Why is SMS better than email for alerts and notifications?

Although email provides a quick solution, sending messages via email still has many hidden drawbacks, including speed, assurance, error checking, features, and consistency. These issues were addressed in the March 27 article at http://www.15seconds.com/Issue/010327.htm, by OpenMarket Director of Connectivity & Applications Development Joe Lauer, and are summarized below:

1. Speed and Reliability - By its original design, email was not intended to become a quick system. As a result, most text-messages that are sent through email experience latency problems ranging from 1 minute to 2 hours. This estimate also assumes that an SMTP server will not go down somewhere along the path of the email. Email travels through multiple servers on its path towards its final destination. Each stop along the way adds latency times and increases the number of opportunities for error. OpenMarket SMS messages go from the software directly to our network and out to the mobile user's carrier, greatly diminishing the chance of latency or error. Because we maintain our own network, we are able to guarantee the speed and reliability that users need when sending important messages.

2. Compatibility and Assurance - Many users do not have the ability to receive email on their mobile devices. Not only do many mobile devices not support email, but email will not quickly inform you of the fact that they do not, offering a chance to resend your message in time. SMS compatibility is far more widespread and if the message is sent to one of the few mobile devices that do not support SMS, you will be notified immediately of this fact, and given the opportunity to quickly send a new alert. OpenMarket offers feedback and assurance that your message is received, giving peace of mind that email cannot offer.

3. Formatting - Another prominent drawback is the diversity of email formats between various services. Message lengths range from 80 to 256 characters. Messages delivered via SMTP will normally omit those parts of the message that carry over the maximum character length. Unfortunately, your code will never discover the discarded parts of your message. In some cases, the Subject field will be used, rather than the Body field. In either case, your code will have to account for this error or else parts of your message will not reach the mobile device, and valuable information will be lost. An additional problem with using the email format arises when the From field has already used up 20 to 30 characters in the small, allotted space of 80 to 256. By formatting our messages specifically for each carrier's method of SMS, OpenMarket ensures that your message will reach its destination accurately, and in full.

4. Additional Features - SMTP does not make available many of the best features specifically available with SMS, such as one-touch callback and presence information (e.g. phone on/off, signal strength). These features further extend the peace of mind, reliability and comprehensive messaging capabilities offered by SMS.