General Overview QTComms is a bulk SMS sending, to targeted recipients, application. Apart from sending SMS’s the application have functions to manage recipients into groups, and sub-groups for easy selection of targeted recipients. It also have the ability to schedule transmission for later automatic transmissions or re-transmissions. There are also functions for setting up recurrent messages for automatic transmission when the preset dates are reached i.e. birthday greetings on an annual base or monthly account or submission reminders. The application sends the SMS’s via a GSM modem activated with a simcard. For the best rates telemetry bundles or packages are available from most GSM service providers. The included ability to handle delivery reporting facilitates transmission analysis. SMS’s can be send in GSM or the much faster GPRS format if the service is available on your service provider’s network. SMS’s can also be received and are stored together with senders and transmission information. To achieve the maximum out of the system it should be running on a continuous basis especially to allow transmissions of recurrent messages on non business days and receive SMS’s at all hours. Present day desktop computers running the Windows NT family operating platforms i.e. Windows 2000, Windows XP etc. is required. The application has full network capabilities and can be populated on a LAN with a workstation allocated as an application server connected to the GSM equipment. User login is compulsory and security levels for users can be set as required. A log of all user activities are kept and information on recipient management and message scheduling are kept with user reference and time stamps. An on-line help facility and help files are available for user assistance. Functions and Specifications Recipient Administration Recipient Info Recipient info (Name, Account Reference, Type i.e. supplier, client etc.) Contact info (Tel No’s, address)Annual and monthly recurrent messages dates (i.e. birthday messages) Search facilities on Names, Cell No, Account / Reference No, Tel No. etc. Linked Sub-Groups Message history 1.2 Sub-Groups Sub-group name and contact info Classification according to Province, Region, Type Import of recipients info from formatted text / spread sheet files Search facilities according to Name, Contact info, Region and province Message history Recipient Linking Recurrent Messages (Annually, monthly) setup and scheduling 1.3 Groups Group name and contact info Classification according to Province, Region, Type Search facilities according to Name, Contact info, Region and province Message history Sub-group Linking
2 Message Centre 2.1 Message Search Search facilities on Dates, Status, Phrase in Message etc.
2.2 Message Registration and editing Add / Setup new message with parameters
2.3 Transmission scheduling Set time and date for first transmission. Set time and date for all subsequent transmissions.
2.4 Reception List Selection and Editing Select all Recipients linked to selected groups. Select / add Recipients linked to selected sub-groups. Select / add individual Recipients. Edit / Remove selected Recipients.
2.5 Delivery Reporting Transmission Statistics Transmission failures (Number errors) Delivery failures Setup and configuration
3.1 Types and regional setup Registering of Group Types Registering of Sub-group Types Registering of Recipient Types Registering of Provinces Registering of Regions
3.2 GSM modem configuration System Management functions
4.1 User registration (Adding users, Editing and Removal User name password Access level and user type
4.2 System security setup Module and menu naming Add, Change (Edit) and access level registration
4.3 System Login Register Register of all users logged in and times spent. Trail of functions accessed.
4.4 Database maintenance
4.5 System parameters
5. System Requirements
5.1 Computer requirements - Base / Application server Pentium 4 - 2GIG or higher (Celeron processors are not recommend) 512 MB Ram CD Rom Comm ports to accommodate needs Mouse 1 GB Hard disk space (Enough for normal use) Windows NT Family Operating system (Windows 2000 recommended or Windows XP Professional (Home Edition not recommended)
5.2 Computer requirements - Network workstation 512 MB Ram recommended Windows NT Family Operating system CPU to Support operating system
5.3 Uninterrupted Power Supply - for Base / Application server Suitable rating to sustain supply for approximately 30min while sending SMS’s. Power failures during transmissions can cause data corruption and terminate transmissions of scheduled messages.
5.4 GSM Modem. Wavecom Fastrack WM1308B or equivalent. Power supply connection to PC to make use of UPS power. 5.5 GSM Sim Card Minimum 16k but preferably a 32k GSM Sim Card. Telemetry package for lowcost SMS service. Pin codes must be removed.
6. System Specifications. No of Recipients Approx. 30 million Valid SMS number lengths 7 - 14 (excluding + sign for international no’s.)No of Groups No limit No of Sub-groups No limit No of messages No limit No of Transmission schedules No limit Message length 180 characters Recurrent Messages Annual 1 per sub-group 1 date per recipient Montly 1 per sub-group 1 date per recipient. Network users (Concurrent logins) 2 Included with base system 95 Optional additional Transmitting GSM Modems 1 Receiving GSM Modems 3 SMS Transmission modes: GSM All networks GPRS mode where network are compatible Approx. Transmission rates (per hour) GSM mode Delivery reporting Off 500 GSM mode Delivery reporting On 500 GPRS mode Delivery reporting Off 2500 GPRS mode Delivery reporting On 1500 Performance is also dependable on hardware specifications and GSM / GPRS network traffic which is again a factor of the time of the day and day of the week and month.
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