An updated release of NowSMS is now available for download. Version 2013.11.15 is a critical update for customers using MMSC functionality. This update fixes two different denial of service problems and improves recovery handling of unexpected problems. One problem was new to the 2013.09.26 release and can be triggered by a corrupt message received via an MM4 connection. The other problem affects all previous versions of NowSMS and can be triggered by a corrupt MM1 message submission that is to be routed externally via MM4 or MM7. This release also corrects a problem where some To/Cc recipient ..read more

An updated release of NowSMS & NowMMS is now available for general release. Existing customers who have a current software update license can use the trial download to update their existing installation.  Please see the Serial # page of the NowSMS configuration program to determine software update eligibility. There are numerous enhancements in this release, some of which have been made available and tested in interim releases over the past year. This document will highlight some of the more significant changes in this release.  For additional detail, please refer to our changes ..read more

The SMPP protocol defines support for optional parameters, known as TLV parameters. Some TLV parameters are defined in the core specification, and NowSMS may use them depending on configuration settings. These TLV parameters include message_payload, source_port, dest_port, sar_msg_ref_num, sar_total_segments, sar_segment_seqnum, payload_type, message_state and receipted_message_id. (There are also advanced configuration settings to generate values for user_message_reference and callback_num, which were required by specific customer implementations.) SMS service providers are free to define the ..read more

Burst mode is a licensing enhancement to help customers better handle bursts of SMS and/or MMS messaging activity. Instead of just tracking message throughput per minute or second, NowSMS also keeps track of activity over the past two hours, and allows unused throughput capacity during that period to be applied as a performance burst. Performance burst activity will provide up to double the license throughput for up to 60 minutes. For example, consider a 10 message per second license which has been completely idle with no messaging traffic for at least 60 minutes. A large bulk submission occur ..read more

Emoticons have long been part of text messaging (and before that e-mail), ranging from simple smileys such as : ) and : – ) to flowers @>–>—.  Traditionally, emoticons have been pictorial representation of a feeling or expression, with that picture being constructed by combining punctuation characters and other standard text characters.  Some messaging clients automatically replace common emoticons such as smileys with a graphic image, such as :). In Japan, emoji characters were added to mobile phones to provide users with access to graphic pictograms that were richer in presen ..read more

The Now SMS & MMS Gateway can use a GSM/GPRS or 3G/UMTS/WCDMA modem to send and receive MMS messages via an operator MMSC. In this type of configuration, there is no special setup requirement required by the mobile operator. The Now SMS & MMS Gateway sends and receives MMS messages using the same protocol that is used by the MMS client in a mobile phone, so it simply requires that the SIM card in your mobile phone be provisioned by your mobile operator for MMS support. Beta versions of NowSMS and NowSMS Lite are available that support the ability to use Android phones as GSM modem dev ..read more

Some of our customers have been frustrated by an AT&T policy that blocks the sending of mobile originated WAP Push messages.  This prevents WAP Push messages from being sent over a GSM modem.  This blocking affects all messages that are sent via WAP Push, not just service indication messages, but also blocking OMA OTA settings and MMS notifications. A NowSMS customer discovered a potential work-around by changing the TP-Protocol-ID (PID) value in the SMS message. Note: AT&T has now blocked this work-around, but we are keeping this page available as this may be potential work ..read more

NowSMS is frequently used to provide SMS message routing connectivity between multiple SMSCs using the SMPP protocol. The purpose of this document is to clarify issues that are frequently encountered in SMS hubbing configurations. In SMS hubbing configurations, NowSMS is connected to one or more service providers using the SMPP protocol. Service providers route selected SMS messages to NowSMS over an SMPP connection, and NowSMS is then used to route the SMS message to a different service provider over another SMPP connection. The concept is simple, but the implementation can be challenging, du ..read more

Click here for a PDF version of this document. This document outlines how MMS charging is implemented using Diameter and MM9 in the NowSMS MMSC. It also describes a test program that is used to validate proper Diameter configuration parameters and charging behaviour. MM9 Diameter charging is enabled in NowSMS MMSC versions 2013.04.01 and later. The MMSC implements Diameter Credit Control for charging based upon the following specifications: [DIAMBASE] – RFC 3588 – Diameter Base Protocol [DIAMCCA] – RFC 4006 – Diameter Credit Control Application [3GPPDIAM] – 3GPP TS 32.299 – 3GPP Diameter Char ..read more

We’d like to draw some attention to an issue that was reported (and quickly diagnosed) on our discussion forum last month. A customer reported that they were no longer able to process received MMS messages using a GSM modem on the Orange  network in the UK. There are a variety of potential causes, such as a SIM not being enabled for MMS support, or incorrectly provisioned Operator MMS settings.  However, this case was unusual. Generally when there is a problem receiving MMS messages via a modem, the first thing we check is whether or not the modem can be used to send MMS message ..read more