SMS goes truly global -- well, almost<\/p>\n
By Amir Sidharta<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): By now, almost everybody probably knows about
\nthe short message service (SMS).<\/p>\n
It is a new technology available through global system for
\nmobile (GSM) communications mobile phones that apparently helped
\ntopple Joseph Estrada and pave the way for Gloria Arroyo-
\nMacapagal's ascension to the presidency of The Philippines.<\/p>\n
SMS messages are great because they are not as intrusive as
\nmaking phone calls, yet comprehensive information can be conveyed
\nin a single message.<\/p>\n
While attending a meeting, for example, you can convey
\ninformation such as addresses or telephone numbers to your
\ncolleague who is attending another meeting, without disturbing
\nthe meetings. This relieves you from the need to dictate or spell
\nout the information that you want to pass on. The recipient of
\nthe message also reduces mistakes when jotting down messages.<\/p>\n
It is more direct and concise than leaving messages in a voice
\nmail box. Often times, it is even better than a direct phone
\ncall. Even my friend, who is rather techno-phobic, loves to send
\nSMS messages ever since I showed him how to send his first SMS
\nmessage.<\/p>\n
SMS is a service for sending short alphanumeric (160 bytes or
\ncharacters) messages. The service is bi-directional, meaning that
\nrecipients of an SMS message can reply to the sender through the
\nsame service. In addition, an acknowledgement of receipt is
\nprovided to the sender of the message.<\/p>\n
The three GSM operators in Indonesia, Telkomsel, Satelindo,
\nand Excelcom, have long provided SMS messaging services to their
\nsubscribers.<\/p>\n
However, until recently, mobile phone users could only send
\nSMS messages to subscribers of the same GSM operator that they
\nwere using. Telkomsel subscribers, for example, cannot send
\nmessages to Satelindo subscribers.<\/p>\n
This severely limited those who depended on information and
\ncommunication.<\/p>\n
Hence, eNote and SMS Oke provided a service that allowed
\ncross-operator SMS messaging. This service requires subscribers
\nto register and purchase prepaid vouchers that are valid for one
\nto six months. By subscribing to this service, an Excelcom
\nsubscriber can send an SMS message to a Telkomsel subscriber
\nby typing a message beginning with a code followed by the
\ntelephone number of the addressee of the message, and then send
\nit to the eNote or SMS Oke gateway of the respected service.<\/p>\n
Although typing the extra couple of letters and additional
\ndigits might not seem like a big deal, it can be quite a
\nnuisance, especially when compared to the convenience of message
\nsending within a single operator.<\/p>\n
Within a single operator, you can simply send a SMS message
\nby typing a message and selecting the entry of the addressee in
\nyour mobile's phone book. There is no need to look up the number
\nof the addressee and retype it before sending the message.<\/p>\n
The eNote service, provided by inTouch, even offers more. You
\ncan send e-mails and faxes directly from your mobile by typing a
\ntwo-letter code followed by the email address or fax number of
\nthe addressee. You can obtain the notifications of incoming e-
\nmail messages sent to your mobile phone using SMS messages.<\/p>\n
Another service offered by the same company, iQuote, provides
\nreal-time on-demand information, regarding currency rates, stock
\nindex, JSX stock information, money market, commodities, and so
\nforth.<\/p>\n
SMS messaging is also available via the Internet. The South
\nAfrica-based www.mtnsms.com offers free SMS message sending to
\nmost GSM operators in the world. Through the service, you can
\nkeep a list of 28 of your closest friends' mobile phone numbers,
\nfor your convenience of SMS messaging.<\/p>\n
With this feature, you can simply click on the addressee's
\nname on your contact web page, type the message on the next web
\npage that appears and simply send the message. You can check
\nwhether or not your message has been successfully delivered by
\ngoing to the \"track\" web page.<\/p>\n
This service now also allows the person to whom you have sent
\nthe SMS message to reply, if his or her mobile phone is set to
\n\"reply via the same message center\". When they receive the
