SMS
Enable an AI agent to recognise an SMS communication, assess its delivery and handling state, and determine which messaging actions are appropriate.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
6 bundles · 11 layers · 19 findings · 29 questions
SMS service boundary Establishes the intended meaning of SMS and the transport identity of each communication.
SMS sense and instance
Separates the registered concept from particular messages and messaging activities.
Interpretation of SMS
Record the evidence supporting Short Message Service as the intended registry sense and identify the unit being assessed.
- Does the registry intend Short Message Service, and what source establishes that expansion? definition
- Is the instance a logical SMS message, a transmitted segment, a sending event or a conversation containing SMS? boundary
Transport and fallback
Identifies SMS use when interfaces or providers expose several messaging services.
Transport evidence
Record how the transport was identified and whether fallback changed the service used.
- Which message metadata, provider record or device observation identifies this transmission as SMS? provenance
- Did this message switch between SMS and another service, and which model owns each transmission? boundary
SMS parties and routing Connects observed SMS addresses to intended parties and usable communication routes.
Origin and destination
Distinguishes addressing information from party identity.
Address-to-party binding
Record the sender and recipient address forms, their claimed owners and the freshness of verification.
- What originating and destination addresses are observed, and which people or organisations are they claimed to represent? definition
- What evidence links the destination to the intended recipient now, and could reassignment or shared access undermine that link? provenance
Reply and conversation
Determines whether an SMS can support a response and how it relates to prior messages.
Reply route validity
Record whether replies are supported and whether the apparent conversation corresponds to a verified route.
- Can this originating address receive a reply, and what evidence establishes where that reply will go? provenance
- Should the agent reply by SMS, use a separately verified contact route or leave the message unanswered? action
SMS payload and segments Tracks how intended message content becomes transmitted and received SMS segments.
Text representation
Assesses the relationship between composed content and its encoded representation.
Encoding and content fidelity
Record the selected encoding and any transformation affecting the intended text.
- Which encoding will the route use, and how does the actual text affect its estimated segment count? measurement
- Will any character substitution, truncation or provider transformation change a name, URL, code or instruction? boundary
Multipart integrity
Relates a logical message to its component segments and received assembly.
Segment completeness
Record expected and observed segments, their ordering and evidence that the logical message is complete.
- How many segments were expected, submitted and observed as received, and which are missing or duplicated? measurement
- If only part of the message is available, can its instruction be interpreted safely or must the agent seek the complete message? action
SMS delivery and recovery Interprets SMS status evidence and governs responses to delay, failure and uncertainty.
Delivery evidence
Preserves the meaning, source and timing of each reported lifecycle event.
Status semantics
Record provider status labels alongside their documented meanings and the conclusions they support.
- What does each observed status mean for this provider, and which system generated it? provenance
- Does the evidence establish acceptance, endpoint delivery or human acknowledgement, and what remains unobserved? boundary
Expiry, retry and fallback
Connects delivery uncertainty to message usefulness and duplicate risk.
Recovery decision
Record the useful lifetime of the content, retry history and authorised alternatives.
- When does this message become stale, and could a delayed delivery still prompt an incorrect action? measurement
- Given prior submissions and uncertain delivery, should the agent wait, retry, stop or use another authorised channel? action
SMS permission and trust Assesses whether an SMS may be sent or acted upon and how its content should be handled.
Purpose and recipient permission
Connects sending authority and recipient preferences to the particular communication.
Send and suppression basis
Record the purpose, applicable permission evidence and any request to stop relevant messages.
- What authorises this SMS to this recipient for this purpose, and where is that evidence recorded? provenance
- Does a withdrawal, suppression instruction or unresolved permission question require the agent to stop this send? action
Sensitive content and deception
Evaluates message handling and requested actions without assuming the displayed sender establishes trust.
Content handling and verification
Record sensitive payloads, suspicious requests and independent evidence needed before acting.
- Does the SMS contain an authentication code, private information, a link or a request for money or credentials that changes how it should be handled? boundary
- Before following its instructions or disclosing its contents, what independent verification or explicit authority does the agent need? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Check these first
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these check these first hold for the sense of SMS this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Kinds and varieties
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of SMS this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of SMS this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of SMS this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of SMS this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of SMS this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of SMS this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of SMS this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of SMS this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Activities and processes
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- ACT
- Domain
- ACT.ACT
- Other names and narrower kinds
- Emergency Alerts, cell broadcast, premium SMS, location-based SMS, GPS2SMS, Emergency Cell Broadcast System
What it is Filled
SMS (Short Message Service) is a standardized telecommunications service for exchanging short text and other limited payloads between mobile subscribers and service applications, using network infrastructure that supports store-and-forward delivery.
