SMS to cell phone ?!? Help!

[BrianL]

I want my V570 to send machine status messages to users' cell phones via SMS.

What kind SIM cards and plans are people using in the GSM modem to accomplish this???

After watching the SMS Webinar on YouTube, I came away with the solid impression I should get an M2M SIM (4:30 in the video). I went off in search of one, spending days talking to IoT providers like Twilio and Aeris, who all agree that M2M SIMS CANNOT send SMS to a cell phone without the intervention of servers, API scripts, and $1000/month base commitments. Oh yes, and their M2M SIM card in the target cell phone!

So throwing up my hands, I came back to the video and saw Vision controllers sending SMS to cell phones, cell phones sending SMS to BRIDGES, fer crying out loud.

So can someone please put me on the right track for what kind of SIM to put in the Cinterion EHS6T modem to do what is being done in the webinar?  Thanks!

[Joe Tauser]

Warning!!  Personal opinion only!!

I feel your pain.  If KORE turned you down I don't know where else to send you.  Have you tried AT&T Business?  Many moons ago I could pull the SIM card out of my Galaxy S4 and it worked in the Cinterion modem.

I gave up on SMS when 2G was turned off in the US last year for the reason you've run into.  You just can't find a provider for a small user.  I use a Sierra RV50 to set up an actual cellular Ethernet router at a remote site.  I give them an AT&T phone number on my business plan.  Not $5 per month, but not terribly expensive.   Then you can send the data you want with the Email block.

If you have a connection to a network that has Internet access then you don't need this.

Next you need an email server that does not require SSL encryption, which the V570 does not support.  These are getting very hard to find.  smtp2go.com may work, but I haven't tested it recently.

Joe T.

 

 

[jweav2223]

I've used Aeris, Hologram and AT&T Prepaid in the past month for SMS Testing without issues on the Cinterion model (3G). If all you want is SMS ability you don't need to be looking for M2M Services. Go get you an AT&T SIM for prepaid services and buy a $10 prepaid card. I think for just a couple dollars you can do a one day unlimited talk/text to do your testing. For actual services for your customers I think it was Hologram that allowed incoming texts at no charge and outgoing was fairly cheap.  

[BrianL]

Thanks, jweav2223.  Are these SMS messages that the Vision dials direct to generic user cell phones (no special SIM), or are these dialed to a magic server number and then forwarded by their (Aeris, etc) system?   I went ahead and ordered the modem and a prepaid card (which I think is on the T-Mobile network; we'll see how it works in my region).

[jweav2223]

Direct to the Cell Phone Number. Nothing special required.

I'm not sure how T-Mobile works with setting up a new phone number for their prepaid SIM's, but with AT&T I had to respond to a couple of texts from them during the setup process. So you might need an old phone to plug the SIM in to complete the setup. If that is the case you'll need either a phone that takes a Standard SIM or a SIM Adapter if needing to punch out the Micro/Nano card portion.

 

[BrianL]

Thanks again,

It's great to know you can SMS direct to cell - I hope it works in my neck of the woods. I don't have an assortment of old phones available, so maybe I'll  have an  SMS function block project preloaded  so I can use the Vision controller to reply, if it comes to that LOL. My SIM is a "Speedtalk" actually,  on T-Mobile network, with 30 days unlimited texting, so that's a lot of time to debug.