Mobile Platforms

Hey everyone! This is awesome now i can just go straight to a mobi thread. I was curious to hear what SMS platform folks are using. I'm currently on a platform but am considering changing and was looking at Trumpia. Anyone have any experience or feedback on them? I've been trying to find reviews of their service online but nothing much but their own marketing.

Virtualprops said:

. I'm currently on a platform but am considering changing and was looking at Trumpia. Anyone have any experience or feedback on them?

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I just heard about them just now...

what type of features are you looking for - are you looking for short code sms in particular or would long code sms be useful for you?

i used to think that shortcode sms messaging was the dogs bollocks - and that longcodes would not catch on... however i have found that longcodes are perfect for small local business since they use a local telephone, your not paying for keywords, your only 1c per message

with regards to your question - i only know about them because of their constant barrage of self promotion of their white label sms platform, when i reviewed their service compared to others they seemed more expensive than other companies i had reviewed...

where are you located virtualpros? many sms companies dont serve internationally....

after i looked in to pricing for a friend of mine i ended up helping him setup his own short code with an sms gateway - although for some it maybe considered expensive and time consuming i certainly see the benefit of it if you can knock out and sell 500k messages a month!

hope that helps

PS i am using long codes are the moment using twilio with a customized version of openvbx - however its missing some essential features and am holding of pushing this out to any more of my clients right now as it was getting too much of a headache to manage. Well until i get some more time to work on it probably end of the month.

Having seen what my friend is doing with his shortcode - i will probably invest and get my own in the not too distant future probably by year end but to get setup your looking easily at a $10k investment to get started... my friend has dropped around $20k in first 6 months but i know what putfalls to avoid saying that he also purchased a white label system from mobilesite galore which i recommended him against cos i thought and still do think there mobile sites are crap! lol But because of the technical aspect and cost thats why a lot of people like to go with a ready to go white label provider for bulk short code sms

I'm in North Carolina (US) and the current platform i'm on is a shared short code and its running $695.00 per month, not including any monthly credits. Thats just for the licensing to use the White Label. (Shhhhhh I know I know) LOL! So the other day I received a promo from said company and in what i've been paying and what they were charging obviously I thought a bargain right? My concern was the keywords. I believe I read they only have 4-5 shared codes they work with which had me wondering how many resellers they may have and how difficult it might be to get some of the more common keywords that one may exist in the offline world. The platform i'm on is ok functionality wise, interface in the back office not that great but as I mentioned with the price tag and what you get with that I definitely am exploring my options.

yeah thats kinda steep if it doesnt include monthly credits as well!

the biggest downside i have found to the short code shared platform is the limited keywords - ie once someone claims a keyword on a shared shortcode thats it no one else can use it.... you dont have that problem with long code - hence why my friend wanted to get his own... so he had the pick of the bunch as when we had tried other platforms all the best ones where gone - probably used up by the owner of the shortcode! lol

you can get your own shortcode for upwards of $500 month - for a six digit vanity code its like $1000 month and a shorter one still is $1500/month plus messages on top of that... you have to buy them at minimum 3 month a time - the main pain is getting the code approved by all the phone networks - it takes like 12 weeks so basically that 3 month period you just paid for you shortcode is gone without even sending a single message lol - and you will also have to pay 3 months of fees to which gateway you choose... so basically the first 3 months you drop a nice chunk of change just to get setup... baring in mind thats if your gateway provider has a decent platform for you to be able to use otherwise you will have to have your own developed - expect pricing upwards of $2k for a VERY basic one...

Twilio is offering shortcode services on beta invite - but i dont know what platform they are using - if its the openvbx which i dont think it will be its got lots of cool features but is also missing a lot of features even with all the customized plugins it has for it

i am thinking they will just give you access to their API - but their API for the longcodes is pretty straight forward if your a coder/developer

whats your end user like? does it matter if its a long code or a short code? how many credits are you using?

pricing wise its unlikely you will get sms for under a 1cent unless you buy in bulk and commit to a contract - ie 500k sms for 6 months

ill dig out my notes - everyones different with their needs and that but ill do what i can to share what i know

cheers

jay

PS

my biggest problem though with the shortcode if your letting other people use it - you can be opening your service up to abuse and the worse thing you want is getting your shortcode shut down after you spent all that time and money getting it setup - see with all of these platforms you also have to look at reliability too and how long these companies have been going around - it would suck to get a subscriber list of 5k for them to go under - or they dont allow you to import/export your lists... thing is with importing... if they offer that to everyone... how do you know the next person hasnt just scraped a ton of numbers off facebook!

one thing to bear in mind too is delivery rates - typically a shortcode gateway will deliver around 400/sms a second where as from what i have found long code providers or the technology they use throttle the delivery rate down to 1/second!

The Nice part about Long codes, is Radio adverts. In the state I live in if you are caught Texting while driving, its a HUGE fine. So we use a regular telephone number, when they call the number the system subscribes the cellphone number they call from to the SMS list and they immediately get the offer advertised.

howlerckc said:

The Nice part about Long codes, is Radio adverts. In the state I live in if you are caught Texting while driving, its a HUGE fine. So we use a regular telephone number, when they call the number the system subscribes the cellphone number they call from to the SMS list and they immediately get the offer advertised.

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thats a good strategy! are you using openvbx and a call flow to subscribe them or a custom setup? are you even using twilio?

