Glossary

SMSC (Short Message Service Center)

A Short Message Service Center (SMSC) is a network element in the mobile telephone network. Its purpose is to store, forward, convert and deliver Short Message Service (SMS) messages. The full designation of an SMSC according to 3GPP is Short Message Service – Service Center (SMS-SC). The main types of SMS handled by an SMSC are:

  1. From mobile to another mobile – referred to as MO-MT (Mobile Originated – Mobile Terminated)
  2. From mobile to a content provider (also known as Large Account / ESME) – referred to as MO-AT (Mobile Originated – Application Terminated). Also known as P2A (Person-to-Application) SMS.
  3. From application to a mobile – referred to as AO-MT (Application Originated – Mobile Terminated). Also known as A2P (Application-to-Person)

For A2P and P2A SMS, the Short Message Peer-to-Peer (SMPP) protocol is commonly used between applications and SMSC platforms.

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