MMS: multimedia messages. «MMS messages - development history and prospects

Simple, but effective ideas "shoot" much more than complex, confusing concepts. This has been known for a long time. Therefore, one should not be surprised that a simple, somewhere even scanty service called SMS has gained such popularity.

But the people involved in mobile technologies have already prepared a replacement for the good old SMS. Yes, you guessed it. It's about MMS.

The abbreviation MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service. Unlike SMS, with its significant restrictions on the size and type of transmitted information, MMS technology allows you to instantly transfer not only text, but also other multimedia content: photos (which you can take in a few seconds using the camera built into the device), music, voice recordings, videos… The list goes on.

According to the description of the MMS standard, there are no strictly defined data formats for transmitted attachments. Moreover, the receiving device must be able to process any type of attachment. Manufacturers are now trying to adhere to the pre-agreed "MMS Agreement" so that in the future there will be no problems with the compatibility of multimedia messages, but it is quite possible that this document will be changed and supplemented.

As already mentioned, there are no official limits on the size of MMS messages sent. However, in reality, each mobile operator imposes its own limits on the amount of information sent in order to more accurately calculate the cost of the service provided.

One of the positive properties of multimedia messages is the compatibility already mentioned above. The owner of a Siemens phone can send a picture to his friend's Nokia and be sure that the addressee will receive exactly what was sent.

Wheels and gears

Even if you do not know if the recipient's device supports MMS, you can still safely send him a message, and it will not be lost or erased, and the recipient will be able to read the message even if his phone model is not equipped with an application for working with messages of this type .

The thing is that the transmission of MMS is controlled not by one service center, as was the case with SMS, but by a whole complex. The brain of this system is MMS Relay, a message switching server. It receives, processes and forwards all multimedia messages of a specific operator, communicates with MMS centers of other operators, and also allows you to work with MMS not only from the screen of a mobile phone. Auxiliary components are, first of all, the WAP gateway, which is responsible for delivering the multimedia component of the message, the database server, in which messages are stored for some time, as well as the already familiar SMS center, which manages the delivery of reports and service information to subscribers' phones . With such a complex system, the end user has a wide range of options for working with multimedia messages.

* We can send an MMS from a mobile phone to an e-mail, and the recipient will receive the message as a regular e-mail.

* With the help of special mail MMS-gates, we can send an e-mail, which will be sent to the cell phone as a multimedia message.

* It doesn't matter what phone model the recipient has: the system will figure out how to display the information. First, the MMS center will send a system SMS with service data to the phone, and only then will it either send a text message with a link to your message (if the device does not support MMS), or connect to the server using WAP and download the message to the phone. By the way, you don't have to worry about traffic - incoming MMS from our operators is free.

Motivation

The functionality of MMS is much wider than it might even seem at first glance. Conditionally opening before the user opportunities can be divided into four groups.

1. The actual exchange of messages. If you want to convey information that does not want to fit into not only one, but three SMS messages, use a multimedia message.

Note to schoolchildren and students: this thing is great for passing cheat sheets.

Would you like to congratulate someone with a small message, but don't want it to look dull? Attach a nice picture to the MMS, or maybe even a voice recording of congratulations.

All this will be displayed on the recipient's screen in the form of a Power Point presentation: first the illustration will appear, then the text, and finally the recorded message will sound. Such a virtual one will leave few people indifferent!

Made an appointment in an unfamiliar place? Found a street but can't find a house (perhaps because a sign or sign has fallen off)? Ask to send you a picture of the meeting place, and thanks to the picture, you will instantly find the right building.

Or, for example, your friend needs to meet another person, and only you know his face. And in this situation, it's hard to come up with something easier than sending a photo of the right person using MMS.

2. Information services based on MMS. This is a worthy alternative to similar SMS-services, as well as WAP-pages. The most obvious advantage of multimedia messages is the much richer possibilities for designing informational messages. But there is also something else. For example, MMS can be integrated with the subscriber's location system, and then the user, having sent a request with the address he needs, will receive in response a map indicating the best route.

3. Business services. MMS seriously expands the range of services for business people. For example, a subscriber can receive on his device not only the latest exchange reports, but also graphs or charts of their changes for an arbitrarily chosen time interval.

4. Entertainment. According to British analysts, more than 70% of MMS messages in the UK contain sports or erotic content. In addition, a mobile operator, together with third-party content providers, can offer its subscribers such services as: MMS chat, MMS games, MMS dating, etc.

