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SMS over SIP?

skomorokh
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

I've had good luck in past calling with voip.ms SIP service (sort of like a industrial VoIP often used for offices and call centres) with the CSipSimple app and also the built-in Android support on the dialler.

 

They don't support SMS except through their website though.

 

I see there are at least two companies (Anveo and Vitelity) that seem to offer Canadian SMS support over SIP. Has anyone tried them? Is there actually a way to use this type of service on an app for a fairly seamless texting experience?

23 REPLIES 23

HolmesIV
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

There is one other interesting solution since the OP mentions voip.ms specifically. There's an opensource VoIP.ms SMS client  named, astonishingly enough, "VoIP.ms SMS" available from the google play store.

 

I've played about with it a bit on Public Mobile (very new user here) and it seems to work adequately, though it's a bit rough on actually pushing messages to me, even with Google Cloud push enabled on the VOIP.ms side.

 

Polling (checking for messages works).

 

I'm using it for now, but definitely falling back to Google Hangouts for users of that client.

 

 

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@eks welcome to the Public Mobile community!  I believe @7789849803's explanation is correct--to do what you're trying to do, you would need to select a PM plan with texting included.


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@eks I'm quite certain PM is not blocking SIP - much less any specfic activity on it, like SMSes.

 

Instead, it sounds like your incoming texts are somehow getting forwarded to your PM phone number, never quite arriving to your VoIP number. And since texting is not included in your PM plan, you cannot receive any texts on your PM number.

eks
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Hello!

 

So I've been using an Anveo number with the regular Android (Marshmallow 6.0.1) phone and messenger app. It works great for receiving calls but the SMS', to the VOIP number, get blocked. Whenever someone sends an SMS to the voip number I get a message from 611 with "You have been sent a text but you need to have texting in your plan to receive it. Go to selfserve.publicmobile.ca for info about your account. Public Mobile".

 

Obviously I also get the same message if someone texts to my PM number.

 

I've choosen Anveo instead of voip.ms exactly because they did forward SMS over SIP, and it was working with Fido. But when I switched to PM all texts over SIP started to get blocked also.

 

Is this standard Public Mobile procedure to block SMS over SIP? I haven't tried a different SIP client that would also have text support yet though. Obviously I don't have a text plan, but I find kind of silly to block me from receiving texts, SIP or no SIP.

 

 

Thanks!

skomorokh
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

...yes, pizza IS good.

 

For me the wholesale providers are appealing for reasons similar to why I like PM: I get to choose my own software, it's a standard. If I want to change VOIP providers and they use SIP, I can port my number and keep on using the same tools. Something like Fongo? I'm stuck with their app. With a wholesale provider, I pay for what I use; the business model is straightforward. With Fongo, it's "free"? What does that mean? A voip app needs lots of permissions, are they selling information about customer behaviour? If you're not paying for the product you are the product.

 

One thing about moving to an internet-only cellphone with SMS-over-IP that appeals to me is the idea of receiving texts on my computer when I'm at work. I'm sitting in front of a real keyboard and a huge screen, I'd prefer to use them.

 

Interesting to hear about the voip.ms email gateway option. That doesn't sound like it would be the best user experience though, having to reply with an answer and then open their next message and reply to that, etc. From the best thread I could find on this topic it seems like Vitelity offers a gateway to XMPP (the chat protocol) so you can use a chat app like Conversations. That'd be a more natural fit, I bet.


One limitation with SIP based SMS is that it might not work with some services that send you a text to confirm things.

 

No - it was there all along (I remember reading it in the thread the first time) 🙂

chreds
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@7789849803 wrote:

@chreds I also wonder if any SIP app for mobile phones supports text messaging over SIP.

 

EDIT: Just saw that @skomorokh mentioned 2 VoIP providers that apparently do provide SMS over SIP.


Haha. Good catch. Either I wasn't reading very thoroughly or he edited that post after we posted?

 

Chris

@chreds I also wonder if any SIP app for mobile phones supports text messaging over SIP.

