Pulse (News - Alert) Inc., a supplier of enabling technologies for next-generation networks, announced today at ITEXPO West 2010, it will supply Hypermedia Systems’ Pro HG-7000 SMS Gateway (News - Alert) Series to the U.S. Social Security Administration so that authorized users can gain secure access to its website via SMS messaging.

Officials with Pulse said that two-factor SMS authentication combines robust security with the convenience and simplicity of mobile devices and SMS messages. 

A user looking to gain remote access simply submits a request for a unique password - which is delivered via SMS to the user’s authorized phone. 

According to company officials, SMS authentication can be centrally managed; it offers a number of security advantages over basic user name and password access; and the technology can be easily tailored to provide identity protection for all types of remote access.

“The use of SMS as a security and authentication technology is gaining popularity because it is extremely convenient for end users, and it’s much more affordable than distributing and maintaining hardware-based token systems,” said Salvatore Costantino, president of Pulse, in a statement.

Costantino said that the company has been working with Hypermedia for several years to provide SMS gateways, and the company is seeing increased demand for the technology offered by these types of authentication systems.   

Hypermedia’s HG-7000 gateways route voice calls, video calls and SMS between GSM, fixed line ISDN, and IP networks in a single centralized telephone system.The gateways integrate with any PBX (News - Alert) or IP-PBX, through ISDN BRI, T0/S0, ISDN PRI (E1/T1), R2, T2/S2 ISDN, RDSI and VoIP (SIP, H323) interfaces. Each gateway can scale from 4-to-72 GSM channels per system, with up to 6 messages per-minute, per-channel. 

Company officials also noted that by implementing Hypermedia's SMS Gateways onsite, the U.S. Social Security’s East Coast offices are delivering two-factor SMS-based authentication services to their employees and customers via the GSM network. The successful deployment includes multiple sites and numerous users across the U.S. 

With the solution in place, the Agency has been able to comply with standards and keep the costs manageable without inconveniencing users, said company officials.According to company officials, Hypermedia's SMS Pro gateway technology has also eliminated the need for third-party ASP or SMSC aggregators. 

Anil Sharma is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Anil’s articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Stefania Viscusi