Hi:

I am trying to setup a business that offers membership login for members to buy credit to send and receive sms. Currently, i have someone doing the programming for me and will be hosting this on a server soon. One way is to have a physical gsm modem connected to the server but i am also looking at interfacing with an aggregrator. As my volume for a start is not huge, it will not be cost effective to go to the telco, so i think aggregator is my best bet.

The portion that i do not understand is that, do i need to apply for a short code?? or are they alternatives that i can use to still provide the same service as mentioned earlier send/receive? dedicated short code is just too costly.

I also read here comment about clearing house and using special key words, can someone help explain to me on this. Thanks.