Editing Text messaging (section)

=== Commercial uses ===

==== Short codes ====
[[Short codes]] are special telephone numbers, shorter than full telephone numbers, that can be used to address SMS and MMS messages from mobile phones or fixed phones. There are two types of short codes: dialling and messaging.

==== Text messaging gateway providers ====
[[SMS gateway]] providers facilitate the SMS traffic between businesses and mobile subscribers, being mainly responsible for carrying mission-critical messages, SMS for enterprises, content delivery and entertainment services involving SMS, e.g., TV voting. Considering SMS messaging performance and cost, as well as the level of text messaging services, SMS gateway providers can be classified as resellers of the text messaging capability of another provider's [[Short Message Service Center|SMSC]] or offering the text messaging capability as an operator of their own SMSC with [[Signalling System No. 7|SS7]].<ref>{{cite web|website=HSL Mobile|url=http://www.hslsms.com/technical/infrastructure/|title=Technical & Pricing Information|access-date=14 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530034309/http://www.hslsms.com/technical/infrastructure|archive-date=30 May 2013|url-status=unfit}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|website=BudgetSMS|url=http://www.budgetsms.net/en/http-api/|title=HTTP SMS API - Easy to implement - BudgetSMS.net|access-date=14 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204203134/http://budgetsms.net/en/http-api/|archive-date=4 February 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> SMS messaging gateway providers can provide gateway-to-mobile (Mobile Terminated–MT) services. Some suppliers can also supply mobile-to-gateway (text-in or Mobile Originated/MO services). Many operate text-in services on short codes or mobile number ranges, whereas others use lower-cost geographic text-in numbers.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|author=Andrew Orlowski|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/18/aql_textable_landlines/|title=Cheapo textable landline numbers for all|website=The Register|date=18 April 2008}}</ref>

==== Premium content ====
SMS has been widely used for delivering digital content, such as news alerts, financial information, pictures, GIFs, logos and ringtones.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}} Such messages are also known as premium-rated short messages (PSMS).<ref>{{cite web|title=Short Message Service (SMS)|url=http://www.mysecurecyberspace.com/encyclopedia/index/short-message-service-sms.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141208221837/http://www.mysecurecyberspace.com/encyclopedia/index/short-message-service-sms.html|archive-date=8 December 2014}}</ref> The subscribers are charged extra for receiving this premium content, and the amount is typically divided between the [[mobile network operator]] and the [[Value-added service|value added service provider]] (VASP), either through revenue share or a fixed transport fee. Services like [[Texperts|82ASK]] and Any Question Answered have used the PSMS model to enable rapid response to mobile consumers' questions, using on-call teams of experts and researchers. In November 2013, amidst complaints about unsolicited charges on bills, major mobile carriers in the US agreed to stop billing for PSMS in 45 states, effectively ending its use in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bud|first1=Andrew|title=Privacy and trust: The implications of U.S. carriers ending premium SMS billing|url=https://venturebeat.com/2013/12/12/premium-sms-billing/|website=VentureBeat|access-date=17 January 2017|date=12 December 2013}}</ref>

Outside the United States, premium short messages have been used for "real-world" services. For example, some vending machines now allow payment by sending a premium-rated short message, so that the cost of the item bought is added to the user's phone bill or subtracted from the user's prepaid credits. Recently,{{When|date=November 2023}} premium messaging companies have come under fire from consumer groups due to a large number of consumers racking up huge phone bills. A new type of free-premium or hybrid-premium content has emerged with the launch of text-service websites. These sites allow registered users to receive free text messages when items they are interested in go on sale, or when new items are introduced. An alternative to inbound SMS is based on [[long number]]s (international mobile number format, e.g., +44 7624 805000, or geographic numbers that can handle voice and SMS, e.g., 01133203040<ref name="autogenerated1"/>), which can be used in place of short codes or premium-rated short messages for SMS reception in several applications, such as [[TV voting]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://eurovision.tv/vote|title=Vote! - Eurovision Song Contest Tel Aviv 2019|date=3 May 2017}}</ref> product promotions and campaigns.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00p2d9w/contact|title=BBC Radio 2 - The Chris Evans Breakfast Show - Contact us|website=BBC}}</ref> Long numbers are internationally available, as well as enabling businesses to have their own number, rather than short codes, which are usually shared across a lot of brands. Additionally, long numbers are non-premium inbound numbers.