SMS Number & SMS Gateway

[bajdev]

I have a couple questions regarding SMS and ASP.NET.

Does anyone have any information on how you get an SMS number (other then a cell phone) that user's can send SMS too. I'm looking to do something similar to Google's SMS service where you can text something to a number e.g. 12345 (google is: 46645), a service will receive the text, parse the message, and respond.

If user's have to send an SMS message to an email address for the system to parse I'll do it, however I'd prefer a number similar to google's approach. The biggest issue I might run into with that is a hosting company having to install a special service to receive the text, which under the current model isn't an option. If that's what it takes though I'll look at getting a colo server I can use.

My second question is about SMS Gateways. Does anyone know of a good one? I've found several write ups on send SMS messages using C# (and have actually done it on Windows Mobile). A free gateway would obviously be preferred however I'm okay paying for one if necessary.

I'm still doing some research on the project, however any information will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
bajdev

 

[tperri]

Wouldn't your gateway give you a number (like the 5 digit one you're looking for)? Have you asked them if they provide those? It seems logical to me that they would be the providers.

Good luck with your SMS fun

 

[bajdev]

Good point. You might be right. I'm not sure, I'm still looking into it.