I originally thought a project with an SMS (Simple Message Service) Server (aka. text messaging) would we be outside the scope of the sabbatical due to some technical issues I was going to experience (the requirement of a Microsoft compatible SmartPhone). I did find a Microsoft project that left my optimistic that a SMS Server could be implemented on a college campus. Microsoft India created a .Net based SMS Server for farmers in India (and now Vietnam) that
provided a low cost ubiquitous solution that replaced a PC network
solution. The project is call Warana and you can click here
for more information and the SMS SDK they created to develop the SMS
server. Although
poor farmers in India do not share much with American community college
students, the use of SMS to inexpensive SMS servers controlled by
someone other than the carrier can ver a very attractive option for
cash strapped I/T budgets. Turns out Microsoft India has created a BlueTooth Server for farmers in India (now Vietnam) that provided a low cost ubiquitous solution that replaced a PC network solution. The project is call Warana and you can click here for more information and the SMS SDK they created to develop the SMS server. If you Google Warana SMS Server, you will see several articles on the project. Although poor farmers in India do not share much with American community college students, the use of SMS to inexpensive SMS servers controlled by someone other than the carrier can ver a very attractive option for cash strapped I/T budgets. How it might work A MS Smartphone is connected via a USB connection to a personal computer. The client uses their cell phone to send the Smartphone a message. The Smartphone receives the message ands hands it over to the PC via the Microsoft ActiveSync software bridge. The message is evaluated with a Visual Studio created program that is using the SMS SDK. If the message requires a data update or response, the database connected to the PC is called with the appropriate file maintenance commands. If data needs to be returned to the caller, a SMS message sends back a SMS message. It could be class information, school calendar, a message to the instructor to be picked up later, etc.. Description of Design Environment I downloaded the Warana SMS SDK and used Visual Studio 2008 for the setup and compile of sample projects. I used the MS Device Emulator and Manager for client side emulation. The server emulation was fun from a Windows Vista PC. Documentation was kept using Google Docs, Google Notebook and Google Site. return to homepage |