What is SMS?

SMS is a widely used method of messaging between us, but not everyone knows it well. So what is SMS specifically? How does SMS work? We invite you to find out in the article below.

What is SMS?

SMS is the acronym for Short Message Services, or translated into Vietnamese as Short Message Service. This is a form of communication through telecommunications systems, allowing people to send text messages to each other. SMS operates on all three network technologies GSM, CDMA and TDMA.

Previously, in English, the number of characters in each message was limited to 160. Depending on the language of each country, the number of characters will be reduced. For example, with accented Vietnamese, the number of characters per message is only about 70.

However, thanks to technological developments, SMS is no longer limited in the number of characters.

In addition, SMS messages can also help users send icons and emojis because they are part of the official character list. However, SMS cannot send content such as images, videos, gifs and some other features.

History of formation of SMS messages

In 1984, the Franco-German GSM company of Friedhelm Hillebrand and Bernard Ghillebaert introduced the concept of SMS. The first text message was sent in 1992 from Neil Papworth, typed on a PC because phones didn't have keyboards, and read 'Merry Christmas'.

At that time, the first cell phones did not support the ability to send text messages. The first SMS gateways for phones were network alerts, often voicemail notifications.

The next development was EMS - Enhanced Messaging Service, which added support for text formats and allowed phones to send binary data.

EMS was later replaced by MMS, which can contain photos, audio recordings or even include some multimedia files. MMS is supported by the development of phones with built-in cameras.

The next stage in the evolution is RCS - short for Rich Communication Service, a default messaging application that Google has researched and developed for phone devices running the Android operating system with the ability to send messages. Messages with images, videos, links, stickers.

Is SMS still used?

SMS has grown explosively, as of 2010, 6.1 trillion SMS were sent. The SMS industry was estimated to generate $114 billion globally in 2010. However, SMS later became outdated when messaging applications appeared with unlimited texting capabilities, requiring only the internet, No need to pay for each message.

With the explosive development of social networks and multimedia messaging applications, SMS messages are no longer as commonly used as before. Users no longer use SMS to communicate, exchange, and chat, but instead use messaging applications.

Currently, SMS is only used by businesses for SMS Marketing campaigns. SMS is also used to authenticate information, secure bank accounts, applications. In addition, SMS is also used to receive warning messages, notifications and other information from authorities. .