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Help: Non-shortcode incoming virtual SMS numbers
Published by Ewan on Sunday 12th July 2009, 20:17 Comments | Filed under: SMS

I got this question in a few days from a regular reader by the name of Nigel.

Dear Ewan,

Do you know any providers of non-shortcode based virtual sms numbers for recieving SMS?

So a local virtual mobile number for the UK, France, Spain, etc?

I can’t seem to find any providers?

Thanks,
Nigel

I’ve used the services of FastSMS regularly for some of the businesses and projects I’ve been working on recently. I only needed UK +44 mobile numbers though. It’s £99 for the year per number — which enables you to easily do two-way SMS (Here’s their product page). Their API is nice, simple, easy to integrate.

I’ve also had a lot of success with iTAGG — they even provide some useful code samples — but their primary business is based on shortcode/keyword traffic, not necessarily what you’re looking for Nigel. I use iTAGG a lot for outgoing traffic myself.

Does anyone have some good suggestions for Nigel? I think he might struggle to obtain French/Spanish numbers — at least, the last time I tried to find any providers (and this was a few years ago), I wasn’t at all successful and ended up having to use hosted sim cards (which does work, but is a bit rubbish!)

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  • fahed
    Hi Ewan,

    We can do Spanish numbers and a few for other countries as well. Ask Nigel to get in touch.

    Fahed
  • Hi Nigel/Ewan,

    I also think iTagg and FastSMS might be a good choice but I think they can only provide the +44 UK numbers.

    I have also used www.esendex.com - they are not as price competitive as iTagg/FastSMS - their service is also good and they might be able to help you out internationally (have offices in Germany/spain etc).

    The other company to try might be www.clickatell.com as they have Australia (+61), Denmark (+45),
    Sweden (+46), Germany (+49) available - have not tried everything but they are a big/reliable player as well.

    Textanywhere.net is another option but only for the UK. Netsize.com is a big player but might not be the best price wise.

    Any of the companies mentioned above is good though.

    Feel free to call me if you want to chat about it further and also if you do come up with your own findings would be great if you could share with the rest of the MIR readers.

    Thanks and good luck!

    Amir
    amir [at] txtfo [dot] com
    Mobile: +971 50 1977 531 (Dubai time zone)
  • HSL SMS (www.hslsms.com) provide Virutal Mobile Numbers (VMNs) and also Virtual SIM (VSIM) Hosting. Both work in exactly the same way, with the exception that with VSIMs you provide a SIM card with the number of choice (e.g. a French or Spanish number). With VMNs you are given a number from a pool of available numbers.

    Both VSIMs and VMNs allow you to reliably receive around 50 SMS per second and each cost £29 per month or less (ask!). Service description at http://www.hslsms.com/services/receive-sms/. Pricing can be found at http://www.hslsms.com/pricing/optional-extras/.

    Sourcing of the SIMs for VSIM (or for physical SIM hosting - which is arguably much less attractive) can be difficult if you do not live in the country from which you need the SIMs. Prepay SIMs are easier to source (e.g. on holiday or a business trip) but often require a voice call or minimum top-up, otherwise they will stop working.
  • sundeepsangha
    Hi Nigel / Ewan

    Esendex are able to offer local virtual mobile numbers in the UK, Spain, France, Ireland and Australia.

    With our SMS Tracker Tariff you would benefit from lower SMS costs and 30 day terms - Please click on the link for further details about the Tracker Tariff - http://www.esendex.co.uk/Prices/SMS-Tracker-Tariff

    We also have a range of API's and SDK's available which in turn will allow your application to link in with the Esendex SMS Gateway. Just click on the link for the Esendex Developer Zone for further information - http://www.esendex.com/en/Developers/

    Please feel free to give me a call should you have any questions, or require any further information.


    Sundeep Sangha
    Esendex Limited
    0115 8525764
  • MachSales
    Hi Nigel

    MACH Connectivity provides a Virtual SIM Hosting
    Service, which enables a carrier grade SMS inbound
    solution based on our SS7 network that reaches over
    300 GSM networks. With the Virtual SIM Hosting
    solution, you can easily set up a Virtual Mobile
    Number for your home country or for global use. You
    can then run mobile services by promoting this
    number.

    Solution Highlights
    • The Client provides the SIM Card and MACH will
    setup the Virtual Mobile Numbers in our SS7
    infrastructure
    • Throughput of up to 50 SMS per second
    • Globally available for over 300 GSM networks,
    worldwide
    • Technology, interfaces and performance equal
    to Short Codes
    • The virtualized numbers can be easily
    combined with other MACH solutions,
    especially for 2-way services.

    Contact me for more info

    Best regards,

    Antonio

    +27 214 873 711 (Direct)
    aney[@]mach[.]com
    http://www.mach.com
  • philsrweb
    We offer UK based SMS mobile marketing services with the added bonus of a free trial (for testing) and live demonstrations either over the phone or in person (dependent on geography and requirements).

    regards

    Phil
    http://www.thetextworks.com/
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