Also, do not forget that special server applications are created on the basis of MMS, which contribute to more convenient and faster access to content. These are a multimedia box (MMBox) and a multimedia album (MMS Album).

multimedia box

If a subscriber actively uses MMS services, then sooner or later he will need to store his messages somewhere. Do not keep them all in the phone's memory!

To solve this problem, the operator creates a separate database, which is called a "multimedia box". In this base, the subscriber can store his messages for an arbitrary period of time. In addition, the subscriber can create and send multimedia messages without first downloading the necessary content to the device. To do this, it sends a control message to the MMS center containing information about the recipient and the necessary attachments, which the MMS center automatically picks up from the subscriber's multimedia box. The subscriber can also access his messages via WAP or the Internet.

multimedia album

To fill an MMS message with the necessary content, the operator creates a content base, which is called a "multimedia album". This database is located on a separate server and contains audio and video fragments, pictures, logos, which the subscriber can freely download to create MMS.

Workshop

But in terms of ease of setup, MMS loses a little to SMS. Here it will not be enough just to enter the number of the message processing center (which is often already packed into the SIM card).

So, MMS are transmitted via WAP. There are two types of WAP connection:

* CSD (direct call to the mobile operator's pool; data transfer rate leaves much to be desired);

* GPRS. In a fair competition, the second option won a long time ago by knockout, so we will not even consider CSD. It's too dark stuff. Below are instructions for three major Moscow GSM operators, while information on others can be found in their sales offices or on their official websites.

"Beeline"

There are two ways to connect GPRS-WAP and MMS (the so-called “Three Services Package”):

1. Call 06709181.

2. Dial the command *101?181# on your phone.

After connecting the “Pack of three services”, the device must be rebooted.

Next, you need to set up the phone itself. Order settings for GPRS-WAP and MMS on the official Beeline website or in the subscriber service. After they come to you with service SMS, save them and reboot your phone to register in the MMS system. Finally, send an MMS with any character to 000 and wait for a message confirming the final activation of the service.

To disable this package, you need to call 067409180.

You can activate the GPRS service in the following ways: by coming in person to any of the sales and service offices; directly from a mobile or landline telephone through the ACCA system (to do this, dial the number 08802449, and then press 1 to confirm the addition of the service), or through the CCCA Internet service.

"Megaphone"

This operator has the easiest setup option.

If you use a contract tariff, then the GPRS service is already activated, and LITE tariff users just need to dial a special command *105?4*4?2#.

After that, order free settings specifically for your phone model from the site or through a subscriber service, and then activate MMS services using the Service Guide or dial *105# and follow the instructions on the phone screen.

It is easiest to find out the prices individually, although we note that in most cases the cost of one multimedia message fluctuates around 20 cents (6-7 rubles).

The maximum amount of MMS is also set by the mobile operator. Most often, users are allowed to send messages no more than 100 kb, although during some promotions the bar can rise sharply to 512 kb. Another thing is that some mobile devices with MMS support have an internal limit on the size of messages, which for one reason or another is less than that set by the cellular operator. In such cases, either changing the phone's firmware to a more recent one, where, perhaps, this problem has already been solved, or installing (at your own peril and risk) unofficial patches can come to the rescue.

Articles and Lifehacks

At one time, such simple technologies as SMS and MMS managed to gain immense popularity. Let's figure it out what is mms in phone, and also talk about the principle of its operation and features of use.

MMS in the phone: what is it?

The abbreviation MMS can be deciphered as a multimedia messaging service. The transmission is carried out in cellular networks. The peculiarity of MMS is that messages can be sent not only to a mobile device, but also to e-mail.

Unlike SMS technology, it has no restrictions on the type and size of the information that is transmitted. Through MMS, we will be able to send not only text, but also various multimedia files - voice and music recordings, videos, photos, etc.

This standard assumes the ability to process any kind of attachments. Although manufacturers still adhere to certain rules to avoid data inconsistencies, it is expected that they will be supplemented in the future. Theoretically, there are no limits on the size of MMS messages. However, restrictions may be imposed by the mobile operator itself. In addition, some mobile devices also allow you to send no more than 100 kilobytes of information.

So, we figured out what mms is on the phone. The content of such messages is stored on the operator's WAP server. It consists of 2 parts, one of which is SMS. As a rule, such messages are free for the recipient.

How to use MMS on your phone?

