Short Message Service (SMS) is a system designed for sending short, often text, messages to and from wireless devices, such as mobile phones or pagers. SMS is widely used in Europe and Asia and is becoming increasingly popular in the United States and elsewhere. Some uses for SMS include the following:
Performing banking transactions
Sending authentication codes, for example, to be used to access web resources
Voting, such as popularity voting for reality television shows
Initiating an action (such as a server reboot) and getting a response
Notifying users of events such as package shipments or restaurant table availability, or providing stock or weather alerts
Sending person-to-person text messages
Presenting interactive text-based menus on a cell phone
Providing cellular phone updates, such as direct download of logos
Providing telematics and mobile or remote wireless device applications, such as soda machines, vehicle tracking, smart gas pumps, and so on
SMS protocol features include, but are not limited to, the following:
Authentication verification is built in.
Communications can be secure.
Store and forward communication is performed in near real time.
Communications can be two-way and session-aware.
Mobile devices such as cell phones already include support; there is nothing to install on the client.
The following sections provide a very brief technical introduction to SMS and the procedures required to develop and implement an SMS ColdFusion application:
Note: SMS messages and any other data that enters through an Event Gateway handler should be considered potentially hostile. For example, if SMS data is archived in a SQL database, an attacker could construct a message that modifies or deletes data, or even takes over the SQL Server. Because of this, you should be sure to perform Event Gateway input validation, just as you would validate web form input.
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