Text Messaging

So many individuals are talking about text messaging without even knowing what it really means. Let us take a look at text messaging and see all the basics that are of interest to regular people. Text messaging (also known simply as texting) can be defined as a common term utilized for sending short text messages (160 characters or less) from one mobile phone to another with the use of Short Message Service (commonly known as SMS). Needless to say that the majority of cell phones around the world do have this function enabled and there are even PDAs (personal digital assistants) that have on-board wireless telecommunications with the possibility of sending SMS. Every single message that is sent is labeled with the term text message and some will also call them simply texts.

Text messaging is linked with SMS gateways, which do exist in order to connect the mobile SMS services with instant message services (IMS), desktop computers, some landline telephones that use speech synthesis and the Internet. Any device that can connect to a PDA or mobile phone through protocols like Bluetooth can even be utilized in some circumstances to send SMS messages over a wireless network. In the beginning text messaging was limited to the GSM protocol through SMS but we can now see that it is available on non-GSM systems as well.

As you can imagine, the most common application for text messaging stands in a person to person sending of messages process although they can be utilized in order to interact with automated systems as well. One good example stands in the possibility to order various products and services for your mobile phone with the use of SMS or even participating in contests. You are surely familiar with sending a SMS message to receive a given wallpaper or ringtone. Keep in mind that text messaging also allows different pay rates to be included. For instance, if you send a text massage in order to get one of those ringtones you might have to pay $1 instead of 5 cents (a theoretical price of one simple phone to phone text message). The good news is that there are some Internet locations that will allow users to send free text messages free of charge to the sender even if all North American networks will not charge the customers to receive any SMS message. Text messaging did change the world of mobile phones and is continuing to be an important factor in all cell phones.

Sending Text from Computer to Mobile Phones

There are different ways in which you can send text from computer to mobile phones and you should choose the one that is most suitable in your case. We must also think about the need that drives you to send such messages and the urgency involved. Then we must consider the possible costs and we can cover the topic perfectly. Let us see these aspects in order to have a proper grasp on sending text from computer to mobile phones.

First off we need to think about the purpose of sending these pieces of text. If you need to send a lot of text you can not opt for email to SMS for instance. This is the best alternative possible if you are looking for under 160 characters or you can even send more but it would mean fitting in more SMS messages. Consider the fact that you are usually allowed a fixed number of text messages with the use of sending online SMS and we are seeing everything a little complicated. We basically have two options that are highly popular: sending email to SMS and using online SMS web sites. Both are good for different needs. Also, one option that is highly overlooked stands in the fact that you can simply send an email to another email address and the mobile phone user can access the internet and check his email. This works best if you are looking to send text from computer to mobile phones and the actual message is very long and will not fit in several SMS text messages. If you are going for under 160 characters or up to 320 characters we do recommend using text from computer to mobile phones with the use of either email to SMS services or online SMS web sites. For larger text bits from computer to mobile phones we recommend sending regular email (if possible) and letting the individual know that he/she should check the email address.

Although sending text from computer to mobile phones is a great opportunity you must never neglect the factor of urgency. If the message is urgent you are better off making a regular call and you can even use the computer for that with software that uses voice over IP technology. One of the most popular options is Skype, of course, although you can also use other messengers like Yahoo Messenger. Be sure you check the rates and see whether or not you can also save some money in the process. If you can send text from computer then do so, if not and we are dealing with urgency, do not hesitate to make a regular phone call.

SMS via Email

Sending SMS via Email is one possibility that is growing in popularity and it is easy to understand why. We are dealing with a service that is usually free of charge and we all love that. Why send a regular SMS message that we have to pay for when we can do it for free with the use of an email address we already have? The only real problem stands in the fact that few people are aware of the possibility of sending SMS via email although people’s awareness is at a constant increase at the moment. So many are looking for web sites that are facilitating the process, although the basics are sometimes left out.

