SMS 411

Text messaging: How many times a day do you do it?

2007-05-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

Americans send about 20 billion text messages per month, according to a cell phone industry group that has apparently counted them all. Sound like a lot? That's only 85 messages per month per cell phone subscriber, or not quite 3 per day.

By comparison, Korean teenagers are sending an average of 2,000 messages per month -- 60 per day.

How many text messages do you send in a day?

Skype Cuts SMS Fees In Half

2007-05-03T20:27:00.000-07:00

As you may know, if you use Skype, you can send SMS text messages to your friends' cell phones. Skype charges a small amount per message (less than your cell phone provider does) and makes it easy to send one SMS to multiple recipients, so this can be an easy and economical way to text several of your friends at once. Now, this week only, Skype has cut its usual SMS rate in half.

Between May 2 and May 8, Skype users who send SMS messages to recipients in the United States, Australia, Poland, Russia, Taiwan, Belgium, Thailand, Ireland, Austria, and Italy will be charged half the usual rate. Before the week-long reduction, Skype charged $0.112 per message sent to recipients in the United States, $0.088 to Australia, and $0.063 to Thailand.

That means it will cost only about five cents per SMS message to US cell phone addresses. Cheap!

Skype Cuts SMS Fees In Half

Set up your own text-messaging service for free.

2007-05-02T21:25:00.000-07:00

You don't have to be a big company to set up a text-message auto-response system. With TextMarks, you can set up a quick-and-dirty text message information system for free. It's a great way to stay in touch with your customers or friends, to promote your website or services, or just to provide useful information.

To use TextMarks for receiving information, you send short codes to the TextMarks number (41411). TextMarks then sends the information back that corresponds to the code you sent.

For example, someone set up the code "sftides" -- so if you send an SMS containing the word "sftides" to 41411, you'll get the latest ocean tides for San Francisco. The image of the phone on this post shows what you get when you send the code "kqed" -- it's what's currently playing on the radio station KQED.

The brilliant part is that it's really easy to set up your own TextMarks codes. You just need to pick a short code that isn't already being used on TextMarks. Then you tell TextMarks what information to deliver when somebody sends that code to TextMarks. This could be a short piece of text, or you can tell TextMarks to pull a specific piece of information from a page on your web site.

Or, you can set up a subscription service -- essentially an SMS mailing list -- so you can send text messages to everyone who has subscribed. For example, if you send the code "ufos" you'll be subscribed to an alert service for major UFO sightings. (Pretty useful if you anticipate an alien invasion!)

Whenever someone sends a text message with your code to the TextMarks number (41411), they'll get an SMS reply containing the information you specified, or they'll be subscribed to your info service if that's what you've set up.

I set up the code "haiku" to send the latest poem from my daily haiku site. To do it, I had to tell TextMarks where to find the text of the day's haiku on the site's homepage. I did that by giving it information about two specific HTML tags. On your site, you might use something different.

It took all of about 5 minutes to set up the code and test it. Now anyone can get the day's haiku just by texting "haiku" to 41411.

Some other TextMarks you can send to 41411 include:

leo, aquarius, virgo, etc: Daily horoscope for that zodiac sign
trackups [tracking number]: Shipping status for a UPS package
checkwoot: what's on sale today at Woot.com
haha: joke of the day

There's an extensive list of TextMarks on the site, and you can test each one out right on the web page using TextMarks' handy simulator.

Send yourself reminders via SMS.

2007-01-17T15:28:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't it be convenient if your phone could remind you about important dates, events you need to remember, and things you need to do on your way home from work?

With SMS reminders, you can easily use your phone as a memory aid. And it's far easier than trying to figure out your phone's calendar application to set yourself an alarm (or -- worse -- trying to sync your phone with your computer-based calendar).

The trick is finding a service that will send reminders to your phone. I know of at least three easy alternatives.

If you're already using an online calendar like Yahoo Calendar or Google Calendar, SMS reminders are already built in to the calendar. All you need to do is select the right option. And if you're not using one of these calendars, Backpack has a terrific SMS reminder service that's also free.

With both calendar services you'll need to confirm your phone number and carrier before you can use the SMS reminder service. They'll send a test message to your phone containing a secret code, and once you enter this code on the site, you're good to go.