\nmessage, a long string of numbers appears as the sender of the
\nmessage, which corresponds to your mtnsms \"account\". When they
\nanswer to this message, it will go through the message center
\nwith which the message was received, and then sent to your in-
\nbox.<\/p>\n
The disadvantage of this service is several web pages need to
\nbe accessed, and that often takes time to download.<\/p>\n
The online communications service from America Online, ICQ,
\nalso recently offered an SMS messaging facility in addition to
\ntheir regular Internet-based messaging service.<\/p>\n
The regular service lets you monitor and send messages to your
\nfriends who are also online while you are online.<\/p>\n
ICQ's SMS messaging service lets you add the GSM mobile phone
\nnumber of your ICQ friend to his\/her contact listing on the ICQ
\nservice.<\/p>\n
Frankly, compared to the web-based mtnsms.com, SMS messaging
\nvia ICQ is much more convenient. ICQ-ers do not need to wait for
\nweb pages to download to send messages or to check if and when
\ntheir messages have been sent and received by the addressee.<\/p>\n
If the person to whom you would like to send the message
\nis not an ICQ-er, you simply need to select the SMS sending
\nfunction from a pop-up menu bar and an SMS sending interface
\nimmediately appears.<\/p>\n
Type the phone number of the addressee and your message, and
\nclick to send.<\/p>\n
Sending an SMS to an ICQ-er is even easier. You only need to
\nclick on the contact's nickname on the ICQ interface, select the
\nICQ option on the pop-up menu bar, type the message and send. An
\nicon automatically appears on your ICQ interface as soon the
\naddressee has received the message on his or her mobile
\nphone.<\/p>\n
Once an SMS message sent via ICQ is received, another string
\nof numbers followed by your ICQ number will also appear on the
\nscreen of the recipient's mobile phone. The recipient can reply
\nto the message he or she has received.<\/p>\n
The reply message will appear as an icon showing a mobile
\nphone with a yellow note behind it on your ICQ number.<\/p>\n
From a GSM mobile phone, you can also send messages to an ICQ-
\ner by sending your message to the ICQ string followed by the ICQ
\nnumber of the addressee, using the ICQ message center number.<\/p>\n
The message you send will appear as an incoming SMS message,
\njust like the reply message mentioned above.<\/p>\n
Messaging from ICQ to SMS is fantastic, as it allows one to
\nsend SMS messages to colleagues as far as Europe, directly from a
\ncomputer.<\/p>\n
About three weeks ago, I received an SMS message on my mobile
\nphone. The sender's number indicated that it was from a friend in
\nMalaysia.<\/p>\n
He was the first person I sent my ICQ to SMS message, and he
\nwas very much impressed.<\/p>\n
But it seems to be my turn to be impressed. In his message, he
\nsimply wanted to say that now you can send SMS messages globally.<\/p>\n
I was also able to reply to his message successfully. I only
\nhad to ensure that I used the international format of telephone
\nnumbers, which starts with the + symbol for international direct
\ndialing, followed by country code, area code and phone number.<\/p>\n
I can send SMS messages to friends all over the world, while
\nsending them to my next door neighbor who uses a different GSM
\noperator was not yet possible.<\/p>\n
But last week cross-operator SMS messaging became available
\nwithin Indonesia as well.<\/p>\n
Now, Satelindo subscribers can send SMS messages to Excelcom
\nusers, vice versa, and so forth.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, we can say that SMS messaging through the Global
\nSystem for Mobile communications has gone truly global.<\/p>\n
From anywhere in the world you can send an SMS message to your
\nfriend in another part of the world. Well, almost any part of the
\nworld.<\/p>\n
Ironically, the United States and Japan, who claim to be the
\nleaders of information technology, are perhaps the only two major
\ncountries that have not yet adopted GSM as their main system for
\nmobile telecommunications.<\/p>\n
That is what you get for being too self-centered, I guess. I
\nhope they get the message one day.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sms-goes-truly-global-well-almost-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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