I have found a few references on this forum to SMS text messaging to mobile phones, but being a newbie can’t seem to find how to add SMS messaging to a system.
Is it still available? How/where do I find details incl any costs?
Thanks
The feature assumes your phone carrier has an email gateway – that is, that it provides you with an internet email address through which SMS messages can be sent to your phone. If so, C2 can send signals in a very parsimonious fashion, making the messages tiny and cheap to receive.
To set up SMS messaging on C2, click the EDIT MY ACCOUNT link (left-side menu bar) and scroll down to email settings.
Hi Matthew - thanks for the response, but that isn’t what i had in mind. Sorry i didn’t write it clearly the 1st time. I’m thinking this now turns into a SUGGESTION: I am a new signal provider at C2, but have been offering signals via my website (www.TrendSensor.com) for several years now.
Because I send 0-3 signals a week with a long-term trend-following system, i offer my clients SMS and build the cost into the sub price. I am planning to migrate my signal services 100% to C2 and was hoping I could offer SMS as part of the service - just like ITM.
My clients have jobs and can’t be in front of a computer waiting for ITMs - over 80% of them choose the SMS option as it’s already built into the sub price.
Here’s how it could work for C2:
1. you partner up with someone like BulkSMS.com (that’s just who I use and have found to be very good - they also have very broad global coverage. They’re not the cheapest but have among the best coverage and reliability). Work out pricing that includes a (very small!) margin for yourselves.
2. Advise us of the pricing schedule (preferably work this out with BulkSMS, or whoever, as something automated from their systems so when they make changes you pick them up automatically).
3. Add a charge to our regular 30% subs share based on the pricing schedule, if we select the option.
4. We use our knowledge of signal frequency, customer location (is that available by country to signal providers?), and the C2 SMS pricing to work out how much to add on to our signal pricing to cover costs. Again, if possible you could automate that for us with a likely cost per month per subscriber, based on the above.
5. I think the uptake rate would be high, based on my experience. Once you set it up it should be low/no maintenance for you, and would provide an ongoing income stream for C2 with an in-built margin.
Before we spend too much time spinning our wheels on this one, why is the current SMS paradigm that C2 offers inadequate?
OK, one last try on this!
The difference is huge, but largely marketing and convenience, not technology related.
* I’ve just spent 1/2 an hour at my ISP site and can’t find anything related to “SMS email gateway”, “email to sms”, or a number of other search term that might tell me whether they offer the service. My clients would give up well before I did!
* Even if they do offer this service, it will have a cost, and folk are much more likely to take up an all-inclusive offer (signals via email, ITM and SMS) than one that offers SMS as an extra (variable) cost.
* I read somewhere on the forum a comment by you that email delivery can be slow to Yahoo! and Hotmail addresses (which are very common), and the email-to-SMS solution you offer doesn’t overcome this, while an integrated SMS option would.
I don’t know what your uptake is for the SMS option, but I’m sure if it was made easier for customers it would improve greatly (and you could profit from it).
Anyway, I’m going to adjust my pricing slightly for my signal service at C2 and continue to provide SMS as part of the package via sign-up at my website. I’m confident uptake will remain above 80%.
I’d be interested in other providers views on SMS.
Thanks for responding quickly.
Murray,
At first glance, it appears to me that you’re making this issue much more difficult than it really is.
First, you don’t need to go through your ISP to search for SMS information… SMS is provided through phone carriers, not ISPs and all you need to do is go to any particular phone companies website and search for email capabilities and you’ll find it… SMS is sending something to say 555-555-5555@att.com or verizon.com, etc…
Cellular phone subscribers either pay for SMS capabilities through their carrier or they don’t. Most charge a flat rate for a certain number of messages and a per message fee for anything in excess.
If my subscribers here on C2 want to receive an SMS message all they have to do is enter their cellular carriers email to have them sent…
Not sure why it needs to get much harder than that…
At least that’s my take and understanding of the issue…
LKD
I think it could be handled by either a small faq section on C2, or putting the information on the left side as in "setup sms".
C2 has alot of nice features but I think the documentation on some of them is not easy to find, therefore a general faq section about these features may even save time of Matthew having to reply with the instructions each time someone needs the same answer. Instead he could just say click on the faq.
