Exploiting bulk SMS services with advanced SMPP protocol solutions

What if I told you that you can now communicate with thousands of your target audience in just a jiffy? Or, how would you react to the fact that with SMPP server panel and smart internet protocols, you can communicate your business word to millions of mobile users across the globe without bothering yourself about the geographical distances?

If I would have put forth above-stated questions before you in the early 20s, you might have rejected the idea but in the year 2020, there is no second thought rather than to agree that SMPP protocol has wide-opened the possibility of instant communication.

Yes, you read it right! Bulk SMS service has been in the marketing industry for over a decade now. However, in the infancy years of this service, there had been several technical challenges which limited down the potential of mass messaging. However, with rapid technological growth and the emergence of affordable mobile devices, today, business units are featured to interact with millions of target audiences in seconds by using the power of SMPP services and SMPP client-server architecture.

What is the SMPP protocol?

Often abbreviated as SMPP, short messaging peer to peer is an industry-standard, telecommunication protocol used to enable the exchange of SMS and data transmission between various computer entities such as routing engines (RE), SMPP servers, USSD, and external messaging entities (ESME). By using this protocol, the business units can Trans-receive a variety of data including text SMS, WAP proxy notifications, etc.

Taking the architecture into perspective, SMPP services work on the client-server prototype and binding algorithms. Let us take a brief look at SMPP architecture to appreciate the unparalleled efficiency of SMPP services in bulk messaging solutions.

Appreciating SMPP architecture

SMPP services owe its high efficiency to client-server architecture which is being used interleaved with internet protocols and binding algorithms. In such architecture, there are two entities namely, SMPP server and SMPP client.

In maximum cases, the SMPP server is the central entity that transmits data received by the business application to a wide network of mobile operators. In technical terms, these servers are termed as Short message service centers or SMSC. On the other hand, business applications coupled with SMPP server API works as the client-side entity and is termed as External short messaging entity or ESME. This entity is responsible for message creation. Depending upon the type of message being dealt in .i.e. outgoing message or incoming message, ESME acts as the source or destination port respectively.

Here it is worth mentioning that SMPP services enable bi-directional mass messaging. In simple words, by using SMPP architecture, business units can send and receive thousands of bulk messages to/from the target audience simultaneously without any lag or hassle.

The binding algorithm

SMPP design follows the globally accepted level-7 TCP/IP internet protocol. This protocol divides messaging function into numerous layers and assigns a specific task to each layer in the protocol.

Whenever either of the entities namely, the SMPP server or client wishes to exchange data, the source entity session layer initiates a session connection to the destination entity. If this session request is accepted, a session is established and data is transmitted.

The use of level-7 TCP/IP protocol makes connection establishment pretty easy between SMPP entities without bothering about internal configurations. In other words, use this internet protocol allows business applications to connect with a variety of SMPP servers without bothering about technical configurations. Today, a majority of SMPP server panel providers are offering SMPP servers with SMPP version 3.3 and above. Use of v3.3 and above makes these servers fairly efficient in transmitting data at high transmission rates without facing any time lags.

How to integrate the SMPP server with your business architecture?

SMPP servers play a crucial factor in the transmission of data from source to destination ports. These servers act as the central system in data transmission and connect the other ends such as mobile operators and ESME. Therefore it is greatly important to properly integrate SMPP servers with your business applications to enable bulk messaging via SMPP services.

MsgClub SMPP servers are developed with high throughput rates and can be easily integrated with your business applications with the help of SMPP gateway API. An SMPP application interface is a channeling solution that enables your business application to transmit/receive data to/from the SMPP server. Talking in numbers, SMPP servers by the above-mentioned SMPP server provider are known to Trans-receive 300-500 messages per second.

Use of SMPP server panel

With the SMPP server being integrated with your business application, you can transmit thousands of SMS just within a second or two. However, it is also crucial to keep track of sent/received messages, delivery success rate, etc. To keep a check on these operational parameters SMPP service providers offer SMPP server panel.

Stated simply, these panels are advanced, user-friendly system solutions that offer its users an interface to view and operate on SMPP activities. Using this panel not only can you see the number of bulk SMS sent and/or received, the success rate, retry rates, etc in numbers but also analyze SMS reports with graphical representation and trend charts.

These charts help you as a business to effectively plan your upcoming SMS campaigns and execute them effectively in the best possible manner. The panels can further be used for server account management, routing configurations, user management, etc. Not to mention, you can also perform SMS Quality assurance activities using the SMPP server panel. 

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