 

EDIT: Just saw that @skomorokh mentioned 2 VoIP providers that apparently do provide SMS over SIP.

@chreds Thanks for the correction. I didn't know SIP was being used for instant messaging. Though in hindsight, it certainly makes sense now that it could be used for that purpose (since SIP request/response methods are message-oriented).

 

However, I still personally don't know of a single consumer-oriented VoIP provider that actually supports texting over SIP. Does anyone else?

chreds
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@7789849803 wrote:

 

Also, SIP itself is not (cannot) used for texting (only for voice). So you'd have to use an app (like Hangouts/Fongo) for that functionality.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_Initiation_Protocol

 

This is false. SIP can (and is) used for instant messaging. It's just not common for a carrier to support SMS to SIP. Usually it's just used for SIP to SIP instant messaging in corporate environments.

 

Bria is a client that supports SIP instant messaging but it would require you to be connected to a server that supports it-- which is what your question is asking. I haven't looked very hard but I don't know any off the top of my head, the VoIP.ms email to SMS gateway I mentioned above works fine for my needs.

 

Here is the wiki by VoIP.ms on how to use they SMS functionality:

http://wiki.voip.ms/article/SMS

 

They have a mobile website for sending SMS', but you can easily reply to received SMS by email.

chreds
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen
VoIP.ms, the provider you use actually supports sms over email through their sms gateway. I've used it often and it works seamlessly. You specify an email address to receive sms at and you can simply reply to the sms' you receive as an email and it converts to sms and sends.

This was implied in my earlier response, but neither Anveo nor Vitelity are geared towards the consumer market, and so the experience with using them on an ongoing basis for texting will not be anywhere near something like Fongo (or Google Voice). Not to mention the setup woes with using an enterprise-grade service like that.

 

Also, SIP itself is not (cannot) used for texting (only for voice). So you'd have to use an app (like Hangouts/Fongo) for that functionality.

Martin
Legend
Legend
Hi,

If this weekend is the deadline, Luddite won't be back by then.

Before he left, he mumbled something about an inverted colander and an intergalactic trip, but I didn't believe him.

Daniel
Town Hero / Héro de la Ville

Let's not forget @skomorokh initial; question...

 

If @7789849803 or @Luddite could give extra info that could help Skomorokh... Before the week end could be a great time to do it!

Martin
Legend
Legend
And it's S-O-O-O-O delicious!

That's head games right there - making people hungry by talking about pizza! 🙂

Daniel
Town Hero / Héro de la Ville

@Martin

 

(Off subject)

 

Too bad you can't share a slice through the community! Starting to be a little hungry!

Martin
Legend
Legend
Hi,

If you're referring to Fongo, I didn't insinuate that you didn't know enough about the subject to sound intelligent, thus no head games, especially when I'm having pizza.

Cheers while I chew!

@Martin Or...you could ask me right here, right now, since I've been using their service for a while?? I promise I won't bite...or lie!

Martin
Legend
Legend
Hello,

When Luddite returns, you might want to ask him about Fongo. He seems to know quite a bit about it.

FYI.

@skomorokh Also, Google Voice offers completely free texting + calling to US and Canada, and is super reliable. But to be able to do the initial sign up for a new account, you need to have a US IP address (either through VPN or through being in the US physically).

 

The number you get will be a US number (unlike Fongo), so that's a slight disadvantage for other people in Canada wanting to text you back.

 

Please let me know if you have other questions - I've done quite a bit of research on the different options out there and these 2 are the most viable ones I've found thus far.

@skomorokh I use Fongo. Texting is not free - but for the month of October if you pay for 6 months of unlimited Canadian texting, it costs less than $6 (US + Canada texting is just a bit more). Their service is pretty reliable and I've not had any issues with it in the few months I've used them.

 

They also offer phone service at very cheap rates.

Daniel
Town Hero / Héro de la Ville

Hi @skomorokh,

 

that's a good question, I have no clue about the answer! But I'm verry curious to lear the outcome of this thread. (I used to have VOIP with Eyebean on Intelitel, but never tested the application with my phone on PM)

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