voice in the list of providers.

You should use the @email where possible and Twilio where not possible.

EDIT: There is also a Wikipedia article that has the list of email alternatives for texting.

[RedBassett]

Aug 13, 2012 7:50:31 GMT -8 Charles Stover said:

Google Voice has its own e-mail address as well.

I think it might have a secure hash in it though, but it definitely supports e-mail.

Which is why I hate that when companies do use the @email alternative, they don't usually offer Google Voice in the list of providers.

You should use the @email where possible and Twilio where not possible.

EDIT: There is also a Wikipedia article that has the list of email alternatives for texting.

I was unaware that GV did! I have been using it since soon after Google acquired it, and not been aware of that

[James [a_leon]]

Aug 8, 2012 20:40:56 GMT -8 Marc said:

Aug 3, 2012 20:38:42 GMT -8 RedBassett said:

That is an idea. Unfortunately I just handed the project off to other programmers today

That being said, is there an easy way to look up which provider a number goes to, or would that require asking each user what provider they use?

Also, my online research concluded that some gateways got mad if you tried to send too many texts at once.

In terms of looking up carrier information from a phone number, I would assume there are databases available for such a purpose (see WhitePages' reverse phone lookup, for instance), though I've not searched myself. However, personal experience has taught me that most carriers' gateways work intermittently at best. Approximately half of the texts that I sent out as tests never reached the phones I had sent them to, while a fair share of those that did go through took hours to do so. I would say your best bet is to stick with a dedicated SMS gateway provider, simply for reliability's sake.

As for alternate SMS gateway providers, I've personally been using Twilio for about a year now, and have yet to find a provider that offers as much for the same price. Other SMS gateways that I know of off the top of my head would be BulkSMS and Clickatell, but if I recall correctly both are more expensive than Twilio (with far fewer features).

It'd be best to collect from the user who their provider is anyway.

In the event someone ports a number from one provider to another, the database with say they're with one company, when they're in fact with another, which will cause the text to fail.