SMS and GPRS are certainly not new, but I haven’t seen much discussion comparing/contrasting them, so I thought I would briefly summarize what I know about them here.

Location tracking devices that use one of the various cellular wireless networks will generally employ either SMS, GPRS, or sometimes both for communications.

SMS is best known as the communication approach used by teens around the world for “texting.”

GPRS provides the same IP communications protocols as the Internet on the cellular wireless networks — HTTP, TCP, UDP, etc.

There are some interesting trade-offs between these two communications methods.

SMS has limited message size, no more than about 160 bytes after headers, but this may not be a problem for most applications applications where the device simply sends location and a few other data items. Most service plans charge by the message, favoring infrequent (for example, once-per-day) reporting scenarios. But SMS messaging has more robust coverage and will continue to work on the fringe of rural coverage and other weak-signal scenarios when GPRS will not.

GPRS has many advantages: It supports standard IP protocols, so the same tools and infrastructure that have been built to support the Internet can be used in your GPRS-based solution. Also, lots of people are familiar with these technologies, so the pool of technical talent is large. Since most service plans charge “by the byte,” GPRS is probably a better choice for higher-frequency reporting scenarios (for example, hourly or whenever the device moves a certain distance). Typically, developers have more options to optimize and reduce cost with GPRS than they do with SMS.

The funny thing is that most carriers and most radios support both, but not all service plans and technical support for these options are equal. So, not only must you make the right technical choice based on the inherent merits of SMS and GPRS, you need to be sure your carrier supports your choice well.

Our very own Jeff Smith was recently written up in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s “Competitive Edge” special section. Read “Profiling the Competitive Edge: Jeff Smith.”

Our CEO, Jeff Smith, is headed to Chicago for the M2M United Conference where as a keynote speaker he will be hosting a series of 7 minute “ignite” presentations from many important players in the M2M industry. Should be a great presentation, don’t miss it if your attending M2M United.

Bryan Adams High School in east Dallas (Dallas traditionally having one of the worst graduation rates among large school districts) is trying a pilot program using GPS/cellular ankle bracelets to fight truancy among high-schoolers.

This of course is raising questions about the balance between privacy and the public good — which even the system manufacturer acknowledges: “You can paint this thing as either Big Brother, or this is a device that connects you to a buddy who wants to keep you safe and help you graduate.”

ComputerWorld has an excellent article on the rapidly increasing use of M2M and sensor technology in vehicles, especially in tractor-trailers and commercial shipping. It’s impressive to see how sensors are making their way into almost every aspect of tractor-trails, from load detection to location tracking to collision and rollover avoidance.

The biggest challenge of all? How to coordinate the data and alarms from the various independent systems.