A SHORT Messaging System (SMS) program that enables users to set up their own SMS server and receive emails and other information is now available as customised software, according to developer Technomation Studios.

The software, called “My Tool Kit”, works by networking a GSM mobile phone with a computer. Users are then able to check and send emails and access information on their phone if they are within the network range, said Ko Htoo Myint Naung, chief executive officer of Technomation Studios.

“The advantages of the software are that there’s no need to install and exchange server, which requires a large financial investment, and that it can send and receive messages in not only English but also Myanmar language,” he said.

Data is sent between the phone and the computer by SMS, he said. “For example, if a customer requests a current price of a particular commodity by sending an SMS from a GSM mobile phone connected to the server, the phone will transfer the enquiry to the “My Tool Kit” software, which can then find the information, in this case the price of a commodity, in the computer.

“Then the software automatically responds to the customer’s phone by sending SMS,” he said, adding that once it has been set up, the whole process only takes about 10 seconds – with the software able to find the requested information in a few milliseconds.

Sending and receiving emails – from web-mails such as gmail, yahoo mail and hotmail or bagan mail and mpt mail – was also relatively straightforward, he said.

“The customer inserts the sender and receiver e-mail addresses, the subject, text and press send from the mobile phone and the software connects to the server computer. Then, the computer connects to the internet and sends the email,” he said.

“If you want to read your mail on the mobile screen, all you need to do is insert you login name and password into the “My Tool Kit” software,” he added.

While the software can send and read e-mails in both English and Myanmar languages, they can only be text, with no provision for attachments such as pictures.

He said the server computer should be at least a Pentium III and the software can run on Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP operation systems. He said installing the software does not affect any functions of the mobile phone or the computer.

Technomation Studios will distribute the program as customised software for clients and so the price will vary according to the level of redevelopment required to meet customers’ requests, Ko Htoo Myint Naung said.