Summary: Well, let's clear one thing up right away: cell phone text messaging, or "SMS" text messaging, is not the same as instant messaging on your computer. They're two very different systems.
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Can a computer (laptop or desktop) text message a cell phone, and can a cell phone text message a computer? If so, how? |
Well, let's clear one thing up right away: cell phone text messaging, or "SMS" text messaging, is not the same as instant messaging on your computer. They're two very different systems.
That doesn't mean all is lost, however. There are some things you can do. How much depends mostly on the cellular provider, and the type of phone you have.
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SMS Text Messaging
SMS stands for Short Message Service, and is designed specifically for cell phones.
You can usually send an SMS message to a cell phone via email. Most of the cell phone providers have a special email address or domain that you can send a message to, which then gets forwarded as a text message to the cell phone. For example with Verizon in the U.S., you can email ##########@vtext.com, where "##########" is replaced with the 10 digit cellular number, and that message will get sent as a text message to that phone. Other carriers typically have some type of equivalent and/or a web page from which you can send a text message to one of their phones.
Important: remember that this is a Short message service ... usually only up to a certain number of characters of your message will be sent. Some providers will simply truncate your message if it's too long, others will break it up into multiple messages. Others might well discard, or bounce the message back to you. Check with the provider in question.
The reverse may also work. Again, using Verizon I was able to send a message via SMS on my phone to my email address.
In all cases, remember that this is email based, and that response times may be significantly longer as people do, or do not, check their email.
Instant Messaging
IM services, like AOL's AIM, MSN's Instant Messenger and the others are all designed as what I'll call "computer to computer" services. They all kinda sorta assume that you've got a computer of some sort. Fair enough.
Many cell phones these days pretty much are computers. Many cellphones run things like the Palm operating system, or a version of Windows.
And many have internet capability.
So, it stands to reason that one might be able to find an instant messaging client for your cell phone. In my case, using my Treo and an unlimited data access plan from Verizon, I'm able to run the Mundu IM instant messaging client and chat using my MSN Instant Messenger account, or my AOL Instant Messenger account.
The big caveat here is that you must have an internet capable cell phone and have signed up for an internet data plan of some sort.
Related:
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I Love My Treo I geek out a little and gush about my Treo ... from the pasture?
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Leo Notenboom (personal blog) - What's on my Treo?
Article C2575 - February 28, 2006
I want to send group massage
Posted by: kamya william at August 2, 2009 9:24 PMTexting from a computer to a cell phone what is the address for AT&T
Posted by: Bob at August 13, 2009 11:17 AM##########@ What is AT&T.com
Bulk SMS best provider for sending text messaging worldwide from pc to cellphone
Posted by: sathesh at August 21, 2009 11:18 PMOkay..this information is great, but i need a site that will actually work, unlike yahoo...
Posted by: taylor johnson at August 26, 2009 7:28 PMThere are many websites available for sending online message..I have already tried couple of the.
http://www.smsfi.com
Posted by: Rmal at August 31, 2009 4:25 AMhttp://www.mginger.com
what about sms gateway to Revol wireless?
Posted by: Ricky at September 15, 2009 12:07 PMTry Free texts from UKTXT.co.uk works great for me. Definitely recommend it.
Posted by: Swyft at September 24, 2009 9:41 AMHow to send email to a phone
SMS isn't just for sending text messages from one phone to another -- it's also a great way to get email messages on your phone.
Yes, you can get email on your phone! All you need to know is your cell phone's email address.
Most carriers have "SMS gateways" which take email messages from the Internet and deliver them to their customers' cell phones as SMS text messages. The trick is that you need to know what carrier the recipient's phone is on -- it's not enough to know their phone number. That's because the carrier determines what the email address of the receiving phone is going to be. For example, Cingular phones' address are all "something@cingularme.com" while Verizon phones are "something@vtext.com."
Sound complicated? It's not. All you really need to do is find your carrier in the list below, and then use the pattern shown there to figure out your email address. If you want to send email to a friend's phone, just ask them which carrier they use, and off you go!
(Note: For each carrier, I'll include a link to a page with more detailed information on how SMS works with that carrier, how much it costs, and where you can find more information. In the list below, just click any carrier's highlighted name to find out more.)
Alltel
[10-digit phone number]@message.alltel.com
Example: 2125551212@message.alltel.com
AT&T (formerly Cingular)
[10-digit phone number]@txt.att.net
Example: 2125551212@txt.att.net
Boost Mobile
[10-digit phone number]@myboostmobile.com
Example: 2125551212@myboostmobile.com
Nextel (now part of Sprint Nextel)
[10-digit telephone number]@messaging.nextel.com
Example: 7035551234@messaging.nextel.com
Sprint PCS (now Sprint Nextel)
[10-digit phone number]@messaging.sprintpcs.com
Example: 2125551234@messaging.sprintpcs.com
T-Mobile
[10-digit phone number]@tmomail.net
Example: 4251234567@tmomail.net
Verizon
[10-digit phone number]@vtext.com
Example: 5552223333@vtext.com
Virgin Mobile USA
[10-digit phone number]@vmobl.com
Example: 5551234567@vmobl.com
Note: If all this seems complicated, there's an easier way to send email to any phone, no matter what its carrier. Just address it to [10-digit phone number]@teleflip.com
Posted by: Max Powers at September 27, 2009 4:43 PMExample: 2125551212@teleflip.com
More information on Teleflip
here is a good vid on it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMG1a0j9p2o
Posted by: Pete at October 11, 2009 3:03 PMI've been able to type my to-do lists (grocery lists, reminders, etc) on my PC and then have it sent to my cell phone as a SMS internet link. Selecting that link will open it up in the cell phone's internet browser.
The beauty of it is that you're not limited to SMS' short character limit. Yes, you must have internet capability on your cell phone, but it is a convenient free product - http://lists2go.mobi
I use it whenever I'm going shopping and don't want to forget my list. After all, I always have my cell phone with me.
Posted by: Tami at November 13, 2009 2:48 PM