How Does SMS Service Actually Work?

by: Joe Macon

Short message service (SMS) is a wildly popular feature available on most digital mobile phones. SMS allows users to send short messages to other cell phones. These short messages are called text messages. SMS was invented by a Finnish civil servant named Matti Makkonen. Many people understand what SMS is, but few understand how it actually works.

In SMS, messages are sent with a “store-and-forward” mechanism. The messages are sent to a Short Message Service Center (SMSC), and then relayed to the intended recipient. If the messages do not reach the recipient upon the first attempt, then the SMSC will try again. It is important to understand that SMS delivery is not guaranteed. Many messages cannot be delivered, but the delivery is called “best effort.” The amount of attempts to send a text message varies with the company.

SMS messages are transmitted via SS7 within the standard GSM MAP framework. SMS messages have a certain payload length. The signaling protocol is precisely 140 bytes. In simple terms, SMS messages have very constrained character limits. This is why messages are sent in “txt speak.” Text speak is the practice of shortening words and phrases in order to fit messages into the allowed amount of bandwidth. SMS messages cost different amounts in different countries. In the United States, the average message costs 10 cents.

Text messages do not always have to be sent from mobile phone to mobile phone. AOL Instant Messenger has an option that will send instant messages to a cell phone. Additionally, there is a widget available for Mac OS X Tiger that will allow a user to send text messages to a cell phone from the dashboard. SMS messages can also be utilized to give news alerts. Additionally, SMS messages can be used to give sports updates and statistics. In this way, SMS messages are very versatile.

Technology is constantly evolving. SMS services prove that communication is becoming broader and easier. Technologists predict that SMS service will advance such that the service will be more reliable, and be able to store more data for the purpose of transmission.

About The Author

Joe Macon writes about a variety of technology topics, with a focus on SMS technology. For SMS services he recommends www.clickatell.com.

Choosing a Cell Phone

by: Telefon Wirles

Considering the innumerable varieties of cell phones in the market, it is quite a challenging task to choose the best one. However, the basic criterion of selecting the best cell phone is to be absolutely clear about what your needs are. The best cellular phone is the one that is absolutely right for you. And, of course, you can only have the best cellular phone when you pay for what you want.

Tons of offers are also available. There are free cellular telephone offers, prepaid cellular, digital, mobile, web enabled and many more. No one can tell you which cell phone is best for you because every one has different needs when it comes to their cellular telephone. Some people want absolutely basic features while others want a lot of totally fantastic features. Some need a cellular telephone for e-mail, faxing and surfing the Internet. Many people want it to be top of the line while others prefer simplicity.

The process of buying a cell phone is so confusing. There are simply so many different handsets, networks, deals and call costs to consider that buying the right phone for your usage and budget can be very difficult.

Here are a few tips to help you choose the best cell phone. First of all, decide how much you want to spend and be clear on the features you need. Remember that the more the features, the higher the cost.

Purchase a battery with a decent battery life and judge the mobile phone by the talk time it gives. The bare minimum should be 2 hours of maximum talk-time plus 90 hours of maximum standby time.

Shop and compare for pricing and service. These days, quality phones are very cheap. There is a proliferation of cell phone makers including Nokia, Motorola, Ericson, Siemens, Samsung, Sony, etc. More importantly, cellular plans have come down enormously in overall price with some caveats.

Some standard features include caller ID, phone book with fast dial, call waiting, voice mail and auto-answering. Some also have other added features like your first incoming minute free. The high-end cell phones will have voice-a ctivated dialing, SMS, 2-way paging, games, scheduling calendars, digital organizer and all the standard features. The main thing is to see what fits into your life style best and also to be sure when and if the features expire.

While making a cell phone and service plan decision, remember that everybody’s needs are different. So what’s good for your friend may not be the best choice for you. Your best bet would be to search online for websites with good cell phone comparisons in order to get a quality cell phone offer.

To make sure that your cell phone comparisons are complete look at Nokia cell phones, Ericsson cell phones, Sprint cell phones, Motorola cell phones and Samsung cell phones. Research the different free cell phone offers, prepaid cell phones and service plans from brand names like AT