What is SMS?

SMS is an acronym used in the world of communications technology. It stands for Short Messaging Service which is a protocol used in communications that gives way to the exchange of short text messages from one mobile telephone device to another. SMS or text messaging largely dominates today's means of communication since seventy-four percent of all cell phone users send and receive text messages nowadays. The technology behind SMS has paved the way for the rapid growth of improvement of text messaging that has now allowed users to broadcast SMS text messages not just from mobile phones but also from computers with the use of SMS software and through public SMS gateways. The link between text messaging to SMS technology now co notates the terminology of "SMS" as the act of texting or sending text messages even with the use of a different communications protocol.

SMS was primarily used with modern mobile phones back in 1985 and was initially a part of GSM which is a protocol that lets users send up to one hundred and sixty characters from one GSM capable phone to another. GSM support was then extended to incorporate other mobile messaging standards like Digital AMPS and ANSI CDMA networks, landline and satellite networks as well. This expansion gave way to sending messages to a mobile phone that uses a certain protocol from a different type of protocol with the use of either the computer through the internet, a hand held device like a Treo or Blackberry, or a regular home phone.

The next most common means to send SMS nowadays, second to phone to phone texting, is through the use of SMS software. This method has increased in popularity because it is free to download over the World Wide Web. The text messages that you send can be delivered in various ways depending on the SMS software carrier standards. The commonly used protocols for SMS software include the use a modem (UCP or TAP), the use of email or SMTP, and the use of the Internet (WCTP, SNPP). Majority of SMS softwares have the advantage of sending a single text messages to a specific number of recipients of a group which is also known as group messaging. One can even set a fixed schedule of when he or she would want the message to be sent. An SMS alert can even be sent as a result of set conditions. This automated system proves to be one of the biggest advantages in using SMS software messaging.

Another option is to use SMS centers, SMSC, or Public SMS gateways. The SMS center operates a vast range of software applications that have a big number of subscribers and a very big database. The SMS gateway routes messages to the appropriate mobile carriers. An example of this is Yahoo mobile messaging.

The use of SMS as an effective means of personal communication has expanded the market of text messaging. Businesses, government offices, and even television shows now use this service since SMS is the quickest way to get a message through from one entity to another.