TynTec and their secure SMS services

Last week I posted a note about TynTec’s new secure SMS services for the banking and financial services sector.   The post received quite a lot of comments questionning the technology, so I contacted TynTec’s Manuela Marques to ask her to read the comments and email me a response. 

I’m delighted that she took the time to do so:

First of all, thanks for the comments posted in the blog. Secondly, I have to say that there is no ‘PR bull” in what we are saying: having SS7 connectivity as TynTec has makes a huge difference to the so called ‘aggregators”, tier 1 or not. It is important to know here the clear difference between an SMS provider who operates through aggregation and through SS7.

Aggregators route SMS messages by using the infrastructure and SS7 signaling of mobile operators through several direct connections. These agreements with mobile operators are needed to have access into the SS7 connectivity, what is fundamental to route not only SMS, but several types of mobile data.  The connections between aggregators and mobile operators are made on an individual basis, increasing complexity and cost, as well as creating a hassle in terms of control and visibility in message routing.

Aggregators route SMS messages into and out of the operator’s SMS infrastructure (SMS-Centre), and from there only the operator has visibility and control over the message. This means that aggregators can guarantee the delivery of messages only till the operator’s SMS-Centre, not the mobile device. Operator’s SMS-Centres tend to, however, perform delays and/or lose messages, not being able to guarantee delivery of messages nor providing Service Level Agreements (SLA) for a high quality SMS routing. Therefore, aggregators cannot guarantee delivery of messages.

For mission-critical corporate applications, such mobile banking, it is important to combine the flexibility of an independent service provider with SS7 access. TynTec has access to SS7 through its partnerships with Manx Telecom (Isle of Man), Digicel (Jamaica) and Alands Mobiltelefon (Finland), as well as having a proprietary SMS-Centre to route the messages. TynTec is able to keep control and visibility from end-to-end, because it uses no third parties in the delivery process.

SS7 access is mandatory to provide reliability, security and scalability for mobile business applications as it is necessary to route corporate data in a secure way and to ensure its delivery.  Therefore, as mobile banking requires a high level of reliability and confidentiality, TynTec provides a high level service, guaranteeing delivery of messages and secure path between sender and recipient.

For more information on our services, please visit our website at www.tyntec.com

Best regards,

Manuela
TynTec Ltd.

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Manuela, thanks for taking the time to write this response.