Web to SMS - RIP

IASP was a pioneer in the web-to-SMS space. We have operated a dedicated SMS gateway since 2003 and continue to offer integrated SMS via the built-in messenger system within our websites along with a stand-alone web-to-SMS service via our smsport.com.au website.

Over the years we have become acutely aware of the severe limitations of the SMS protocol in the practical commercial environment: an 11-character header limit, a 160-character message limit, the high cost per message, and the unreliability due to network incompatibilty all combine to make SMS likely to be consigned to the same fate as Beta Video and Digital Cassettes.

These technologies had their time in the spotlight, but the new generation of mobile e-mail and mobile Internet overcome most if not all of SMS's limitations and are destined to replace SMS as the preferred web-to-mobile communications platforms.

At the risk of sounding melodramatic, the mobile Internet revolution could see the biggest upheaval in the industry's brief history; very few players are prepared -- for example Google is fully Internet-ready for mobiles, while Telstra products such as WhitePages are, apparently, not.

Perhaps the release of Apple's iPhone in Australia later this year will be a tipping point in the evolution of the Mobile Internet. One survey indicated 28% of Australians would consider investing in this new generation device that delivers integrated mobile telephone, mobile e-mail, mobile web browsing and all the related bells and whistles you would expect from hardware that some experts have labelled a glorified iPod.

Regardless of whether or not the iPhone fast-tracks evolution of the Internet from traditional desktop computers to mobile devices is irrelevant in the long term. It is as certain as night follows day that at some time in the future the Internet will be totally mobile.