With Yahoo Calendar, when you create a new event, look for the "Reminders" section about two thirds of the way down the new event form. In that section, you tell Yahoo when to send reminders (it can send you two -- for instance, one message two days before the event, and one 15 minutes before it starts) and where to send them: your Yahoo Messenger account, your email address, or your mobile device.

At the specified times, Yahoo will fire off a text message to you, letting you know what's coming up.

In Google Calendar, you can only select one reminder (but you can tell Google how far in advance of your event that you want it to start). Look for the "Reminder" option in the "Options" section of the "Create Event" form on Google Calendar. It's just a simple select box. To set up where you want to receive reminders, you need to go to Settings and then click on the Notifications tab. On that tab, you can tell Google how you want to be notified for various types of events (such as upcoming appointments in your calendar or invitations from other Google Calendar users); one of the options is SMS.

Not using either of these online calendars? Your easiest option is probably the Reminders service built in to Backpack. Backpack is an easy-to-use service for creating web pages, taking notes online, and even maintaining to-do lists. Its simplest version includes the reminders service, and its free. You've got to create a new Backpack account if you don't already have one. Then go to the Settings tab on your Backpack site, enter your mobile phone number and carrier, and tell Backpack that's how you want to receive reminders. (You can also enter an email address.)

Then, to set a reminder, all you have to do is visit the Reminders tab on your Backpack site. Type the text of the reminder you want and specify a time to be reminded. For instance, you can choose from "Later today" (about 5pm your time), "tomorrow morning," "in a week," "in a year," or at a particular date and time you specify. Then click on the Set Reminder button.

The nice thing about Backpack's reminders is that reminders are very quick to set up, and you can see all of your pending reminders in a simple list -- you don't have to hunt through your calendar to find them. On the other hand, it is another service to keep track of, so if you're already using an online calendar, that may be an easier option.

Verizon Wireless increases SMS fees.

2007-01-15T15:33:00.000-08:00

After Sprint Nextel and Cingular raised their SMS text messaging fees, Verizon Wireless is doing it too. Starting March 1, the price Verizon Wireless charges you for sending text messages from North America, and for receiving text messages from anywhere, will be $0.15 -- a 50% increase from the current price of $0.10 to send or receive messages. That brings Verizon's pricing to the same level as Sprint Nextel and Cingular. Bulk messaging plans cost the same as before.

The only major U.S. carrier left that charges just $0.10 per message is T-Mobile -- so if you're a heavy user of SMS text messaging, you know which service provider is your best bet. Just keep in mind that SMS prices aren't set in stone, and T-Mobile could raise its prices too.

Of course, if you're a heavy texter -- regardless of which carrier you're using -- you'll want to sign up for a bulk messaging plan, which will give you several hundred messages per month, or even an unlimited number of text messages, for a flat monthly fee.

More info: Verizon Wireless joins SMS price increase club (MobileTracker)

How to send anonmous text messages.

2007-01-11T14:47:00.000-08:00

Want to send a mash note to someone you're secretly admiring? Got a tip about some shenanigans at your office that you want to let the HR department know about? Just want to really freak someone out? AnonTxt.com is a service that lets you send anonymous SMS text messages to anyone.

Just visit the AnonTxt home page to get started. (For sending text messages outside the U.S. and Canada, use AnonTxt's international page.) If you want, you can enter an alias for yourself in the first box. Put an optional subject line in the second box. Then type the recipient's phone number and your message. When you hit Submit, your message will go off into the either, winging its way anonymously to the recipient.

When they receive the message, it will contain your message together with the subject line. The sender will appear as "Anon@AnonTxt.com" unless you entered an alias, in which case that's what the "sender" field will show. And since you're not required to enter any information about yourself to use AnonTxt, the odds are very low that the message can ever be traced to you.

Note that it may be possible for law enforcement officials to subpoena the AnonTxt company, get their web traffic logs, and figure out the IP address of the computer you used when you visited AnonTxt.com. (The company's privacy policy acknowledges this.) In that way, it might be possible to trace your message back to you. But it would take a serious law enforcement reason to do something like that. For love letters and gentle pranks, this is as anonymous as it gets.

