SMS
Technology & Computing abbreviation · Telecom
| Stands for | Short Message Service |
|---|---|
| Categories | Technology & Computing |
SMS stands for Short Message Service, a telecom abbreviation.
Standard text-messaging service on mobile phones, sending messages of up to 160 characters over the cellular network without needing internet access. Banks and websites also send verification codes and alerts by SMS.
Example: I'll send you the address by SMS in case your data isn't working.
Usage notes
Friedhelm Hillebrand and Bernard Ghillebaert developed the concept for GSM in the mid-1980s; Hillebrand settled on 160 characters after finding that most sentences and postcards fit within that length. Engineer Neil Papworth sent the first SMS, "Merry Christmas", from a computer to a Vodafone phone on December 3, 1992. Messages using emoji or non-Latin scripts are limited to 70 characters per segment. Security experts consider SMS codes a weak form of two-factor authentication because of SIM-swap fraud.
Related abbreviations
More telecom abbreviations
- RFID – Radio-frequency identification
- RJ11 – Registered Jack 11
- RSSI – Received signal strength indicator
- SAR – Specific absorption rate
- SDR – Software-defined radio
- SIM – Subscriber Identity Module
- T1 – Transmission System 1
- TDD – Time-division duplex
- TDMA – Time-division multiple access
- TTY – Teletypewriter (Unix terminal)
- UC – Unified communications
- UMTS – Universal Mobile Telecommunications System