Bulk SMS Gateways can greatly improve the performance of business firms

A bulk SMS gateway program offers a range of invaluable benefits that help business enterprises to plan their growth as well as have an edge over the market competitors. The cost effectiveness and instant reliability of this communication service has already helped many business firms to promote their brand in all parts of the world. Using a Bulk SMS Gateway program to send bulk SMSs to mobile devices has the distinct advantage of addressing them to targeted customers and customizing the messages. A Bulk SMS Gateway Provider can also help an enterprise owner to make use of the messaging facilities and have better insight into the needs of the customers.

Here are some of the ways in which bulk SMS gateways can help business firms to improve their prospects.

Rapidity of sending and receiving business messages

The success of bulk SMS Gateways largely depend on their rapidity. Transactional and promotional bulk SMSs can be easily sent to customers instantly at any given point of time. This is something that is impossible to accomplish through other advertising means. Any company looking to reach out to thousands of prospective customers immediately should make use of a Bulk SMS Gateway Software as the facilities offered by such programs can greatly help in achieving such goals.

Bulk SMS Gateway campaigns accurately reach the targets

From the very beginning, there is hardly any confusion regarding the correct address as to where the message is supposed to go. A promotional bulk SMS application and enables business firms to send SMSs on permission-based protocols; this means that they never disturb the customers or make them uneasy. Customers who receive these bulk SMSs are open to such communications already and therefore they provide permissions to the service providers who offer such updates.

Assists in ensuring convenience for the customers

Customers are always happy and contented with the brands which can take care of their needs and provide them with value. The bulk SMS programs allow companies to always keep their customers updated with all the latest developments in the company as well as new offers and promotions. They also offer important information regarding the status of customer orders and product deliveries which in turn keep the customers contended. This naturally helps to ensure customer satisfaction which is always good for the business.

Low costs and high returns

The traditional modes of advertising mostly used in business are generally very costly. These include print, television and other modes of advertisements. Moreover, many of the modes are fast becoming outdated as new methods are coming in vogue. Messaging with the help of bulk SMS programs offer business firms with the much needed advantage of saving on a lot of money while at the same time have the same kind of impact on the target customers. It is due to such reasons that using these programs have become very important nowadays. The latest bulk SMS applications come with a number of additional features that allow people to customize them according to their business needs.  

Functionalities that should be present in a bulk SMS gateway application

A Bulk SMS gateway offers excellent avenues for integrating the SMS APIs with the system and application of a business firm. Web developers are often required to provide their websites and apps with the ability to send SMSs to an extensive base of customers for enhancing retention, interaction and sales. The functionality should be considered carefully since choosing an appropriate gateway can greatly help in ensuring long term success of a bulk SMS service.

Here are some of the functionalities that should be present in a bulk SMS gateway program:

• A Bulk SMS Gateway provider should be able to present with multiple SMS API options that would help in easy identification and integration of the most beneficial application interface into the mobile and desktop platforms of the client company.
• The Bulk SMS Gateway Software provider should provide with a robust application that offers automated alerts so that the users know when and how to set up the triggers that can be followed easily. These will help in automatically sending out reminders to the high valued customers and team members and also the employees.
• With the assistance of an international promotional and business bulk SMS service provider, an enterprise will be definitely able to send out messages to all its customers, affiliates and suppliers all over the world. This is going to contribute in a major way in enhancing the working relationships and boost customer retention rates as well as help in easy scheduling of all business tasks.
• Using Bulk SMS Gateways for sending out messages is quite a simple concept. Nevertheless, a bulk SMS services provider should also have the requisite infrastructure for directly receiving messages from the user base. By making use of a two way communication process and unique short codes, it is possible to open up an effective conversation easily between a brand and all of its valued customers.
• For those companies that are looking for some advanced functionalities within these programs, they can look for email to SMS feature that is currently available in many of the Bulk SMS Gateway applications in the market. They also help users to send updates along with the reminders. Using these applications, companies can also send other types of messages directly to their email database customers.
• It is possible to send highly personalized top priority messages by using these applications that will help a brand to send the right kind of information to a specific target at the right time. Since the web SMSs reach mobile devices quite easily, customers will always get these messages when they are supposed to. This is also referred to effective direct marketing.
• It is necessary that a transactional bulk SMS application is always highly scalable and reliable. This means that it should be implemented by a company that has a solid reputation in the market and has the infrastructural ability to cover an extensive range SMS networks and additional support systems in all parts of the world.

Here's what industry insiders say about SMPP SMS gateway

An SMPP SMS gateway is one of the most widely used SMS gateways in the world. It is often preferred by many business owners due to the distinct technical advantages that they provide. The distinct technical advantages offered by this gateway have naturally increased the demand for an SMPP Provider that can help business firms to send bulk quantities of SMS messages for their own requirements. The acronym SMPP actually stands for “Short Message Peer to Peer Protocol”. The SMPP SMS Gateway is used for sending and receiving messages to and from GSM, iDEN, UMTS, TDMA and CDMA cell phones. SMPP is a level-7 TCP/IP protocol and it is widely known for facilitating faster delivery of SMS messages.

By using the SMPP protocol for sending SMS messages instead of using a GSM modem, one can have the following advantages:

• Since the SMPP messaging protocol is based on TCP/IP, there is no need for GSM hardware;
• The users can send SMSs to only a simple short code, which is not possible while sending SMS to a standard GSM phone;
• The SMPP messaging protocol provides with high throughput (up to around 200 messages per second); 
• It is also possible to assign an alphanumeric sender address with the SMPP messaging protocol

SMPP is extensively used by various business clients for connecting to a Short Message Service Centre or SMSC. In SMPP terms, a client is known as Extended Short Message Entity or ESME. The SMSC's can even exchange data by using a reliable SMPP connection. The messages that are sent to the SMSC are known as Mobile Terminated or MT messages, since they are directly sent to the mobile phone. The messages that are received from the SMSC are known as Mobile Originated or MO messages as they originate from the sender’s mobile phone.

When an ESME chooses to establish a connection by using an SMPP SMS Gateway, it can be accomplished in three modes. These include the Transmitter, where the ESME entity can only submit the messages to a SMSC; the Receiver, where the ESME entity can only receive the messages or the delivery reports from a SMSC; and the Transceiver, where the EMSE entity can send as well as receive the messages to/from the SMSC.

There are a number of applications for which the SMPP SMS gateway solutions can be used:

• For sending voicemail alerts to the mobile users;
• To aid in information services, like sending traffic jam alerts, stock exchanges alerts or the weather forecasts;
• For sending SMS notifications to the mobile users when the server is down; they can also be used for sending SMS messages that perform specific functions;
• It can be used for sending MMS notifications, particularly when the users pay for Java applications and ringtones, the download location can be send by a WAP Push message or MMS notification;
• It can be used for the purpose of voting and for processing votes from the mobile users;
• For telemetry applications