But please, be kind. Anonymity is a useful and even critical service for many good reasons -- for instance, people in repressive regimes may depend on anonymity to get the news out, organize themselves, and resist their governments. But it's possible to abuse the privilege of anonymity too, and that can undercut the case for keeping services like this truly anonymous. When you use AnonTxt.com, don't be a jerk.

More SMS ads coming your way?

2007-01-03T13:53:00.000-08:00

Advertisers have been casting lustful looks at your cell phone for a long time, and now it looks like cell carriers are ready to hand over your mobile and start sending ads to it via SMS (as well as video).

News reports say that AT&T Wireless will start selling ads on cell phones in the coming year.

According to an analyst, who is clearly on the side of the carriers more than the users, mobile advertising via text messaging and other media is "perfectly appropriate now." His firm reports that nearly 14 percent of U.S. mobile users, or 27.5 million people, said they received as many five ads on their cell phones between September and November 2006.

Have you ever received an ad via SMS text message? Did you think that it was "perfectly appropriate"?

AT&T Joins Big Carriers in Wireless Ad Promise

Voting by SMS?

2006-12-28T21:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, so you may never get to vote in an actual election via text message -- and if you do, I'm hoping that you don't live in my country, because the security issues involved in voting by cell phone would make a Diebold machine look like Fort Knox.

But you can take part in the democratic process -- or so some candidates would have you believe. When he announced his candidacy for President of the U.S. this week, John Edwards set up an SMS short code so people can communicate with the campaign by texting. Except that "communicate" is a bit of an exaggeration: What you can do is send the word 'hope' in a text message to short code 30644, and in response you get this note:

Thanks for joining our campaign to change America. Please txt us your email. Start changing America at JohnEdwards.com.

That's it?? No interactive, SMS-based opinion polls? No menu of additional codes you can send to get info on the candidate's positions? Imagine if you could text "foreign policy," "taxes," "education," "abortion," or "Paula Abdul" to that number, and get Edwards' statement on each of these matters of important national importance? What if you could find out his next public appearance via SMS? I mean, come on -- SMS is supposed to be interactive. I want to get more than just an advertisement here. You can do better than that, John Edwards!

Cingular raises text messaging fee 50%.

2006-12-18T11:50:00.000-08:00

Cingular will be raising the price of sending and receiving an SMS text message to 15 cents starting on January 21, 2007, according to news reports (Cingular raises text messaging fee from 10 to 15 cents :: RCR Wireless News).

Sprint made a similar move back in October.

The current price is just 10 cents (assuming you haven't purchased a bulk SMS plan, which gives you a discounted rate) so this represents a price increase of 50%.

It's hard for me to understand why U.S. carriers, which are struggling to get consumers to embrace SMS as enthusiastically as Europeans, would choose to raise their prices. Yes, many more Americans are using SMS than ever before. But the market still has a long way to go before SMS use is truly ubiquitous. As many readers of this site have testified, lots of people aren't even aware that they can use SMS to send email to a cell phone until they read how to do it here! Raising prices by 50% seems like a sure-fire way to slow down SMS adoption to me. But then, I'm not a greedy telecommunications executive either.

(Please note that as of this writing, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile still charge only 10 cents to send or receive an SMS.)

What do you think? Is an SMS text message worth 15 cents?

mixd: Yahoo's SMS networking service.

2006-11-30T13:20:00.000-08:00

Yahoo now has an site, like Twittr or Dodgeball, that lets you communicate with your friends, set up get-togethers, and share pictures and videos, all via SMS and MMS text messaging. It's called mixd and it's free to use. You can sign up at the mixd web site or check it out by sending a text message containing the word "try" to 445566. You'll need to validate your mobile phone number to start, and sign up for a Yahoo ID if you don't already have one. The service is just getting started so there's no telling how many people are actually using it -- probably not that many -- but if you can convince your friends to sign up too, hey, it might be useful and fun.

(Thanks to Natali del Conte at TechCrunch for breaking the news about this)

SMS searching, the Windows way.

