What is SMSC?

SMSC is an abbreviation for the words Short Message Service Centre. An SMSC provides a number of services, in particular the regulation of the transfer of text messages between mobile phones. When a user sends a text message (SMS message) to a recipient, the phone actually sends the message to the SMSC. The SMSC stores the message and then delivers it to the destination recipient when they are available. The SMSC usually has a configurable time limit for how long it will store the message, and the user can usually specify a shorter time limit if they want.

Additionally the message centre will take care of any charging that needs to take place. Generally speaking there is at least one Short Message Service Centre (SMSC) per network. For bulk transmission and reception of SMS messages, SMSC's have conventional, fixed, network interfaces as well as mobile network interfaces. A number of protocols have been defined to support this sort of wire-line access. SMPP is the most commonly used of these protocols.