More cellular carriers are offering SMS than ever before. Want to be continuously connected? Here's how.
Cellular carriers expected wireless Internet access to be the next big thing, but while they were waiting for consumers to jump on the bandwagon, a sleepy technology that had been around for years took them by surprise. Short Messaging Service, or SMS, has become wildly popular in Europe and Asia, where more advanced digital networks made SMS available long before its debut in North America. Now, SMS is catching on here as a relatively low cost and easy to use solution for on-the-go connectivity.
What is SMS?
Short Messaging Service, otherwise known as text messaging, mobile messaging, or alphanumeric paging, is a digital cellular network feature. It lets you send short text and numeric messages to and from digital cell phones, cell phones and email addresses, as well as cell phones and public SMS messaging gateways on the Internet.
SMS is convenient and cost effective for a number of reasons. When you compare it with the cost of airtime for voice calls or wireless Web access, SMS is a real bargain. Messages can be received while making voice calls, and there are no busy signals to contend with. Plus, if you should you find yourself in a situation where talking on a cell phone is inappropriate, SMS is silent and discreet. Messages generated by SMS are immediately delivered directly to your phone. There is no need to call an access number, as is the case with voicemail. Also, most carriers offer SMS alerts (information packets, such as stock quotes, sports scores, and news) that can be delivered to your phone at regularly scheduled intervals.
Currently, there are approximately 16 billion SMS messages sent globally each month, with the majority of that traffic centralised in Western Europe and Asia. In North America most major cellular providers offer either one-way or two-way SMS to their subscribers. With one-way service, you can receive messages; while with two-way service, you can both receive and send messages.
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How do you send and receive messages? | |
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How do you use public gateways to send messages? | |
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