I want to ask someone to build for me, a SMS receiver that will act like an "Inbox" using Arduino.
I have a server -'my SMS server' that is on a a dedicated IP address. The Arduino will be connected to this server. Clients will send (MO - Mobile Originating) SMS that will be received by my Arduino GSM unit. I want to capture the SMS header and its message and store this in a MySQL database on the server that the 'receiving Arduino' is connected to.
Then, I need a small c++ or C# program written that will reside on my client's servers, to allow them to fetch/read/delete the SMS that are stored in my 'SMS server'. This C++/C# program will use HTTP to query/delete the MySQL records.
Any advice is welcome. Timeframe for delivery is 10 days, delivery by 12 Jan 2019 please.
Thanking you in advance
ps, I am not an expert by any means in Arduino, but this looks possible to be done and I think it will be better my first time round to have someone do the work for me.
Just wondering, isn't it easier/cheaper to do this by writing an Android app and running it on a phone? Easy GSM/SMS reception; just have your app read it from the inbox and send it (over WiFi) to your database.
GSM adapters for Arduino (other than the 2G ones) are remarkably expensive, compared to the cost of a basic phone.
wvmarle:
Just wondering, isn't it easier/cheaper to do this by writing an Android app and running it on a phone? Easy GSM/SMS reception; just have your app read it from the inbox and send it (over WiFi) to your database.
GSM adapters for Arduino (other than the 2G ones) are remarkably expensive, compared to the cost of a basic phone.
Thanks but no that won't work for me. We have guys in a secure room, where some servers are situated, Those servers need to query the SMS inbox on our sim (in our Ardiuno).
So, the Arduino already exists and is running some code (your sim?)? Please be completely clear about this because it limits the scope of solutions. How will the provider ensure that their code is not in conflict with yours?
Can your server be made publically available? Otherwise any debugging of the C#/C++ application will be difficult.
It's certainly doable, but that timeframe will be a severely limiting factor. You're asking for multiple applications to be written in a very short time.
smsguys:
Thanks but no that won't work for me. We have guys in a secure room, where some servers are situated, Those servers need to query the SMS inbox on our sim (in our Ardiuno).
It's not clear to me what "having guys in a secure room" has to do with "writing an Android app and running it on a phone".
Also not clear to me is whether the 10 days is for a POC or for the fully implemented, integrated and tested solution.
Presumably you have already investigated virtual SMS services and they are not what you need, so as another alternative, since the Arduino seems to be somewhat redundant if you have a powerful Linux server sitting around anyway, why not just use GSM modems directly hooked up to the server? Something like this (first hit on a search, not a product recommendation) Amazon link to OSTENT GSM Modem.
cedarlakeinstruments:
So, the Arduino already exists and is running some code (your sim?)? Please be completely clear about this because it limits the scope of solutions. How will the provider ensure that their code is not in conflict with yours?
Can your server be made publically available? Otherwise any debugging of the C#/C++ application will be difficult.
It's certainly doable, but that timeframe will be a severely limiting factor. You're asking for multiple applications to be written in a very short time.
@ cedarlakeinstruments
good questions thank you.
we will mutually agree what arduino boards to obtain with your guidance
arduarn:
It's not clear to me what "having guys in a secure room" has to do with "writing an Android app and running it on a phone".
Also not clear to me is whether the 10 days is for a POC or for the fully implemented, integrated and tested solution.
Presumably you have already investigated virtual SMS services and they are not what you need, so as another alternative, since the Arduino seems to be somewhat redundant if you have a powerful Linux server sitting around anyway, why not just use GSM modems directly hooked up to the server? Something like this (first hit on a search, not a product recommendation) Amazon link to OSTENT GSM Modem.
The use case is we have a SIM card that receives SMS from our Alarm panels. These SMS we receive are sent by the alarm panel to multiple end devices, some are computer systems and some are manager's phones. The managers want to be able to send a reply back to the alarm panel.
Yes, I've looked into sms gateways, we use a few for sending A2P SMS. The issue i have with them is most don't offer true 2way messaging and those that do - their pricing is stratospheric. The reason I am building this solution is 1) to learn and 2) I know for a fact it is possible to receive SMS locally for free and route it to an Application on a server, why pay 2c for that when if I built my own gateway I can make the whole 2c margin myself.
Also, using a std gsm modem still means you need somewhere to manage the logic and store your program. The GSM modems are a bit limited in that sense, and the Arduino is not a bad price for what you can do t with it. Its certainly heaps cheaper than buying a SIM bank from Alibaba and waiting 3 months for delivery from China. Plus, if we write our own code, we own the IP. Many advantages to doing it this way
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but it seems that the only reason you're considering an Arduino for this is that the parts cost is low. In my opinion, parts cost for a project like this will be trivial compared to the development cost.
My suggestion would be to either use an off the shelf consumer/industrial GSM modem, or an Arduino peripheral GSM modem with a serial connection to the PC and write all the code in a higher level language.
I would be interested in working with this, but I would decline to bid if doing the code on the Arduino is a hard requirement since I don't understand your reason for inserting an Arduino into the messaging chain. Send me a PM if you'd like to discuss a bid.
cedarlakeinstruments:
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but it seems that the only reason you're considering an Arduino for this is that the parts cost is low. In my opinion, parts cost for a project like this will be trivial compared to the development cost. ...
I considered Arduino because of cost yes, this is a very early stage concept. business-wise the objective is to ensure we build some software we own the IP to as we have our internal plans to use this later. I want to build a purpose made gateway for receiving SMS to serve a market gap we are working in at present. Our clients monitor bank ATMs with SMS (alerts for door open, person entered ATm, turn on the security camera to stream tot he operations centre etc). For us this is an expanding market needing some new innovative approaches to old ways of managing SMS.
I'm not hard set on Arduino at all, i just like it as a platform. RasberryPI might be even better for the purpose in mind. At the end, i want to own the gateway software, that can work on generically and widely available low cost hardware.
Ill PM you and we can discuss further thank you for your interest and comments.
How about using one of these? Cell phone Arduinos ? It sounds like what your are looking for. It comes with a library that you can use to get it receiving and sending SMS on your first day out of the box.
See? I got one and was able to make myself a cellphone with it.
Ordinarily I'd agree with that statement. But when someone appears to be heading in the wrong direction from the start, experience has taught me to find out why they're doing that.
I have to be sure that the solution I propose is actually a valid one that considers everything that they are likely to need.
Yeah, you may be right. And when they get cagey about what they are up to, its typically a red flag that there's bigger issues behind the scenes you really don't want to get involved with.
