Sms Service Frequently Asked Questions

Can the service send Unicode characters?

No. The service can only send characters from the ASCII and GSM character sets. The GSM character set allows some European characters to be sent in a text message. The use of the GSM character made can be setting the use escape characters Property of the Sms Service to true.

Can the service receive text messages?

Yes. The SMS Service can now receive text messages. For information, please see the SmsService section.

What GSM modems are compatible with this driver?

The SMS driver has been tested with Siemens MC35 GSM modem. Technically the driver should work with any GSM modem providing the GSM standard has been implemented properly by the manufacturer.

Is the driver supported on both the PC and JACE platforms?

Yes. The service is supported on both platforms.

I cannot ping the GSM modem. What could be wrong?

The GSM modem could have unplugged the GSM modem from the JACE. Also the COM port settings could be incorrect. Please ensure the port settings are correct by editing the property sheet of the Transport component. Ensure the SIM card on the GSM device has no PIN and you can send a text message through a standard mobile phone.

If you are still having problems with communication to the GSM modem, try connecting the modem locally to your computers COM port and use Hyperterminal (while making sure no other applications are using the COM port - like a station). The GSM modem should respond to an AT command (followed by a carriage return) with an OK.

I can ping the modem but I can't get a text message. What could be wrong?

It could be the firmware on the GSM modem you are using doesn't implement the specification properly. Another reason may be the GSM modem simply can't process the messages so quickly. If this is the case, try increasing the 'Inter message delay' to cater for the slow GSM modem.

The signal strength suddenly drops to zero just after sending a text message

When testing with some Wavecom modems, it was found the signal strength indication dropped to zero just after sending a text message. This is a bug in Wavecom's firmware.

What does it mean when the service is down?

Typically the service is down when the device is unable to be pinged and hence non-operational.

I continually get exception messages in my Station output complaining that a message cannot be sent. What does this mean?

If a message cannot be sent it will stay in the queue until it can be sent. It may need to be removed from the SMS Service queue if there is still a problem via the 'Clear Queue' SmsService Action.