Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better for use with mCore™? GSM Modem or GSM Phone handset?

mCore™ is designed to work with any GSM Modem that complies with ETSI specification GSM 07.05 and supports sending of text messages in PDU mode using AT Commands. There are a large number of good GSM Modems available in the market (e.g. Wavecom, Siemens, Ericsson, Falcom, Nokia etc) which can be used with mCore™ without any problems.

GSM Phone handsets, that have a built in modem and supports AT Commands, can also be used with mCore™, however, if it the SMS application has to run for longer durations or the application has to send large number of messages then we recommend using GSM Modems because:

GSM Phones normally run on battery power and no phone manufacturer recommends that the phone should be connected to battery charger continuously.
GSM Phone handsets get heated up when they are used for sending large number of messages in sequence.
GSM Modems normally run directly from power source and have a more robust design in terms of heat dissipation and heavy duty usage.
Some GSM Phone handsets like Nokia do not support AT Commands directly and require the installation of Nokia Data Suite or the appropriate modem driver driver (if using Infrared port), which creates a virtual serial port.

Which GSM Modem is best for using with mCore™?

mCore™ can work well with any GSM Modem that complies with ETSI specification GSM 07.05 and supports sending of text messages in PDU mode using AT Commands. Although we have not tested with all the modems available in the market, but, mCore™ has been tested to work successfully with the following GSM Modems:

Falcom Twist
Siemens MC35i, TC35i
Nokia N30, 6610, 7250, 7210, 8310, 8210, N32
Wavecom Fastrack M1206B, M1306B

Can GSM Phones or Modems that connect to the computer through USB Port or Infrared Device or Bluetooth Interface be used with mCore™?

Yes, you can use mCore™ with GSM Modems that connect to the computer through USB Port (using Serial to USB concerter cable) or Infrared device or Bluetooth interface. For all these type of modems the Port property in mCore™ should be set to the virtual serial port used by the modem.

Will sending of receiving of messages become faster if multiple object instances of mCore™ are created in a program to send receive messages simultaneously through the same serial port (or virtual serial port)?

mCore™ object instance opens a serial port exclusively for itself. Therefore if a application tries to send/receive messages using multiple object instances of mCore™ through same modem connected to a serial port, the object instance that is connected later will trigger a error.

Note: There is no problem in using multiple object instances of mCore™ to send and/or receive messages simultaneously through different modems connected to different serial ports.

How to troubleshoot if the GSM Modem is not communicating with your mCore™ application?

This can be done in following different ways:

Use the mCore™ demo application to check if it can read the modem parameters etc.
Use the Windows Hyperterminal to connect to the GSM Modem. Select the appropriate serial port and communication parameters (BaudRate, DataBits etc). Type the command 'AT' and hit enter key. The modem should respond back with 'OK' if the communication is correct.
Use the DebugMode of mCore™ to see if there is any communication error with the GSM Modem. Also set the LogType property to value 2 and analyze the log file entries to find out the communication failure reason.

Why do I get communication error although a GSM Modem/Phone is connected to the serial port?

This can happen due to many factors as given below:

Ensure that the modem power is switched ON.
The serial cable used to connect to the phone or modem is not proper. You can verify this by trying to connect to the modem using Windows Hyperterminal and sending AT command to the modem. The modem should respond with a OK
Although most GSM modems and phones available in the market today have auto-bauding capability i.e. they can automatically adjust their baudrate but it is not the case with all GSM modems and phones. Therefore it is essential to match the baudrate setting of the GSM phone/modem and the baudrate setting of mCore™ object. Communication errors will be triggered if the baudrate setting of the modem/phone is not same as the baudrate setting of mCore™ object. Try with different baudrates (and maybe different parity, databits and stopbits settings).
If you are connected using Infrared or Bluetooth, through virtual serial port, then ensure that the Infrared port or the Bluetooth device is enabled. Refer your computer hardware manual to know how to enable Infrared port or Bluetooth device feature in your computer. Also you must ensure that you have set the correct value for the Port property. Refer to virtual serial ports section for more details.

Can mCore™ be used with CDMA Modem?

No. Not yet!

How to troubleshoot if messages are not reaching the recipient?

If a message is not reaching its recipient, it could be because of many reasons. To diagnose the exact cause, do the following:

Check if the SIM card has sufficient credit for sending SMS. Check if you can send SMS manually using the same SIM on a GSM phone.
Check if the GSM network signal level available in the area where the modem is located, and is stable.
Check if you are able to send text messages using the demo application delivered with mCore™.
Check if there is any error while sending the text message using mCore™ (check ErrorCode and ErrorDescription properties).
Set the DebugMode property to True, to get a popup error message if there is any error.
If there is no error generated then check if the SMSC property has been set correctly.
Set the LogType property to value 2 and try sending the message again. If the message is till not going out then analyze the log file entries. Send us a copy of it to help you troubleshoot.

Why do some characters get displayed as '?' (question mark) in the recipient's phone screen?

One of the following reasons can cause this problem:

If you use 7-bit default alphabet encoding and the text message contains characters that is not defined in 7-bit default alphabets, they will be replaced by '?' (question mark) symbol.
If you have used 8-bit character encoding and any of the character used in the message has a code that is more than 8-bits.
If you use 16-bit Unicode and the particular character codepage is not supported by the recipient's phone.

How to distribute mCore™?

mCore.dll ActiveX Component is the only file required to distribute mCore™ across computer systems. Copy it to any location (e.g. Windows System32 directory or your application directory) and register it as ActiveX component in the registry (e.g. using regsvr32 utility or other tool that your installer provides).