Even simple mobile phones can have features beyond voice calls. For example, some calling plans allow the phone user to send and receive SMS text messages, browse the Internet, or find their way with GPS. My wireless carrier gave me a free, simple little phone and it can do all of those things.

This how-to is about text messaging – but from email to a mobile phone, not phone to phone.

You don’t have your cell phone with you? You have your phone but reception is terrible? You can still text message someone if you have a computer, an Internet connection, and Windows Live Mail.

Your email will be converted into a text message on the recipient’s phone!

Before You Start

  • You need to know what wireless carrier is used by the recipient: Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc.
  • You must know the other person’s mobile number.
  • You should find out if the other person uses text messaging on their phone. If they haven’t contracted for texting, you could cause unexpected and unappreciated charges on their wireless bill.

Send an Email that Turns Into a Text Message

1. Log into Windows Live Mail. You may use either the web or client version.

2. Start a new message.

3. In the To: field, type the address like this: mobile number, an @ sign, and the wireless carrier’s domain.

  Here is an example in which the recipient is a Verizon Wireless customer (United States):

verizonaddress

  • Do not precede the number with a 1, i.e. do not use 15185551234.
  • Do not use parentheses around the area code, i.e. do not use (518)5551234.
  • Do not insert hyphens, i.e. do not use 518-555-1234.

Here are tested examples for other wireless carriers:

Other providers domains can be found here: http://www.sms411.net/2006/07/how-to-send-email-to-phone.html

4. Put a brief subject in your new message.

5. Type a brief message in the body of the email. Using Latin alphabets, SMS text messages must be 160 characters or less. This includes the subject and different wireless carriers could impose lesser limits.

6. Send the message as if it were a normal email.

Can I be sure my message arrived and was viewed?

The recipient may be asked to approve you as a sender. Some carriers ask the recipient to text back from the phone with an A to accept you and a D to decline your messages.

Is text messaging widely used?

One source says there are 262 million wireless subscribers in the US and that 50 billion text messages are sent per month! www.ctia.org

A Wikipedia article with no citation claims, “SMS text messaging is the most widely used data application on the planet with 2.4 billion active users, or 74% of all mobile phone subscribers sending and receiving text messages on their phones.”

Is the sender’s address always clearly shown in the text message?

A clear sender may be shown but sometimes only a meaningless number appears. You have no control.

Related Information

I have another blog post on using Windows Live Messenger to send SMS text messages.

~ Brien