Text messaging with Ruby on Rails

Rails
1

I want to create a text messaging system with my RoR web site. Anybody
know of any good plug-ins or gems?

I found this which is about 6 cents per text message:
http://www.lukeredpath.co.uk/2007/8/29/sending-sms-messages-from-your-rails-application

Anything else out there that is reliable?

Thanks
Chirag

2

Hi there, I’m the author of the Ruby Clickatell gem. There are plenty
of SMS gateways out there; I chose Clickatell because they are one of
the bigger gateways who provide services for plenty of big names (BBC,
CNN etc.). There rates aren’t too bad. You might be able to find one
thats a bit cheaper I guess, but not that much. Remember that if you
buy credits in bulk you’ll get a better rate.

Cheers
Luke

3

chirag wrote:

I want to create a text messaging system with my RoR web site. Anybody
know of any good plug-ins or gems?

Thanks
Chirag

I’ve worked with a couple of gateways in the UK; MXTelecom and Quinsy
(who are actually in Holland).
They both deal with large volumes, and end up costing you the same
amount.
(we’re talking happily handling a million messages a day)

I’ve always coded it by hand.
But, if all you want to do is send “uncharged” messages, then give the
clickatell gem a try.
If you need something more flexible, then you’ll find that their APIs
are generally pretty easy… it’s just a hassle holding onto the
necessary information to send a “charged” message.

In any case,
good luck.

4

chirag wrote:

Matthew,
Thanks everyone including you for the great feedback! What do you mean
by “charged” and “uncharged”? And also are these gateways (MXTelecom
and Quinsy) good only in Europe? We’re based in the States.
Chirag

On Sep 21, 2:44 pm, Matthew R. [email protected]

Firstly… everything i say is based on the uk system,
it may be different in the US.

by “uncharged” I mean – doesn’t cost the receiver any money
(in the uk this normally will cost you 5p a time to send – if you do it
in bulk)

by “charged” I mean – does cost the receiver.
You can charge the receiver up to £5($10) for receiving a message from
you,
you’ll get all of this money, but the network will take a fee of around
20% (depending on the deal you make)
you’ll also probably have to pay a high monthly fee for this service

the problems with sending charged messages are;

  1. you need to know which network the receiver is on … else you can’t
    charge them
  2. there are a whole load more regulations on charged messages
  3. you need to make a special arrangement to send messages
    internationally.

I don’t think either MXTelecom or Quinsy operate in the US,
but my current employer has an arrangement with a company called
SinglePoint(http://www.gosinglepoint.com/)
I don’t know what their rates are like,
but take a look.

5

Matthew,
Thanks everyone including you for the great feedback! What do you mean
by “charged” and “uncharged”? And also are these gateways (MXTelecom
and Quinsy) good only in Europe? We’re based in the States.
Chirag

On Sep 21, 2:44 pm, Matthew R. [email protected]

6

You don’t need any API or framework to send sms messages. All you have
to do is send an email to the person’s phone and the carrier’s gateway
will convert it to an SMS message. It works almost instantly. Eg.

#{10_digit_number_@#{carrier_gateway}

Here’s a cingular/att example:

[email protected]

You just have to serach google for the list gateways for the other
carriers…