SMS Text Messaging is very popular, and new technology that increases smartphone bandwidth will make Multimedia Messages the new preferred communications method.

Sending SMS text messages, technically defined as Short Message System (SMS), but also referred to as “texting”, is a straightforward, effortless, and convenient method to correspond to and from mobile devices.  Not just a very good system for people to correspond, text messages can be a useful manner for software applications to exchange simple messages, and even setup instructions, to and from  mobile devices.  SMS doesn’t require a direct connection between smartphones; the communications infrastructure for the process is already in position, and it functions across most mobile service providers. One aspect of SMS messaging that makes it especially valuable for mobile software programs is that it relies on mobile device fixed identity, the phone number. This aspect presents a distinct benefit over other technologies that utilize IP addresses because a cell phone IP address can vary depending on current network.

Short Message Service (SMS) is a communication service component of the GSM mobile communication system.  It uses uniform communications protocols that allow incoming and outgoing short text messages between mobile phones. SMS text messaging is the most widely used data application on earth, with almost two and a half billion active users, or almost 75% of all cell phone subscribers.

SMS text messaging as used on modern mobiles was initially included as part of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) series of protocols in 1985  as a manner of transferring messages of up to 160 characters, to and from GSM mobile handsets.  Since then service support has extended to comprise other mobile technology such as ANSI CDMA networks and Digital AMPS, as well as satellite and landline networks.  The majority of SMS messages are mobile-to-mobile text messages, though the standard supports other types of broadcast messaging as well.  Computer to smartphone SMS texting capabilities are also expanding rapidly.

Global System for Mobile Communications was initially called Groupe Spécial Mobile.  It is the most popular standard for mobile telephone systems on the planet. The GSM Association, the promoting trade organization of mobile phone operators and manufacturers, estimates that approximately 80% of the world mobile market uses the standard.  GSM is utilized by over 3 billion people across more than two hundred countries and territories.  Its ubiquity  enables international roaming agreements between mobile phone network providers, providing subscribers the benefit of their mobile phones in many parts of the world.  GSM differs from its predecessor technologies in that both signaling and speech channels are digital.  Thus GSM is thought of as a second generation (2G) mobile phone system.  Additionally, this  facilitates the extensive implementation of data communication applications.

The pervasiveness of GSM deployment has been a benefit for consumers that are given the option to roam and switch carriers without needing to replace their cell phones, and also to network providers, who can select equipment from a variety of equipment vendors. GSM pioneered affordable implementation of SMS texting, which subsequently has been supported on other mobile phone standards.

Recent versions of the standard work with the initial GSM system.  Release ‘97 of the standard upgraded to packet data capabilities by means of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). Release ‘99 introduced higher speed data transmission using Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE).

General packet radio service (GPRS) is a packet oriented mobile data service available to users of the 2G and 3G GSM. In 2G systems.  GPRS data transfer is typically billed per megabyte of datasent and received, while data communication via traditional circuit switching is billed per unit of connection time, without consideration of whether or not the subscriber actually is using it or if it is idle. GPRS is a best-effort packet switched service, as opposed to circuit switching, that has assured quality of service during the connection for non-mobile users.

2G cellular systems combined with GPRS are often referred to as 2.5G.  2.5G is a technology bridge transitioning between the second (2G) and third (3G) generations of mobile phone telephony. It provides moderate-speed data transfer, by using unused time division multiple access (TDMA) channels. Originally it was intended to extend GPRS to cover other standards, however these networks are converting to the GSM standard.   GPRS is integrated into GSM Release 97 and newer releases.

GPRS was created as a GSM response to the earlier CDPD and i-mode packet switched cellular technologies.  Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) was a wide-area mobile data service which used unused bandwidth normally used by AMPS mobile phones.  The service was discontinued in conjunction with the retirement of the parent AMPS service.
CDPD was developed in the early 1990’s, with anticipation it would be a future technology. However, it had competition from then current slower but cheaper Mobitex and DataTac systems.  CDPD never gained common acceptance and in time newer, faster standards such as GPRS earned general acceptance and became dominant.

For consumers CDPD had very limited offerings.  AT&T Wireless initially sold the technology in the US under the brandname PocketNet, one of the very first consumer wireless web service offers. Cingular Wireless later offered CDPD under the Wireless Internet brand (as opposed to Wireless Internet Express, Cingular Wireless GPRS/EDGE data). AT&T Wireless PocketNet failed as a product launch.  However, CDPD was used  by several enterprise and government networks.  It was particularly popular as a first-generation wireless data solution for telemetry devices (machine to machine communications) and for public safety mobile data terminals.

Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) (also referred to as Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), or IMT Single Carrier (IMT-SC), and Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution) is a backward-compatible digital mobile phone technology that allows better data transmission rates on top of standard GSM.  EDGE is referred to as a 3G radio technology.  EDGE delivers  more than three-fold improvement in both the capacity and performance of GSM/GPRS networks by incorporating sophisticated methods of coding and transmitting data, that produce higher bit-rates per radio channel.  EDGE delivers broadband performance and supports high bandwidth data applications such as Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS).

A very interesting software application that uses the connectivity between the cell phone  and the internet to capture and archive MMS Multi-Media Messages, GPS location,  SMS messages, and Call Event Logs is PhoneBeagle Mobile Monitoring.  Follow this link if you are interested in    Mobile Monitoring Software that works with with BlackBerry  and  Android  Smartphones,.    Visit this link for more information regarding the latest software for  Parental Monitoring and Employee Monitoring of Mobile Phones .

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Posted by admin on March 29th, 2010 :: Filed under Satellite TV
Tags :: Employee Monitoring, GSM, MMS Multimedia Messages, Mobile SMS, Parental Monitoring, Phone Monitoring

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