A customer central location (CCL) communicates with multiple remote
wireless devices employing mutually incompatible data formats or short
message service (SMS) protocols. A communication, from the CCL to a remote
device or from a remote device to the CCL, passes through a short message
arbitrator (SMA), which determines the identifying characteristic(s) of
the device receiving the communication. From the identifying
characteristic(s), the short message arbitrator determines the expected
data format and the transmission path to the device. The SMA converts the
communication into the expected data format and transmits the
communication over the appropriate transmission path.