How to get MMS settings? To do this, you can call the support service of your mobile operator and ask a specialist to send automatic settings. After that, you should save them. If our device does not support MMS, we will simply receive a web link where we can view the sent message.

The processing and transmission of messages is handled by the switching center. It also communicates with other cellular operators. The WAP gateway is responsible for the delivery of the multimedia part of the MMS message, and the SMS center is responsible for the delivery of service data and reports.

If we send an MMS from our device to an e-mail, it will be sent to the addressee as a regular letter. There are also gates with which we can send a letter that will arrive on our phone.

The Beeline operator today offers such a service as the “Package of three services”. It includes MMS, GPRS Internet and WAP. To activate this offer, you can dial the request *101*181#, or call 06709181. You can also separately activate MMS.

A very easy service setup is offered by the Megafon operator. You can connect MMS by dialing the request *105#, or through the Service Guide.

(MMS 2.0 standard). The operator can impose its own restrictions on the size of the transmitted message.

Principle of operation

An MMS message consists of two parts. The content of the message is stored on a special WAP-server of the operator. The second part is a special SMS message that is sent to the recipient. If the recipient's phone supports MMS, then a notification about an incoming MMS message and an offer to download the main part usually appears on the screen. If the phone does not support MMS, then most often you receive a regular SMS message with a WAP link to the main part.

Very often, the phone has the ability to automatically download MMS messages. It is also possible to disable downloading MMS in roaming, where payment is usually charged for traffic and not for one message.

Thus, MMS is an add-on that combines SMS and WAP services. The differences are only in the positioning of the service and in a separate billing. MMS are most often paid by the sender at a fixed price, excluding traffic, and they are free for the recipient. However, while in roaming traffic may be charged.

see also

Literature

• Le-Bodik G. Mobile messages: SMS, EMS and MMS services and technologies. Per. from English. - M. KUDITS-OBRAZ, 2005. - 448 with ISBN 5-9579-0057-5
• Specification 3GPP TS 22.140 MMS. Stage 1
• Specification 3GPP TS 23.140 MMS. functional description. stage 2.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

See what "MMS" is in other dictionaries:

MMS- (el. mms) sb., MMS'en, MMS'er, MMS'erne, i sms. MMS, fx MMS besked … Dansk ordbog

mms- (el. MMS) sb., mms'en, mms'er, mms'erne, i sms. mms, fx mms besked … Dansk ordbog

MMS- UK US noun COMMUNICATIONS [U] ABBREVIATION FOR Multimedia Messaging Service, a way to send text, pictures, and sound to and from mobile phones: »MMS messaging is now experiencing an even stronger surge than texting. [C] a message sent using… … Financial and business terms

MMS- may stand for: In science and technology: Multimedia Messaging Service, a standard for telephone messaging systems The Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission, a four satellite NASA mission Manufacturing Message Specification, a networking standard… … Wikipedia

MMS-〈f.; ; unz.; EDV; Abk. für engl.〉 Multimedia Messaging Service, mithilfe eines Handys verschickte u. empfangene Kurznachricht, die Grafiken, Fotos u. mündliche Mitteilungen enthalten kann * * * MMS: Abk. fur Methylmethioninsulfonium chloride. * * ... Universal-Lexikon

MMS- (el. mms'e) vb., r, de, t ... Dansk ordbog

mms'e- (el. MMS'e) vb., r, de, t ... Dansk ordbog

MMS- es una sigla que significa: Sistema de mensajería multimedia (del inglés multimedia messaging system), un sistema para enviar mensajes multimedia entre teléfonos móviles. Microsoft Media Services, un protocolo para hacer streaming de contenidos… … Wikipedia Español

MMS- es una sigla que significa: ● Sistema de mensajería multimedia ( inglés Multimedia Messaging System), un sistema para enviar mensajes multimedia entre teléfono móviles. ● Microsoft Media Services, un protocolo para hacer streaming de… … Enciclopedia Universal

MMS-〈f.; Gen.: ; Pl.: unz.; EDV; Abk. für engl.〉 Multimedia Messaging Service, mithilfe eines Handys verschickte u. empfangene Kurznachricht, die Grafiken, Fotos u. mündliche Mitteilungen enthalten kann … Lexicalische Deutsches Wörterbuch

MMS- |ememiesse| s. 2 g. 2 num. 1. Serviço que permite o envio de mensagens multimédia para telemóveis. 2. Cada uma dessas mensagens. ‣ Etimologia: sigla do inglês Multimedia Messaging Service, serviço de mensagens multimédia … Dicionario da Lingua Portuguesa

Books

• MMS: Breakthrough. The Miraculous Mineral Remedy of the 21st Century, Not Only for the People of Africa, But for the World, Jim Humble. Jim Humble, an American inventor, has discovered a remedy whose application promises the almost unbelievable: many of the diseases of mankind can be defeated with the help of his drug called ...

