P2P (Person-to-Person) Messaging
What is Person-to-Person Messaging?
P2P SMS is the act of sending text messages from one user to another which means that an SMS message travels between two mobile subscribers. Person-to-Person (P2P) generally refers to the messaging traffic exchange that is typical of human-to-human communications as opposed to application-based communications services.
P2P messaging is generally defined as two-way messaging between two humans. This could be messages between friends on mobile phones, or messages connecting two people using BSG’s RESTful API as a conduit.
P2P messages are generally:
- Two-way
- Used by individuals, not for commercial use
- Conversational only
In some countries, P2P messaging may cover some application-mediated communications, such as texting between customer and support agent conversations and between two users via a proxy number, or messages to and from a delivery or ride-hailing driver.
What’s the difference between P2P and A2P SMS messaging?
P2P (person-to-person) messaging is individuals sending texts to each other from one mobile device to another.
A2P (application to person) messages are sent from software or a system and this is usually from a business to an individual.
P2P messaging isn’t restricted to just SMS, it also includes all the other Over-the-top messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, iMessage, etc.
SMS is often referred to as P2P when compared with A2P (Application-to-person) messaging. Mobile networks treat P2P and A2P traffic differently in terms of the type and volume of traffic permitted.
