How to connect your alarm system to the mobile network

To connect your Monitoring PC to the mobile network you have various options. You can connect wirelessly the same way as mobile phones connect. You can connect to the SMSC of a mobile network operator over the Internet using the SMPP, UCP or CIMD2 protocol or you can use an on-line http sms service. In either case it is a good practice to use multiple connections to the mobile network for fault tolerance, load balancing, least cost routing and backup routing purposes. A common practice is to setup an IP sms connection (e.g. SMPP client connection) for everyday high performance messaging. After this connection is working, it is a good idea to setup a wireless link as backup. You can setup a wireless link using an SMS modem pool. These to connections will make sure your system operates even if the primary SMS service fails.

How to connect your Monitoring PC to the mobile network wirelessly

To connect your Monitoring PC to the mobile network wirelessly, you will send sms using a GSM modem, or you will send sms using a GSM modem pool or you will use a Monitoring PC.

In either case you need SIM cards purchased from a local mobile network operator, and the phone numbers you can use as SMS Sender ID will be the phone numbers assigned to the SIM cards by the network operator. The advantage to using a wireless connection is that it is easy to setup, and often you can send and receive SMS messages free of charge over wireless links. (In fact many SMS service providers run a business of purchasing SMS modem pools with SIM cards and they sell the SMS messages and phone numbers to their clients over the Internet by providing an HTTP sms service.)

How to connect your Monitoring PC to a mobile network operator

To send large volumes of SMS messages, a direct connection to the Short Message Service Center (SMSC) of a mobile network operator, or to a high capacity on-line SMS service is a good option. Mobile network operators and top SMS providers offer SMPP client connection or other heavy-duty SMS protocols, such as the UCP sms protocol, the CIMD2 sms protocol or the OZX sms protocol. In most cases you can connect to these providers through a secure SSL link. You may check out the how to create a secure smpp client connection guide on getting more information about this connection option.

How to connect your Monitoring PC to an HTTP SMS service provider

The third option to connect your system to the mobile network is to connect to an HTTP SMS service provider. Although the HTTP protocol is not the most efficient option to send and receive SMS messages, because it puts a large data overhead on each SMS, and it does not support SMS delivery reports and inbound SMS messages properly, it is still used by many businesses. The primary reason for this is that an HTTP SMS connection can be setup very effortlessly.

To connect your system to an HTTP SMS service, you need to sign up to the service on their website, and you need to enter the account details they provide into Ozeki SMS Gateway. A list of supported SMS service providers can be found in our On-line SMS service poviders page. You will find step by step instructions for each provider on how to connect to their service.