It is difficult to find a person who has not sent or received SMS messages. This is one of the oldest ways to communicate on a cell phone - it is over twenty years old. In today's issue of "How it works" - a story about SMS and MMS technologies.

SMS is a Short Messaging Service that transmits a small amount of data over a cellular network. The SMS concept was developed by Friedhelm Hillerbrand and Bernard Gillebert in 1984. They proposed to transfer data between phones at a time when the resources of the GSM network are idle. The message length was limited to 128 bytes, which is the standard signal packet size.

A test SMS message was transmitted in 1992 on the network of the British operator Vodafone. In 1993, subscribers of cellular operators in Sweden, the USA, Norway, Great Britain and Finland began to send the first messages. Nokia was the first phone to support SMS. Now SMS is supported by all types of cellular networks: GMS, 3G, NMT, CDMA, UMTS and others.

One SMS message can send 160 characters in 7-bit encoding (Arabic numerals and Latin alphabet), 140 characters in 8-bit encoding (French and German alphabet) and 70 characters in 16-bit encoding (Cyrillic and hieroglyphs). Along with the text, other information is transmitted in SMS: sending time, recipient and sender numbers, encoding scheme, protocol identifier, delivery message, and so on. This data allows you to address the message to the correct recipient and ensure the readability of the message.

When transmitting more data, the text is split into several messages. Each of them contains additional information about the number of text segments and the segment number.

After sending from the phone, the SMS message goes to the server, where it is stored until it is delivered to the recipient. The server finds out if the recipient is online and where. When the location is determined, the message is transmitted to the base station to which the subscriber is currently connected, and from there to his phone. SMS will come even if the subscriber is talking on the phone or consuming Internet traffic. The scheme seems simple, but in fact, almost all elements of the cellular network are involved in it.

You can send an SMS even if the recipient's phone is turned off - the message will come when it appears on the network. Since SMS sending uses a band with a lower priority than the channels for voice channel and Internet traffic, the message may be delivered to the recipient with a long delay or not delivered at all. A small percentage of messages are lost even during normal network operation.

Many mobile applications (for example, messengers and banking) use SMS for user registration, social networks (Twitter, Facebook, VKontakte) and mail services for two-factor verification and password recovery.

Since 1998, there has been SMS billing - debiting money from a subscriber's account after sending an SMS to a short number. This type of payment is used when collecting donations, voting, paying for virtual or real goods or services. It has a number of disadvantages that scammers use: indicate a low price for an SMS message or write that it is free, issue a long-term subscription without the consent of the subscriber, send SMS in hidden ways, and so on. This type of fraud is even beneficial for operators - their commission is about half the cost of SMS. Now SMS-billing is being replaced by "operator billing" - debiting money from a subscriber's account without using SMS. This type of payment allows you to exclude dubious intermediaries, large trading platforms cooperate directly with operators.

MMS - service of multimedia messages (Multimedia Messaging Service). With it, you can send photos, videos or sound files to phones or e-mail. An MMS message consists of two parts: an SMS of standard length and a multimedia file that is stored on the operator's WAP server. If the recipient's phone does not support media download, a link to the file will be shown. MMS specifications limit the size of the sent attachment to 999 kilobytes, Russian operators have set a limit of 300 kilobytes. As a rule, sending MMS costs much more than SMS, incoming messages of both types are not charged in Russia.

SMS and MMS are a complex, expensive and unreliable way to deliver messages, but it works on all mobile phones and does not require per kilobyte Internet, so it will be able to compete with free messengers for a long time to come.

In the modern world, technologies such as SMS and MMS have gained great popularity. It is worthwhile to understand in more detail what the MMS service is in a telephone set, what is its role. What is MMS, you will learn when you read this material.

Introduction to the MMS function

What does this abbreviation mean? How to use such a service? MMS - what is it? The transcript explains that this is a multimedia message (Multimedia Messaging Service). These messages are transmitted over a cellular network. Their peculiarity is that they are sent not only to a mobile phone, but also to an e-mail mailbox. This option differs from SMS in that it does not have restrictive limits on the type and size of the transmitted information. With the help of such messages, you can send various multimedia files (music, voice messages, videos, various photos, etc.).

