[theiliad]

Hi. I'm loooking for a application that will allow me to send text messages in bulk ( say to 25 recipients at a time). I would prefer if I didn't have to use a bluetooth phone for this and that the SMS could be sent via an online service.

Hope someone can help

Thanks in advance

[CharlesS]

For many people, it costs money to receive SMS messages. So I think that many of your recipients might not appreciate receiving your bulk SMS, unless it's an opt-in list...

[philm]

A system where the recipient is charged for receiving an SMS seems a little peculiar....

Anyway, I think you can do this with the excellent SMS Mac. You might need to create an Address Book entry for someone called 'Bulk SMS' and list all the mobile numbers within that entry. That certainly seems possible according to their web site. There might be more elegant methods as well.

[whgoodman]

Originally Posted by philm

A system where the recipient is charged for receiving an SMS seems a little peculiar....

Anyway, I think you can do this with the excellent SMS Mac. You might need to create an Address Book entry for someone called 'Bulk SMS' and list all the mobile numbers within that entry. That certainly seems possible according to their web site. There might be more elegant methods as well.

In the US mobile users are charged for mobile terminated SMS messages unless they're coming from the carrier in which case the billing code dictates that it's a free message.

On another note, while SMPPv3.4 does allow for multiple recipients in the message, many SMSCs in the US and abroad will block a message that has multiple recipients. Carriers like VZW, Cingular and T-Mobile do this and I think that BT does as well. It's configured that way to block SMS spam.

Walt

[philm]

Sounds pretty definitive. Thanks.

Presumably it would be possible still to do this in software where a series of individual messages is sent out. That is, there is no opportunity for a service provider to block the messages as it does not 'know' that multiple recipients have been selected.

Do you see the US system changing to charge the initiator, not the recipient?

[msuper69]

Originally Posted by philm

Sounds pretty definitive. Thanks.

Presumably it would be possible still to do this in software where a series of individual messages is sent out. That is, there is no opportunity for a service provider to block the messages as it does not 'know' that multiple recipients have been selected.

Do you see the US system changing to charge the initiator, not the recipient?

They already charge both the sender and receiver.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by msuper69

They already charge both the sender and receiver.

Unless you use AIM to send the SMS - then it's free for the sender but costs the receiver money.

I've always thought this was pretty messed up since a vindictive person could really screw someone over by firing up AIM and spamming someone's cell phone with SMS messages, racking up their bill...

[whgoodman]

Originally Posted by philm

Sounds pretty definitive. Thanks.

Presumably it would be possible still to do this in software where a series of individual messages is sent out. That is, there is no opportunity for a service provider to block the messages as it does not 'know' that multiple recipients have been selected.

Do you see the US system changing to charge the initiator, not the recipient?

I'm assuming that this is for delivery of unsolicited messages instead of an opt-in messaging system. If it were opt-in then you would have to enter into some sort of agreement with the carrier for delivery of large numbers of messages on their network using your own short code. That said....

I am familiar with one of the inter-carrier messaging groups and there are checks in place to identify an unusually high number of messages originating from a single source. This is, of course, only for messages between carriers, but you can bet that the US carriers have something similar either on the SMSC, MLR, HLR or MSC. You would have to be sending just enough messages/second to stay under their radar. I don't really know what that number would be, but even at that number customer complaints would soon put them on your trail.

Walt