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SMPP vs SMTP – What’s the Difference?
SMPP (Short Message Peer-to-Peer) are text messages sent through a mobile carrier. SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) are messages sent via email.

1. Cost of sending: The cost to set up an SMTP website is very small; all you need is an email server and some bandwidth and you are up and running. This makes SMTP websites a dime a dozen and notorious for being used to generate text message SPAM. On the other hand, the cost to set up an SMPP website is much greater in terms of both invested time and capital. To start the process of being approved for SMPP messaging, a company must go through a 6-8 week approval process, in which carriers rigorously test the product to make sure it meets all the required standards. In addition to this, the company must also partner with an aggregator who will charge them connection, set-up and most importantly, a per message fee to send each text message.

2. Message speed: SMTP does not connect directly to carriers and as a result, messages are extremely slow and are in no way guaranteed to end up at the destination. We have seen messages sent through an SMTP gateway take 24-48 hours to reach their destination. On the other hand, SMPP has priority routing and is guaranteed to be much faster with a 99% success rate. From our experience, it’s very rare not to see SMPP messages received within a few seconds of sending.

3. Legal issues: The SMTP gateway was only built for personal use, and carriers have made it very clear that any use of this gateway for commercial purposes is in direct violation of their terms of service. In addition to the carriers not allowing commercial messaging through their SMTP gateway, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted rules that prohibit sending unwanted commercial SMTP messages to wireless devices. With the FCC governing these messages, any violations would be considered a federal offense and punishable by the full extent of the law.

4. Reliability: What happens when a carrier changes their email domain that you send SMTP messages to? One sure thing is that they won’t tell you about these changes and all of a sudden your messages won’t be reaching their intended recipients. When you send messages via SMPP, your connection will always be the same because websites utilizing SMPP have a direct connection to the carriers, which doesn’t require knowing an email address.

5. Look & feel of messages: Plain and simple, SMTP messages look cluttered and extremely unprofessional. To illustrate this point, check out the image that puts both SMPP and SMTP messages side by side for you to compare.

6. No easy way to subscribe: The coolest part about using SMPP messaging is that people can join a group directly from their own mobile phone by texting a keyword (ie – VIP, POKER) to our short code number 67777. You will not find that with SMTP messaging.

Why don’t we charge more for SMS Messages?
We don’t overcharge our clients for SMS because what we provide is a complete marketing solution to meet their mobile marketing needs. Unlike most mobile marketing companies that simply try to blast SMS to make a profit. SMS is standard among all providers in our industry. We combine all of our client’s SMS usage to provide the most competitive SMS rates.

Do all mobile marketing providers provide all necessary tools to create a strategic marketing plan?
No. Only bizM3 does. Just kidding, but we continue to evaluate the current technologies in the industry in order to provide a one-stop shop for our clients.

What does it mean to be Compliant?
We follow CAN-SPAN Act: A Compliance Guide for Business, as well as the MMA Best Practices Guidelines.

What is a double opt-in?
The process of consumers agreeing to a confirmation message that they want to receive a text message or email subscription.

What type of training do you provide?
bizM3 has a great training program. Aside from weekly live webinars, we also have Resource Center where you can find webinar recordings and training videos, helpful articles, samples and demos, and marketing and sales brochures for download. Our technical support team is also available to answer any questions.

Why is the sharing of database information so negative? How has it destroyed email communication?
You have seen the number of SPAM emails you receive in your inbox everyday. We do not want this to happen with mobile marketing. We have all seen ads for free ringtones and images from premium SMS companies, with the hidden charges that appear on your cell phone bill. bizM3 continues to strive to re-educate on the great potential of mobile marketing.

BizM3

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