SMS Providers

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SMS Providers

Once every few months, someone will ask on NZPHPUG for recommendations of SMS providers. This page aims to catalogue the various alternatives for delivering SMS to people in New Zealand from your web application (or whatever).

There are a number of options in the market, so please contribute your experiences and opinions freely to this page to help people decide on the right option for them!

IDEA: If you've had good experience of a provider, and they already have a positive writeup here, feel free to add "+1" and your signature to their listing. This will help identify the providers who have given good service to lots of us, rather than just one or two.

Option 1: Use a GSM modem

This may be an option if you're keen to outlay the cost of a modem (or a couple of GSM modems to reduce fees), and don't mind undertaking the additional effort required to ensure that your SMS service is fault tolerant (redundancy, power supply, that kinda thing).

It's not as hard as it might seem - I've set up an install with two GSM modems (~$350 each) on Vodafone network, for $20/mo each way on two SIM cards we get 600 Telecom SMS and 2000 Vodafone. Any additional texts are $0.20 (you could set it up to nag you to switch SIM cards if you were going bonkers I guess). SMS costs could be as low as 1c/SMS to Voda and 3.5c/SMS to Telecom (if you hit the sweet spot for monthly usage), and you receive replies for free too! --Xurizaemon 09:46, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Option 2: Messaging Service Providers

Overseas providers are "less certain" to get the message delivered in a timely fashion - or indeed at all, if the provider has been used as a gateway for spam. The cheaper the provider, the more likely they are to have been used for spam. (This is probably a fair generalisation to make of any internet or telecoms service!)

New Zealand based providers tend to be significantly more expensive (because of the limited competition between telcos in NZ). 

Please add any new providers to this list in alphabetical order. 

When adding a provider, consider including: 
 * link to current pricing or website
 * API / sample code availability (link if available)
 * any references to PHPUGNZ or other discussions of service quality etc
 * any comments you have regarding your experience of them


Bulletin Online

Catalyst

Clickatell

People have reported issues getting through to Telecom phones from Clickatell.

I've also noticed that messages longer than the standard SMS limit will be split into separate messages via Clickatell. --Xurizaemon 09:46, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

GRPText

Instinct

Net24

Rocom GiMP

Run The Red

Sonic Mobile

Telecom NZ

You'll need a Telecom account OR a Telecom Prepay phone, and to set up an online login. And don't forget to install Internet Explorer 5 for the "best viewing experience"!

Is it possible to implement a modem-based solution on Telecom's network? Anyone who can comment on this?

TM4B

I have tested TM4B over a long period with Telecom and Vodafone, and my experience has been fairly quick and reliable performance. On Vodafone network I can set a customisable originator (eg, I can make the SMS appear to be from SKYNET instead of my cellphone number). On my Telecom Nokia, this would appear as "Urgent", no matter what the originator is set to. --Xurizaemon 09:46, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Vodafone

Two distinct services available, and see also "Use a GSM Modem" at the top of the page for a third option.

Web2TXT (from Vodafone)

TXTmail (from Vodafone)

Other Considerations

I just want to send to MY phone!

(from NZNOG via NZPHPUG) 

If you are on Vodafone, you can 'register' you phone by texting the
letter R and then your phone number to the number 901. Eg,

    R 02123456

You should then get back a 'you are registered etc' welcome message.

Once your phone is registered anyone/thing can send you a txt by using
an email address such as:

    6421123456@sms.vodafone.net.nz

Where your mobile number is presumed to be 021-123456.

As far as I know, there is no charge for this service.

According to this entry on the Vodafone website... this service is "no longer supported"!

But "supported" and "working" are different things. Free use of Gmail is "not supported", for example. Tested 09-09-09 by @xurizaemon and still working. If it does stop working, please update this message to that effect.

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