SMS? What's That?

Wireless messaging comes in many flavors these days, including several varieties of SMS. For instance, there's 1-way, 2-way, mobile-originated and mobile-terminated SMS.

The most fundamental definition of SMS is a wireless-network service that routes text messages from one device through a message center and then to another device. But the concept becomes confusing when you consider that each air-interface technology has its own version of SMS and that other types of text messaging services, such as wireless e-mail and instant messaging co-exist with SMS.

So the Mystery Caller decided to ask CSRs to define SMS. Here's how they responded.

Nextel IVR Transfers/Layers: 1

Total Hold Time: 1 minute

CSR: Customer care. May I help you?

WR: Yes. I just had a question about something I've been hearing about. It's called SMS.

CSR: Paging?

WR: It's short-messaging service.

CSR: Yeah, that's paging.

WR: That was my question: Is it different from paging?

CSR: Basically, what it is is when you send a page with your cellular phone.

WR: I've heard that it may be possible to send a message from my phone to a computer.

CSR: That's 2-way messaging. That's different from SMS. With SMS, you can receive a message from e-mail.

WR: So you're telling me that the difference with SMS is that you can't send a message to a computer?

CSR: You can't send it back. Exactly.

SunCom IVR Transfers/Layers: 2

Total Hold Time: 1 minute

CSR: Thank you for calling SunCom. (Name) speaking. How may I assist you?

WR: I wanted to find out about short-messaging service.

CSR: Well, just one moment, please. Let me see what information I can gather on that for you. And your name?

WR: (Gives name.)

CSR: OK. Just a moment.

After a 5-second pause, CSR returns.

CSR: OK, short messaging basically contains all of our messaging services, like paging, Internet paging and e-mail to the handset. With SunCom phones, you can receive up to 140 characters.

If someone goes through one of our Web sites and sends you a text message or a page or Internet page, you'll receive those. They'll show up on your handset, just like a regular pager. You can receive up to 140 characters. Again, in some instances only 10. You can do that through our voice-mail system or through our Web site.

WR: Is it possible to send a message to a computer from the phone?

CSR: Right now we don't have that capability, but you can send messages to the handsets from the computer.

WR: Do you know if you will have that capability in the future?

CSR: Now, as far as the future, I really couldn't say. Right now, we don't have anything in the works for that.

Verizon Wireless IVR Transfer/Layers: 0

Total Hold Time: 0

CSR: Thank you for calling Verizon. This is (name). Can I have your mobile telephone number, please?

WR: I don't have a Verizon number, but I had a question.

CSR: OK.

WR: What is SMS?

CSR: I'm not sure. Let me check on that for you, OK.?

WR: OK.

CSR: And it's S-M-S?

WR: Yes.

CSR puts WR on hold for approximately 20 seconds.

CSR: OK. No one here is familiar with that.

WR: I think it's short-messaging service.

CSR: I'm not familiar with that. I haven't heard of that.

WR: I thought Verizon offered it, and I was curious about what I could do with that service.

CSR: Maybe if I can transfer you to telemarketing, they can probably tell you a little more about that.

WR: That's OK. Thank you.