Why do I get the message "Authentication Failed"?
You are getting Authentication Failed because you have passed invalid account details to one of our services. Check through your code and make sure the Username, Account and Password fields are all setup correctly. Username: This is the username you would sign into our website with.
Account: This is your account reference, usually "EX" followed by 7 numbers.
Password: The password that you sign into the website with.
What is SOAP?
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) provides a simple and lightweight mechanism for exchanging structured and typed information between peers in a decentralized, distributed environment using XML. SOAP messages are XML documents that are embedded into HTTP requests to perform operations on or retrieve information from remote systems. This architecture is also often described as XML Web Services.
More information on SOAP can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR/SOAP/.
Why SOAP, why not just use URLs with query strings?
- Productivity: SOAP is widely supported in development environments with most providing proxy generators for using web services. This makes it alot quicker to consume services with complex arguments and response streams.
- Security: Embedding the request in an HTTP POST, rather than setting the parameters as query string parameters, enables the communication between the server and the client to be encrypted using standard methodologies. For instance the .NET framework and the MSXML library do not require any additional code to utilise HTTPS over HTTP.
- Extensibility: Method arguments and responses can be more complex but conform to an interface definition language (WSDL) that is widely supported. Further, as we enrich the functionality of the service, we can easily maintain support of the previous interfaces. This ensures our clients can adopt the new functionality if/when the feel it most appropriate.
How do I use a web service?
In order to use a web service all that is needed is to construct an XML document in the correct form and include that within an HTTP POST. However many development environments provide rich support for generating proxy code that consumes web services, making it very simple. These include Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, Borland JBuilder and Sun One Studio. There are also a rich set of resources available on the Internet.
Does it matter what platform or language my application uses?
No. SOAP is a platform independent protocol. Our clients have successfully integrated text messaging support into applications hosted in IIS 4 and 5, Apache Tomcat, Sun One Application Server and ColdFusion. Using PHP, Java, Visual Basic, C#.NET, C++, VBScript and many others.
Are the services accessible using HTTPS?
Yes, using a server provider certificate.
What does the error message FeatureNotSupported mean when I submit a message through the API?
This error is thrown when you attempt to perform any action on your account through the API that the account does not support.
The most common cause involves setting an Originator value for messages sent through Evaluation and Premium accounts. The Originator on messages sent through these accounts have to match the account's address. For example, if you have a Premium account on the 60066 shortcode, then the Originator for the message has to be 60066. If you have an Evaluation account with the virtual mobile number 447811112222, then the originator for the message has to be 447811112222.
What are the costs of using the API/SDK?
Use of the SDK and the APIs is provided free of charge to our customers. There is no additional charge on top of the account and/or message fees that you pay.
How do I retrieve messages from my Inbox?
There are two ways that your application can retrieve messages that have been sent to your account. If you have access to a web server that is publicly accessible, then we can notify your application when you receive a message. This page that we notify is called an Account Event Handler.P>Click here for more information about the Account Event Handler.
What do the different Message Types mean?
- Text: A standard 160 character text message.
- Unicode: A message that contains Unicode characters. The maximum length of a Unicode message is 70 characters.
- SmartMessage: A message that conforms to the Smart Message format. This type should be set when sending operator logos, ringtones, WAP Push messages, etc.
- Binary: Submit raw binary to the target handset. Used mainly to send messages to devices other than mobile phones. Operator logos, ringtones, etc. should be submitted as SmartMessage
How do I submit messages in the Binary or SmartMessage format?
To send a message in one of these formats you need to submit a hexadecimal string representation of the binary data you wish to submit.
What error codes can I expect to receive?
You will receive an error code and a short textual description of the problem if there is a problem when you initially make the call to our system.
Click here here for more information about error codes.
What is WAP Push?
WAP Push is a way of delivering content (e.g. images, ringtones, etc.) to mobile phones that are WAP enabled. With a WAP Push message you don't actually send the content in the text message - you direct the mobile phone where to get it from.
You direct the mobile to the content by specifying a URL to a web page that will provide it.
How do I send a WAP Push message?
There is example code in most of the SDK downloads that demonstrates how to send a WAP Push message for most programming languages we provide support for.
You will need to host the content you wish to push, and provide the URL to it in the WAP Push message. There is also a text field in the WAP Push message which should be used to describe the service. The handset will store the message and allow the user to retrieve it and save it if necessary.
What happens if a phone can't handle the WAP Push message?
Different phones will handle the messages in different ways, but typically a handset will ignore a message that it does not understand. However, as the message has been delivered to the phone by the networks you will still get a delivery notification back (and the status of the message will show as Delivered).
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