Evaluate 2-way SMS providers & select best for my needs

We are a new service-based firm located in the USA that matches customers work needs with those capable of performing the job (laborers) using email and text alerts. Need a SMS expert, intimately familiar with the vendor landscape, to evaluate 2-way SMS gateway providers & select the best fit for our requirements. Only experts should reply! SMS is a commodity. I need to understand the finer details. A scorecard matrix must be created with my weighted requirements and selection criteria below. My weighted (1-5) requirements are as follows: 1. LOW COST (5) - 1,000 per month for 12 months of market testing. Scalable. Generous with app testing & market testing volume. 2. LOW VOLUME (4) - We will be market testing our service for 1 year in a small geographic location. It would be favorable if the vendor provides a long-term testing or market test period. I expect volume to be low - 1,000 SMS's per month to start but in needs to scale. 3. DELIVERY & RELIABILITY (4) - Delivery needs to be made in under 5 minutes. Reliable up time. [login to view URL] (4) - Web support is sufficient. 1 hour response time on web support. EVALUATION CREITERIA 1. RELATIONSHIP: we are a small business who will initially have low volume. We don't need 24x7 human support. We can get by with web-based support to start. But it is nice to know that support can scale as we grow (ie. Human). The ability to cancel service contract without penalty if performance and support becomes problematic. 1 year contract at most. I prefer a USA-based provider unless the selection criteria presents a compellng argument for international provider. 2. PERFORMANCE: SLA that includes guaranteed delivery and average delivery time under 5 minutes. 3. AVAILABILITY: Research should include the number and duration of outages over the last 12 months for each vendor and available SLAs around availability. It should be noted how the vendor will alert me in the event of downtime. 4. PRICING & PAYMENT: Since we are a start-up, keeping costs low is critical. Research and sort out complex pricing based on our requirements. Are there price breaks for volume (typically at monthly volumes, such as 1,000, 10,000, 100,000 and 1 million)? No short code rentals needed. Determine how and when the gateway vendor is paid. Does a credit model make more sense than consumption model? Which is a better value for 12 months of test marketing? Is PayPal gateway a payment option? 5. REMITTANCE. What are the pricing models for each operator in any country? What are the price points? What proportion of the revenue does the operator retain (which varies by price point) and the payment taken by the gateway vendor for processing the messages? Is there a minimum volume thresholds below which they don't pay out? 6. CARRIERS AND COVERAGE. How many operators does each vendor deliver to within the USA? What are the technical interfaces and APIs they provide? (The type of technical interfaces between providers and their operator partners can affect issues such as delivery performance and availability, so vendors may not all offer the same set of services or SLAs to any specific operator.) 7. SERVICE PORTFOLIO: 2-way SMS messaging with standard API set. 8. PROFESSIONAL SERVICES: What support options are provided? What time zones support staff are located in? What response time is guaranteed? What support options are available (e.g., Web forums, phone support and so on)? 9. TECHNICAL INTERFACES & INTEGRATION COST: NO need for encrypted channel to the gateway or very high volume transmissions needed. 10. LEGAL RiSKS: Ask prospective providers if they have any current bans or if they have been banned in the past, and, if so, by which operators, and how long it took to resolve the issue. Any outstanding lawsuits that might have a commercial impact? 11. FUTURE INNOVATION: Ensure that the service provider can support likely future needs. Ask if it has plans for new services that might be useful.