Google Voice and Mighty Text

I recently added two services that not only work as expected, they compliment each other nicely.

The first is Google Voice. Voice has been around a long time and I tried it before and liked it but for some reason when I changed cell providers I never bothered to reset this up. Well the other day I had reason to do so. If you're like me you don't listen to your voice mail, you simply see the number that called and call the person back. Well the other day I need to listen to a message and when I called my AT&T voicemail I had to listen to 20 messages before I could listen to the one I needed. Frustrated I remembered with the lite version of google voice your voicemails will be transcribed into text messages and emails (with the sound file attached). I signed up, followed the instructions to associate my AT&T account with google voice and was off and running and it works great. Now I only signed up for the lite version so I kept my existing phone number and all my calls and texting work as they as they always have, but I'm still a happy camper.

The second personal shortcoming I needed to address was my inability to manage my phone. At any given time I only have a 50/50 chance of actually having my phone on my person. The rest of the time it's in my jacket pocket, the pants I wore yesterday, the laundry, the car... Anywhere but actually with me. To make matters worse, if it is with me there's a good chance it's either dead or dying. You would think that as important as my phone is to my business I would do better. And I am. This is actually a major improvement for me. In the past I've had to buy new phones to replace lost ones. Ones that may or may not have turned up weeks later. The good news was if I missed a call I would now get a text and an email. The bad news was I wasn't always in front of my personal email account and I could still miss an important text from a client. Enter Mightytext. Mightytext is an android app that ties the text functions (sms and mms) to your google account. I installed the app on my phone and installed the chrome extension in my browser, and then the magic began. I received a call from a client... and before my phone even started ringing I had an alert in my browser that Greg was calling. My phone was in the car so it went to voicemail. I received an alert in my browser with the text of the message and the ability to play the message. I did and needed to let Greg know I'd be on my way in 10 minutes. No need to run out to the car I used Mightytext to respond from my browser. Not only could I do that I could see all the text conversions from my phone and respond as needed. Later when I got home I threw the phone on the bed and went off and left it to mysteriously bury itself in the covers. That evening I got an alert in my browser that my battery was about to die. I turned and looked around the room without a clue where this dying phone might be but guess what, from mighty text I could ring my phone. Nifty. This means I don't have to Facebook message my spouse, my friends, or random acquaintances if I need someone to call my phone because it's missing. That night as I was reading a book I wondered if there was a Mightytext app for tablets... There is. Now I can send and receive texts from my tablet and don't have to switch devices. I almost installed Tablet talk but the tie in with chrome really sets Mightytext apart and the ability to get my voicemails as text messages through Voice makes it that much more valuable.

Quick Launch on Windows 7

I like to use multiple quicklaunch toolbars. Personally I find this quicker than finding the program I want in the start menu. C:\Users\(user-name)\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch

sending sms(text messages) from the computer

The subject has come up from a few clients recently. The question is: "Can I send my friend a text message from my computer." The answer: "Yes" with caveats and multiple options and conditions.

Like most things on the computer there are multiple ways to accomplish this (should be) simple task. There are standalone software packages for both low volume and bulk sending. Websites for the same. And, for the purposes of this discussion, I'm going to cover sending these messages from email. You can use what everever client you like (webmail, thunderbird, outlook, etc.) the process is generally the same. Simply address the message to the phone number @ the carriers sms gateway domain. For example; 2705551234@txt.att.net. (the gateway address are listed below)

Now for the caveats.

1. This method should be limited to low volume use only. Sending a message to the dozen members of your posse every friday night shouldn't be a problem. Sending daily updates to the several thousand contacts you have will get you blocked from using the gateway in no time flat. If that's your purpose, you need to read the next caveat and then look into using a bulk sms service (more on that later).
2. This method can end you up in jail with a new boyfriend named bubba. First this may be an exageration. Second this warning applies to all methods of sending unsolicited SMS. It maybe a violation of a variety of state and federal regulations and could subject you to civil and criminal penalties. At the very least, limit your recipients to people you know, or, better yet, obtain explicit permission to contact the recipient via sms. The explicit permission part applies doubly if your messages are commercial in nature.
3. You may end up costing the recipient money. Again, this applies to all methods of sending SMS messages. Most carriers (all that i know of) charge a per message fee unless the recipient is paying for unlimited messaging. Remember this is SMS, not twitter. Your mom may appriciate the hourly updates from you first month in college until she gets the $96 text messaging charge. (1 msg/hr x 16hrs /day x 30 days x .20/message).
4. Message length is limited. Partially applies to all methods. SMS messages are limited to 160 characters. When sending from email, remember your signature and subject count. Strip the signature out of the message and leave the subject blank or very short. When sending a message from email its tempting to "think email." Don't. Your fingers may not be cramped and you may not have to hit the 7 key 4 times to get an S but pretend you do. Keep it short. Use all the text messaging abbreviations you would normally use. Depending on the carrier, extra long messages may be broken into multiple messages or the excessive length may just be dropped.
5. The recipient can not reply. The message they recieve comes from the sms gateway, not from your phone. Replies are lost in the ether. Limit the messages you send this way to notifications, not conversations.
6. You can be blocked. The phone companies maintain blacklists just like all other ISPs. End up on it and messages from you email address will end up blocked. Some carriers will send back an undeliverable message. Some wont.
7. You have to know the provider. fonefinder Because people can now transfer numbers from one carrier to another, the online lookups do not always work.
   
   Cell Phone Number
   Area Code Prefix 7th digit
   
   
   
   
   

from http://www.sms411.com/
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.comExample: 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.comExample: 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.comExample: 2125551212@teleflip.com
More information on Teleflip

Note: Teleflip appears to be defunct. Too bad this was an excellent service and should have been supported by the carriers.