GTX’s look back at the history of SMS messaging continues today with an insightful introduction to the world of SMS.
An introduction to SMS is the order of the today, as GTX continues to celebrate 20 years of texting with its latest blog entry…
140 – SMS is the abbreviation for Short Message Service because each message is limited to 140 bytes. In the standard Latin alphabet, that means 160 characters, but some languages need more space – e.g. Chinese, Arabic and Cyrillic SMS transport only 70 characters.
Not all Body – SMS messages consist of Headers and Bodies: The header defines the basic information such as the number of the sender, his language and typeset, and the recipient’s details. The body contains the 1120 bits of message and can be encoded in various ways.
Registered Mail – SMS isn’t just sent through anonymous global networks. Each SMS goes from a phone to the defined SMS center (SMS-C) – a unit that controls the handling and connects to other servers, making sure the SMS is correctly coded. SMSCs route the messages and exchange status reports so that delivery can be safely monitored. If messages arrive, the sender can see that immediately.
Security – SMS is not a Web technology, and therefore it doesn’t have the same security issues that Web-based instant messaging has. An SMS is transferred individually through the mobile networks and considerably less prone to interception because of secure standards.
Versatility – While SMS is known to most as a quick and easy tool to connect with friends and colleagues, the technology is used in many other contexts, such as: Online Banking, Order Confirmation in eCommerce, emergency notifications in IT maintenance of remote systems, and marketing to mobile customers.
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