Users of SMS can exchange text messages with each other that are up to 160 characters long. SMS texts are a valuable tool for customer service and marketing because they can be sent and received by any mobile worldwide.
Despite being one of the first mobile messaging technologies, SMS is still helpful today due to its installed base in the billions.
What does SMS mean?
SMS provides an easy and reliable way to exchange messages with virtually anyone with a phone anywhere in the world. Additionally, SMS messages can now contain images thanks to MMS, and the original set of Latin ASCII characters has been expanded with emoticons and other linguistic symbols.
With the right software (and compliance), marketers can send comprehensive campaigns, customer service communications, and special offers to thousands of people every minute.
There are many chances that an SMS message will be delivered and read successfully, even though a smartphone user can never be sure that an email or similar message will be easy to read on the recipient’s phone—they might not have the necessary app installed, or they might not use their phone for that purpose.
How does SMS work?
Surprisingly, SMS wasn’t created with phone users’ ability to communicate in mind. The initial plan was to enable network providers to provide their clients with one-way, voicemail-style event updates. The first text message in 1992 was sent from a desktop computer because most phones didn’t have alphanumeric keyboards back then.
The limits were established because the network capabilities were much lower than today (SMS was designed in the pre-digital world). The specification had to place the least possible burden on global telephone networks.
That’s why its creators designed it to use “signalling pathways” (technology in a telephone network that establishes and ends a voice call) at times when those pathways were not in use (which is why an SMS is fast but not instant).
SMS as a global success
As all telephone networks in the world used similar signalling routes – without them, international calls would have been impossible – this choice allowed SMS to be adopted worldwide, with the “rules” to build a device that could receive and send widely understood SMS messages. So, instead of confusion over national standards, everyone knew how to incorporate SMS functionality into their networks.
More importantly, the SMS standard was open. Any network or hardware vendor could implement SMS functionality into their products and services and be confident that it would interoperate with other networks and devices. Another advantage: a mobile phone does not crucial the Internet to use SMS: messages are sent through the mobile infrastructure, not the web or email.
Mobile phone users began to learn about SMS when GSM networks spread worldwide. The GSM standards specified three types of SMS: SMS-MT (notifications sent by the network provider via the network), SMS-CB (“broadcasts” to every device connected to the network), and – most crucially – SMS-MO (messages sent between mobile phones).
Even in today’s 5G-connected world, SMS is still the primary method of text-based communication in many places and is still the only one available in others.
What is an SMS service provider?
SMS service providers are typically technology companies with deep knowledge of short message services. They buy the rights to send large volumes of text messages from networks and build their services, such as software that facilitates the making and managing of SMS marketing campaigns.
Many service levels are ready for use, and providers compete fiercely to provide the best customer service and most functionality.
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