If you’re looking for a quality bulk SMS provider in Nigeria, then there are some basic things you must know. When you know them then you check whether any Nigerian provider has them. That’s how you know a quality bulk SMS provider.

First of all, let’s define quality. As a bulk SMS user myself, quality to me means that my SMS are delivered, in full, with my sender ID, and on time. Every other thing besides these doesn’t count much.

There are factors that make these quality factors possible:

1. Gateway Quality – Perhaps they are SMS gateway run by Nigerians, but I don’t know of one (remember, we have power issues and this stuff has to be powered 24/7). So, most bulk SMS sites in Nigeria use foreign bulk SMS gateways (including 5star SMS). Reliability of these foreign SMS gateways varies.

2. Direct Connection – SMS gateways that connect directly to GSM networks in Nigeria are more reliable than gateways that connect indirectly using SS7 link. SS7 link is cheap, but unreliable. Direct connection is reliable but expensive. At 5star SMS, we use an aggregator whose gateway connects directly to all GSM networks in Nigeria. That’s why our price is slightly higher than others. But we will rather pay a high price and have our bulk SMS delivered than pay peanuts and get nothing.

That said, expect these problems if the connection is via SS7 route:

- Delivery delays (your message are being delivered when there’s less traffic, mostly in the middle of the night)
- No delivery reports (At 5star SMS, you can get delivery reports on request)
- Non delivery of your bulk SMS at all
- Message delivered without your customized sender ID.

As stated before, at 5star SMS, we use a gateway that connects directly to all the GSM networks in Nigeria and that gives us and our customers peace of mind knowing that their bulk SMS will be delivered. And if they are not delivered as at when due, we can check their status by looking at our delivery report. That’s unlike other bulk SMS service where you can’t know whether your SMS was delivered or not.

As we used to say in our local parlance: Shine your eyes! And all the best in your bulk SMS marketing and communications.

P.S. Remember you can send bulk SMS at www.5starsmsng.com

Article source: http://www.5starsmsng.com/blog