Overview
Most businesses find managing internal and external communication often a hectic task. From employees to potential leads and recurring customers, carrying different conversations is not only time-consuming but also confusing which may result to errors. An SMS gateway can make this easier by automating these processes. With SMS technology on the rise, it is about time businesses take full advantage of its potential. Using an SMS Gateway, you can now integrate your business website or custom software applications to create a central functional unit to carry out daily communications. More importantly, it is a smart tool for 2-factor authentication and automated customer engagement such as order confirmations, processing and delivery via text messages. However, there are several components you will need to understand about SMS Gateway, including what it is, how it works and why you should use it?
What is an SMS Gateway?
An SMS Gateway is an interface that allows a platform to talk to another. Think of it as a bridge between two places, a link is formed and information can be shared. The gateway takes certain criteria from the system including the authentication keys, and convert them into a ‘readable’ and usable format for both your system and Experttexting. Most businesses have different processes and software. Many of them now have their own website. If you have ever linked your Twitter or Instagram profiles to your website, then you’ve used an API. SMS integration isn’t much different. In fact, SMS allows you to personalize your bulk messages, allow two-way communication and also send out OTPs. So basically, you can use this for multiple purposes. Now, SMS can be integrated into websites and software through SMS Gateway integration. This allows businesses to introduce SMS into existing CRM tools and infrastructure thereby, connecting all your internal processes to the gateway that lets you send messages programmatically. Experttexting offers a number of API options including REST and SMPP.
What is REST?
A RESTful API or representational state transfer (REST), is an architectural style and approach to communications. They are commonly used in web services development. Businesses now prefer REST technology to SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) as it uses less bandwidth, making it more suitable for reduced internet usage. In simple terms, REST used by browsers is like the language of the internet and with cloud use on the rise, APIS are being used consistently by consumers to organize access to web applications. In fact, RESTful APIs are commonly used by sites such as Google, Twitter, Amazon and LinkedIn.
Why modern organizations use SMS Gateway today?
An SMS Gateway integration makes a reliable and secure correlation between an application/website and SMS provider. Due to its unmatched business benefits, it’s used in almost every industry. So, let’s take a quick look at some of its benefits;
Better Efficiency through Automation
An SMS Gateway allows you to send messages programmatically and boosts the overall workflow thus, reducing the dependency on manual labor. For example, if a new user signs up for your website or app, the integration allows your website to send verification codes (OTPs) automatically, along with other pre-programmed messages. This helps to handle repetitive manual tasks and allows others to concentrate on other critical tasks.
Fast and Reliable
With SMS Gateway integration, you have the ability to send thousands of text messages in just a few seconds from your system to mobile devices of your targeted users. The Gateway is also compatible with all major applications and platforms that help you manage all your business communications from a single functional unit.
Popularity
SMS Gateways are used by some of the major websites and software applications around the world including banks, ecommerce giants like Amazon, and instant messaging apps like WhatsApp. This means that the technology is proven to be effective for different purposes and on different applications.
Tracking
You can easily track your message statuses such as sent and delivery. This is important when sending real-time important notifications and alerts to customers or employees.
Flexibility
With SMS Gateways, you get the freedom to access different components of the provider’s service and incorporate it into your system. So, you get full control over the API and can change it from time to time as per your need and preferences.
What is SMPP?
SMPP stands for Short Message Peer to Peer Protocol and is an industry protocol deployed by businesses and telecom agencies for exchanging short message data between SMSC (short message service centers) and ESME (External short messaging entities). So, SMPP allows third parties to whitelist their traffic send messages in bulk at blazing speeds.
Benefits of using SMPP for your business?
- SMPP allows the exchange of text messages from and to GSM, iDEN, CDMA, UMTS and TDMA cell phones.
- The protocol is a level-7 TCP/IP protocol. This allows incredibly fast delivery of SMS messages. GSM hardware is not mandatory.
- High throughput (usually up to 200 texts/second)
- Alphanumeric Sender ID is applicable in countries that support it.
How to get started with Experttexting’s SMS gateway?
- Start your Experttexting free trial by signing up for an account.
- Go to account settings to generate your API key/Secret.
- Review our complete API documentation or refer it to your developers.
- Proceed to the integration and send your messages
- For SMPP services, please send an email to support@experttexting.com with your IP, API key and Username. Our team will follow up accordingly.
Experttexting offers a smart Application Programming Interface (API) tool to all its customers. Using an SMS Gateway, you remove the need of writing different programs to send SMS messages. Thanks to Experttexting’s platform and state of the art SMS Gateway, integrating with our service is easy. If you would like to know more about SMS Gateway or to learn about our services, you can engage with our 24/7 live support team or call us on (845)-580-6454. Our friendly and experienced team will respond to any questions you have and explain how our service works. We'd be glad to provide advice to help you set up your account according to your use case to ensure a great experience.
