Devblog

So I?ve been trying to figure out how to send texts out cheaper for our SMS reminder project thing and thought I?d put it on here in case anyone else is trying to find out info on how to send texts from their websites.   There are basically a couple of easy ways to send out sms messages:

• Hook up a GSM modem to your server and use it to forward the messages through one of our mobile networks (3, o2, orange etc) using a SIM card


• Use a service provider to route your messages for you

The advantage of using a paid for service is that all the development work is done – you just use their APIs to connect to their servers somehow.  The prices you pay per message depend on how many messages you buy from them so if you want to send a large number of texts on a regular basis without much hassle then this could be the best option for you.
 
The alternative of using a GSM modem (either by bying one or using a mobile and hooking it up with a serial cable) has the disadvantages of it being a more difficult to set up and once it is done then there´s the burden that you have to manage another peice of equiptment that might go down at any time.  This is a good option for any webmasters that may want to send a limited number of texts per month.  You could get a pay monthly account and use the free texts or even use pay as you go vouchers to keep the costs down.

 
I´ll let you decide which one is more suitable for you.

I´ve been working on one of our ongoing projects today – a text messaging and email reminder system.

 
I was looking into ways of reducing the costs of sending the text messages.  Turns out that there are three main ways of doing this so I thought I´d post the results here in case anyone else needs to do it.
 
1) Use a mobile.  You can hook a mobile up to a web server and let it send the messages for you.  Problem is it can only send a few per minute and costs the same as you would pay if it was a normal mobile
 
2)  Use an SMS Gateway.  These are ace! Hook it up and start sending cheap texts by the bucket load.  Problem is they cost thousands!

 
3)  Use an online service.  If you get a reliable service then they are fast, cheap and fairly easy to implement.
 
Looks like I´m sticking with option 3 for the moment. I´ll keep you posted as the project progresses

I was messing around the other day at the derby web devlopment company I work at, looking for something fun to do (not that writing sql backup programs isn´t fun!) and decided to start a blog.
 
Instead of using existing software, I decided to develop my own – and here it is!
 
I´ll be posting here quite regularly about the various development challenges I face, projects I´m working on and other web development related…. stuff!