Convert your email into SMS with SMTP

Chances are that as a South African consumer you have received an SMTP SMS notification alert at some point in the last few years. ‘Email-to-SMS’ technology allows organisations with email servers to send messages directly to your mobile phone through what is known as simple mail transfer protocol or SMTP. Whether it was from your bank confirming a transaction on your account, your dentist reminding you via SMS of your next appointment or the garage’s customer relationship team following up after your last car service, SMS notifications have become standard operating procedure for many organisations.

SMTP was developed in the 1970s to enable users of different systems to email each other; in today’s mobile world, SMTP SMS gateway APIs allow messages sent from email servers to be translated into SMS messages and delivered to a mobile phone. Normally chosen by organisations that are working with legacy servers or those that already have email enabled systems in place, an SMTP API is the industry standard for high volume SMS messaging from email servers.

Extremely easy to set-up and use, an SMTP API allows users to write their bulk SMS messages as email messages in their normal email clients, such as Outlook. The message is then sent to the email address of an SMS gateway. The SMS gateway ‘translates’ the message into the correct SMS format and sends it on to the desired recipient.

One of the many advantages of using an SMTP API is that extended length messages can easily be sent if concatenation is supported by the destination mobile number and operator, i.e. you are not limited to the standard 160 characters of an SMS, in one email. SMTP also supports text, Unicode, flash messaging and binary SMS sending. Converters are normally supplied to allow binary functionality allowing the user to send ringtones and logos. This is useful when selling products directly from a mobile platform.

Customers wanting to set up SMTP-based emergency notification systems that rely on guaranteed message delivery can choose gateway escalation options. The message, once converted from email to SMS format, is sent onto alternative delivery gateways, if delivery fails at the initial address. Priority queuing is also an option with SMTP systems, ensuring that SMS’s are sent in the correct order, and that those who need to get the message first, do so.

Although there are no two-way messaging options with SMTP or ‘email-to-SMS’ applications, there are other SMS gateway APIs such as HTTP, FTP or SMPP, that can be used for receiving SMS responses.

Organisations that already have email systems in place and wish to extend their reach to a mobile platform for SMS notification alerts, direct sales from a mobile platform, emergency notification systems or high-volume mobile messaging can do so easily with an SMTP API, which converts email to SMS.

Related posts:

1. Using the SMTP API for Educational Purposes in Africa The SMTP API is flexible enough to allow educators to...
2. Little Known Parameters of the SMTP API The SMTP API provides versatile SMS messaging capabilities - simple...
3. Email to SMS – The Manual Way Using email to SMS is an efficient way to get...
4. Use Email to SMS for 2010 Using email to SMS during the 2010 Soccer World Cup...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Tags: bulk SMS, Clickatell South Africa, email to SMS, mobile messaging, SMS gateway, SMTP, SMTP API, SMTP SMS