There are a lot of mobile phone carriers that do offer you the possibility of sending SMS via Email. We are dealing with a special domain name and one email address for each phone user. Technically speaking this is not entirely correct as we are basically dealing with a forwarding system. For instance, if you are going to send SMS via Email to T-Mobile you can do this by sending a regular email (maximum of 160 characters) to phonenumber@tmomail.net. The phone number in the example is of course the phone number of the receiver. You can thus send a regular email to that address and the service will forward everything to the mobile phone. Most large mobile phone carriers do have such services included and most of them are even free of charge. The reason behind this stands in the fact that in the past the receiver had to pay a fee for SMS messages received. With SPAM at its highest you can imagine the impact this could have had on one’s phone bill.

If you want to send SMS via Email you can also utilize the services of various web sites that will forward your emails as SMS to the desired recipient. This is used when the carrier does not provide such a free service and in most cases we are dealing with a paid service for the one that sends the Email. The good news is that it is usually cheaper than sending a regular SMS text message so the alternative is good. What you need to do in this case is simply do a good research prior to sending the messages so that you make sure that your expenses are reduced to a minimum.

Online SMS

There are a lot of individuals that are currently wondering if sending online SMS is possible or not and if it is safe enough to do without worrying about problems in the future. The answer to both questions can be considered: “usually yes”. We are talking about a “usually” here because there are also some problems that sometimes do appear with free online SMS services. There is a saying that nothing is free in life and people do tend to apply it to the world of online SMS. This is because there have been many problems in the past that lead to a strong debate whether or not this type of service should be allowed to exist or not. The good news is that technology did advance and now we are dealing with a completely safe environment for sending online SMS if we do it right.

Sending online SMS the right way basically moves around one thing: choosing the right web sites to do so. It is not as difficult as you might imagine but attention is required. The first thing that must come to mind is the fact that a lot of web sites will be asking for your mobile phone number as well and not only that of the receiver. This does seem logical but if the web site you are using is only asking it in order to obtain a list of working mobile phone numbers to sell for spam purposes in the future, then we have a problem. Since we do not want to do this we need to follow some rules in our research for online SMS web sites.

First off, message boards and forum topics on this problem do exist. People will recommend online SMS web sites and will share their experience with them. Also, you should first check to see whether or not your mobile phone carrier has such a system installed on an account you can have on their official or related web sites. A lot of carriers do have a number of free text messages you can send using their online location. This is highly recommended as you always know that these web sites are safe. Also, when dealing with any site that offers an unlimited amount of free online SMS messages, questions do appear. Just picture the fact that such a text message does cost money. Why would anyone give so many free of charge? Advertising present on the site is a possible answer but as popularity of that web site is growing it will be quite difficult to handle the bills. On the other hand, web sites that offer a fixed number of free online SMSs is the way to go. There are even paid sites that come with extremely cheap rates for sending online SMS and basically, there is a world of opportunity at your hands. The only trick is using the right web sites with the right features.

Email to SMS

Few people are aware of the possibility to send an Email to SMS message as it was not properly advertised so far. You can do this in two ways: either by using the services provided by your cell phone carrier (if possible) or by using special services available online. They will facilitate this task and you can easily send any Email to SMS. We are basically talking about a service that is intelligent and automated and will forward pieces of electronic information from any email account to a SMS enabled mobile device.

We are in need of a service that is powered by a wireless information server engine in most cases. A good Email to SMS service is one that is capable of analyzing millions of messages and then utilizes an intelligence engine to route them to the mobile device that the account owner will specify. When you are looking for a service that allows Email to SMS transfers you will see that a lot of possible servers are available, based on the service used. You should at least be allowed to access a server that utilizes POP and SMTP and maybe add a good and free web email client. Protection against SPAM is always a good added plus because we are living in a world that is highly centered round SPAM, especially when talking about email. Extra features must also focus on the analysis of email and the actual forwarding system while web 2 SMS standards must be respected together with the presence of scheduling and calendaring, which can be very useful if you are planning to send many Emails to SMS.

There are different web sites on the Internet that allow you to send Emails to SMS and all of them try to offer various advantages to users. There are even some that are free although we do recommend the paid services due to the simple reason that they are a whole lot better. Security is also a lot better and you do want your personal data to be safe at all times no matter what you are doing. Email to SMS account setup usually takes around 5 minutes and then you will get the option of paying or there will be a lack of payment, all based on the type of web site you are going to use. All you have to do now is to research some web sites and sign up to the ones that will suit your needs.