Making a dektop SMS app

Question

Thanks to Stack Overflow and you guys i successfully completed my first project (viz. a website using JSP and servlets).

The idea which every put forth to me (as i have very little practical experience in making full fledged projects) was to make an app which i want for myself or i think should exist.

I have this idea of making a desktop application (initially), which will be used for sending bulk SMS's but which will use the free services provided by various Providers. So I don't have to pay for their already existing apps. The same providers give their SMS service for free when used from their website (maybe because they get to put ads there).

I couldn't find any SMS provider in India (that's where i stay), who provides their API to use their SMS gateway for free..(even though they insert ads in the SMS's sent via them).

I got hold of the following provider.

They have this widget application of theirs, through which they promote themselves by allowing developers to put their widget on their sites, for free SMSing. The source code of their widget is available here. It seems they have used lot of JavaScript..

Now coming to my question:-

Is it possible to connect my desktop app (which i will be making in java using swings) to their servers and send SMS as that app does? (As the widget is intended for sending free sms's even i should be able to send it...)

Which database should i use for saving contact? (It should be not too bulky and very quick)

Any thing you would want to tell me that will help me (as this is supposed to be my second project :-) )

All answers are highly appreciated...

Thank you all...

Answer 1

Is it possible to connect your desktop app? Quite likely yes. If it's accessible via a browser, it's accessible via any software. Use the widget, sniff the traffic and replicate it in your own software.

Now, whether you're actually allowed to do that is another thing. Better check with the owners of that service to make sure you don't use it in a way they don't want you to.

(Also the source code for that widget is pretty terrible... I'm not sure if I wanted to use the services of someone who writes code like that)

Answer 2

You'd be better to just write this on your own, really. It's not hard to include this functionality in a web page--I've done it before. All you do is send the SMS via email. Each provider has their own @ address for SMS. Some have a different address for MMS. A quick google search will reveal these addresses. Load mercury mail or some other lightweight mail server, and use HTML forms and/or AJAX to take the phone number and message, pass it to a php mail() function and send it via the mail server installed on your server.

I might be wrong, but it seems to me that the issue you're running into is that you seem to want to be able to do this app without having the proper backend set up. That means you'll have to use someone else's back end and, speaking as someone who runs one of those back ends, sysops tend to get snippy when someone utilizes their bandwidth, servers, and often email domains for their own use. I look at it no differently than the 1,000 attempts a day I get trying to bounce spam off my SMTP.

The app itself is not hard. It's just a question of knowing which provider the message is going to and sending it to PHONENUMBER@ProviderSMSDomain.com