Thoughts on pros and cons of Twilio vs. Open? Just reading through these threads i'm thinking of adding long code to my arsenal.

twilio only offers an API to manage your SMS campaings so you need to build your own platform

openvbx is a platform that connects into twilios API however it is missing what i consider some essential features for multiple clients - since its free you cant really complain

theres a WSO thats connects wp to twilios api that you should check out - its probably in the downloads section!

Virtualprops said:

Thoughts on pros and cons of Twilio vs. Open? Just reading through these threads i'm thinking of adding long code to my arsenal.

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Hi VP,

Watch out if the long code carrier sends text msgs via smtp. They will limit you to probably 500 or less txts per hour and can't guarantee delivery. With a true SMS short code provider you can send 1000s of msgs in seconds with guaranteed delivery. The platform I use has 1-1.5 cent true SMS texts for outgoing txts and free incoming txts with mobile coupons, mobile ads, qr codes, text to win, appt setter, invoicing and reports of viewed and redeemed coupons for your clients, and everything is Facebook integrated. It is the most robust platform out there with this pricing. Everyone has different needs so just depends on your personal situation. Talk to UV at Lime Cellular for the best true white label platform available and tell him Zenyatta sent you!

Good Luck,
Zenyatta

Zenyatta said:

Hi VP,

Watch out if the long code carrier sends text msgs via smtp. They will limit you to probably 500 or less txts per hour and can't guarantee delivery. With a true SMS short code provider you can send 1000s of msgs in seconds with guaranteed delivery. The platform I use has 1-1.5 cent true SMS texts for outgoing txts and free incoming txts with mobile coupons, mobile ads, qr codes, text to win, appt setter, invoicing and reports of viewed and redeemed coupons for your clients, and everything is Facebook integrated. It is the most robust platform out there with this pricing. Everyone has different needs so just depends on your personal situation. Talk to UV at Lime Cellular for the best true white label platform available and tell him Zenyatta sent you!

Good Luck,
Zenyatta

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just wanted to clarify....

sms longcode messages by a provider like twilio are sent at a rate of 1/message a second - which would equate to 3600/hr

i dont know of any shortcode providers that provide over 1000+ sms/second however i have factual notification of certain gateways sending around 400/second

as with any type of campaign you deploy you have to decide what is the end result going to be, what functionality are you looking for, and what size of campaign will you deploy - whilst both longcode and shortcodes have their pros and cons, if your supplying a client with this service it will be down to you to properly address the needs of the clients campaign an select the correct type of campaign for them...

one of the major drawbacks i have found to shortcodes over longcodes is the voice capability

for me all of the widgets that zenyatta can also be used with longcodes, however you will need to either code it yourself or find a platform that will do this for you - they are some but i havent used them so wont recommend them...

Zenyatta said:

Hi VP,

Watch out if the long code carrier sends text msgs via smtp. They will limit you to probably 500 or less txts per hour and can't guarantee delivery. With a true SMS short code provider you can send 1000s of msgs in seconds with guaranteed delivery. The platform I use has 1-1.5 cent true SMS texts for outgoing txts and free incoming txts with mobile coupons, mobile ads, qr codes, text to win, appt setter, invoicing and reports of viewed and redeemed coupons for your clients, and everything is Facebook integrated. It is the most robust platform out there with this pricing. Everyone has different needs so just depends on your personal situation. Talk to UV at Lime Cellular for the best true white label platform available and tell him Zenyatta sent you!

Good Luck,
Zenyatta

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Hey dude i see you on Warrior Forums too always recommending Lime Cellular and asking for UV and telling him Zenyatta sent you. Sounds like a little stealth marketing, or not too stealth marketing, to me...

Mobile Text Marketing is not expensive, nor should it be!
I use a US company and it costs me $149 a month. No other investment needed!

I target Restaurants, Concert Venues, spas, hair salons, car dealerships, and anyone who has repeat customers and does advertising and promotions.

No CPA bullshit....just straight out selling to these places, and after a while they have built up a huge database of customers. They do have to work their end, and if they do, the rewards are huge!

Mike

socialmediaking said:

Hey dude i see you on Warrior Forums too always recommending Lime Cellular and asking for UV and telling him Zenyatta sent you. Sounds like a little stealth marketing, or not too stealth marketing, to me...

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Hi SMK,

Not stealth at all - my clients and I use and profit from the Lime platform so I let other people interested in SMS know about it. I looked at 25-30+ carriers before selecting them so I am just trying to save people some time. It can take awhile to find a robust platform with great support that is also one of the cheapest true SMS platforms out there. Limes where its at!

Good Luck,
Zenyatta

I know you guys are mostly talking about white label programs, but I really love the Trumpia affiliate program (affiliate, not white label). I'm perfectly happy making 25% commission rather than paying monthly fees for reseller rights. I was on iZigg, but after reading around here and talking to some people, I decided Trumpia was better.

I have looked around and the prices are sometimes higher than the competition (as far as retail packages, since I sell these as an affiliate), but there is also SO much more you can do. Most places offer only text credits, a few keywords, maybe two-way texting, and maybe e-mail, but it about stops there. You've got redeemable coupons, customer-specific appointment reminders, MMS, pre-recorded mass calling, e-cards, voting, surveys, text-to-screen (displays on big TVs, etc.), social integration, sign-up forms and widgets, QR codes, and much more. Not to mention an API.

I think all these extra features really help offset any slightly higher cost it may have. Plus there all 11 packages you can sell, from $25 to $1200 a month, from 500 credits to 30,000, and 1 keyword to 28. I know as a reseller you could make whatever packages you wanted, but again, I'm focusing on the affiliate option.

Plus there's a free trial option for your clients. I really like that selling point.

great post

good post thanks...