In scope
- Identification of a communication as SMS and its relationship to a wider conversation
- Sender identity, recipient addressing and reply routing
- Message content, encoding, segmentation and reassembly
- Submission, delivery evidence, failure, expiry and retry decisions
- Purpose, recipient permission, sensitive content and abuse handling
Out of scope
- MMS, RCS, email and internet messaging services beyond their boundaries with SMS
- Mobile network infrastructure and telecommunications protocol implementation
- Handset hardware and messaging application design
- Marketing campaign strategy beyond the handling of individual SMS communications
- Authentication systems beyond the role and handling of an SMS message
- Other expansions of the acronym SMS
Why it exists Filled
Enable an AI agent to recognise an SMS communication, assess its delivery and handling state, and determine which messaging actions are appropriate.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Identify SMS through transport or provider evidence; a short text or chat-style interface alone does not establish that the communication is SMS.
- Distinguish the user-visible message from its transmitted segments and determine whether several segments represent one logical message.
- Separate submission acceptance, delivery evidence and evidence of human reading; one state must not be substituted for another.
- Distinguish an originating address or displayed sender label from a verified person or organisation.
- Identify when a messaging application changes transport between SMS and another service, even within the same conversation.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Send bulk or marketing SMS without the recipients' consent.
- Send messages that impersonate banks, authorities or other senders.
- Read or forward someone else's SMS without their consent or a lawful order.
- Rely on SMS one-time codes as strong protection where it is known to be weak.
Only with a human decision
- Sending messages to many recipients at once.
- Sending messages on someone's behalf that commit them to anything.
May
- Send SMS messages on a user's instruction to recipients who have agreed to receive them.
- Report delivery status and errors for messages it sent.
Moral aspects Filled
- SMS is a main vector for fraud and phishing.
- Messages hold private content and reveal who talks to whom.
Who is affected
- Mobile users
- Elderly people targeted by scams
- Recipients of bulk messages
Owners Filled
Steward
The sender for the message; the mobile operator for the network service.
Master systems
- Mobile network subscriber records
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q7406919 - registry parent class
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.sms
- Wikidata: Q43024 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q43024)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- Transport classification: SMS confirmed | SMS reported | mixed transport | other transport | unknown
- Communication purpose: personal conversation | service notification | authentication | promotion | other | unknown
- Address and identity relationship: Observed originating and destination addresses linked to claimed or verified parties, with evidence and time
- Reply capability: reply route verified | reply route reported | replies unsupported | unknown
- Encoding: Detected or provider-reported SMS encoding | unknown
- Segment count: Number of estimated, submitted and received segments, recorded separately
- Message lifecycle: draft | queued | submitted | accepted | delivery reported | failed | expired | indeterminate
- Evidence age: Elapsed seconds since the latest relevant status observation
- Recipient permission: documented for this purpose | withdrawn | disputed | unknown | applicability unresolved
- Content sensitivity: ordinary | personal | confidential | authentication secret | unassessed
Plane ACT: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- A short text message in a phone's messaging app with a phone number or short sender name.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Classify a communication as SMS using available transport evidence.
- Prepare a message and assess encoding, segmentation and recipient routing before submission.
- Send an authorised message through an established SMS route and preserve submission evidence.
- Reconcile segment and delivery reports while retaining uncertainty about human receipt.
- Decide whether to retry, escalate or use another authorised channel when delivery remains unresolved.
- Reply, suppress further messages or flag suspected abuse when the route, evidence and authority support that action.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Phishing and fraud messages.
- Interception of one-time codes through number takeover.
- Lost or delayed messages.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- 3GPP TS 23.040, Technical realization of the Short Message Service, 3rd Generation Partnership Project.
Context of use required Filled
- SMS is used for short person-to-person messages and automated communications addressed to telephone numbers.
- Common uses include service notifications, appointment reminders, and verification messages.
- Its store-and-forward operation allows delivery to be attempted when a recipient becomes reachable, although timely delivery is not guaranteed.
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q43024: SMS - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: SMS - general description of the item
Open questions
- Does vr.tr.sms mean Short Message Service, an individual SMS message or another expansion, and how should its ACT placement constrain ownership?
- Does an existing Vercy world model already cover SMS or mobile messaging, requiring this entry to link to that model?
- Which authoritative specifications and provider documents should establish encoding, segment limits, supported payload types and delivery-status semantics?
- Should binary or application-directed SMS be included in this model, or does the intended registry scope cover only human-readable messaging?
- Which jurisdictional, provider and organisational requirements apply to permission, sender identification, retention and suppression for the intended uses?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q43024/spec.json