But how is SMS decrypted?

In this article, we will consider not only the MMS service (the abbreviation is given above), but also which stands for the short message transmission service. This technology allows you to send and receive small text messages on your mobile device.

Functional Properties

The functions of this type of messaging are more extensive than we think. The capabilities of these messages can be divided into several types of groups, which literally explain to us what MMC is:

• Message exchange. Messages that do not fit in one or more SMS can be compactly formatted in MMS. For example, you want to send a birthday greeting to a friend, but it contains a large amount of information that does not fit into SMS. You can just send a voice message with congratulations - it will be even more realistic and pleasant.
• Information services, that is, extensive possibilities in the design of messages.
• Business services. This technology expands the possibilities for business personalities. For example, a user can receive stock information, their charts and stability histograms for a selected period of time on their phone.
• entertainment side. British scientists have found that more than 70% of MMS in England contain information of a sports or romantic nature. In addition, the telecom operator has the opportunity to offer its users other interesting services, such as chat, games or dating, and much more.

Using Messages

To find out what MMS is and how to use it, the settings for this function of sending / sending messages will help us. Where can I get these settings? To get them, you need to contact the special support service of your cellular connection and notify the specialist to send the necessary settings. After receiving, you need to save these settings. If the mobile phone does not support this function, a link will be sent, which will be displayed as a normal message.

The transmission and processing of these messages is controlled by the switching center. This center also has connections with other mobile operators.

If you send MMS from our phone to e-mail, then it will come to the specified postal address in the form of a regular message. There are also devices with which you can send a letter, and it will go to your own mobile device.

mms box

If you often use this service, then later the question may arise about where to store private messages. The option with telephone memory immediately disappears.

This problem is solved as follows: the mobile operator creates a special database of information, which is called the "multimedia box". This database allows the user to store private messages for a period of time. In addition to all this, the user has the ability to send and form messages without pre-loaded information in the mobile phone. To do this, the subscriber sends a message to a specialized service center that contains information about the recipient and attachments, then the support center automatically makes a pickup from the user's multimedia box. And also the subscriber has the opportunity to access his messages through the World Wide Web.

Special message album

To fill the messages with their own information, the operator forms a special base, which is called a "multimedia album". This information base is located on a special server and stores video / audio files, photos that the user can freely download to write a message.

Is there a maximum size for an MMS message?

The size of this message type has no limit. This was done so that there were no problems encountered in SMS with a limit of 160 text characters. In order to clarify what MMS is, it is necessary to indicate that its value is generally dependent on communication technologies, while still depending on the mobile operator, which has the right to indicate the standard message size for calculating its cost.

Can I send MMS to a phone that doesn't support MMS?

MMS transmission to these types of mobile phones is supported by the TGW (Terminal Gateway). This system calculates the type of mobile device that receives the message and, without sending the message, saves it to a web page. Then an SMS message is sent to the mobile phone, which contains a link to the page of the Internet resource.

What changes are being made to the network for MMS to work?

It is possible that the telephone that is receiving the message will be disconnected or not in network coverage. Therefore, in order to store message data until the time of reception, it is desirable to turn to the newest network element - MMSC. The MMSC also has capabilities such as connecting to networks and application management functions, ensuring the operability of various other services.

Is it possible to send MMS to a phone with a monochrome display?

The main type is a color image. Based on this, a multi-colored phone system is required for full functionality. But there are several approaches for reproducing a color image on black and white phone models. If a mobile device with a black and white system supports MMS messages, then, in theory, it has the ability to receive multimedia, and images in different tones can be viewed on a black and white display.

Connecting MMS on a cellular connection "Beeline"

To connect MMS and GPRS-WAP, otherwise called the "Package of three services", you must perform the following steps:

• Call the number 06709181.
• Dial *101*181# on your mobile phone.

After activating this service, you need to restart the mobile device. After that, you need to change the settings. It is required to order them on the official Beeline portal or in the customer support service on this issue. Then, when the settings come in the form of an SMS notification, they must be saved and the mobile device restarted in order to register in the MMS system. And eventually send a multimedia service with any information to number 000, wait for a text message confirming the final activation of the service package.

In this article, we told you in detail what the decoding of SMS and MMS means. Such knowledge is necessary for any person who uses the Internet and cellular communications. Also, you now know how to send MMS.