2006-11-20T22:18:00.001-08:00

Not one to be left behind by Google, 4INFO, and Yahoo, Microsoft has just launched its own SMS search service. It works a lot like the others do: You create a text message with your query, then send it to a special short code -- in this case, 95483 (which corresponds to "WLIVE" -- for "Windows Live" -- on your cell phone's keypad).

Here are some of the queries you can use with Windows Live Mobile SMS Search:

Business searches by location: "florist san mateo ca"

Reverse phone number lookups: Just enter the phone number

For stock quotes, use the letter Q plus a ticker symbol: Q AAPL

For instant answers from Encarta and other reference sources, start your query with a question mark: "? war of 1812"

For definitions, start with the letter D: "D ennui"

For all the details, check out the Windows Mobile SMS web site.

And here's a blog entry announcing the service: Windows Live Mobile launches SMS Search Beta

Sprint users with Palm 700wx phones: SMS trouble.

2006-11-16T15:09:00.000-08:00

According to treocentral.com, some users of Sprint's 700wx have had problems sending SMS text messages. In some instances, Treo users are not able to send SMS messages to recipients using other carriers or certain other Sprint phones. In other cases, Treo users may receive duplicate messages, particularly if the messages are longer than 140 characters.

According to the site, Sprint customer service is aware of the problem but has not yet provided a fix for it: "Palm and Sprint are aware that 700wx customers have been experiencing issues sending SMS messages within and outside the Sprint network. ... We are working on an update which will be available via the web or over-the-air by the end of the year. In the meantime, Sprint customers may request credit for any charges incurred as a result of this error."

Treocentral has a forum discussing the Treo SMS problem. And you can always contact Sprint customer service if you need specific help or want your account credited for the extra text messages.

UPDATE 11/21/2006: Palm has issued a patch for the Treo 700wx that fixes this problem; Treocentral has the details. Or click here to download the update from Palm.

SMS messages as forensic evidence.

2006-11-16T10:29:00.000-08:00

Be careful what you send in a text message. A company called Paraben Corp. sells software that allows police to retrieve SMS messages that you've sent or received on your phone. In fact, at least one killer got nabbed when the police found a text message on his phone confessing to the murder he'd just committed.

How long do text messages linger on your phone? That depends on how actively you text. If you send a lot of SMSes, old messages might only stick around for two weeks or so. For less avid texters, old messages could linger for a couple months.

Generation Text Finds It Isn't Easy Getting Rid of Cellphone Messages (WSJ - subscription may be required)

Send SMS messages from Skype.

2006-11-16T10:12:00.000-08:00

Good news for people who use Skype: You can send SMS text messages to your friends' mobile phones from within Skype. You need to have Skype 2.5 for this to work. For Mac users with the beta (pre-production) version of Skype 2.5, you can also receive text messages in Skype, so your friends can reply to you.

To send a text message from Skype, go to the Tools menu and select Send SMS Message. You'll be prompted to select the recipients from your address book, but you can only pick from those who have entered their mobile phone numbers in their Skype profiles, or for whom you've entered mobile numbers in your address book. Or, you can enter the mobile number of the recipient manually if he or she isn't already listed.

You can specify whether you want the text message to list your Skype ID or your mobile number as the sender of the message. If you want to be able to receive replies, you will need to have an SMS-enabled mobile phone.

This is a convenient way to send a message to several people at once, since Skype lets you enter multiple recipients.

Note that you will need SkypeOut credit to send SMS messages. Skype charges a tiny bit less than 13 cents per text message ($0.129 to be exact).

More info on Skype 2.5 for Mac: Skype adds SMS to new Mac beta

Download Skype 2.5 beta for Mac

Download Skype 2.5 for Windows

New SMS speed record.

2006-11-12T21:08:00.000-08:00

Think you can text pretty fast? Try typing this 160-character sentence: "The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human." A 16-year-old Singaporean student, Ang Chuang Yang, did it in 41.52 seconds, using a standard phone keypad. That's a new world record, beating the previous record of 42.22 seconds set earlier this year. Clearly, having nimble fingers helps, as does lots of practice -- but Ang also recommends using a phone with large keys on its dial pad.

SMS speed champ says use big keys | NEWS.com.au

Breaking up via SMS.

2006-11-10T10:50:00.000-08:00

SMS text messaging is useful for a lot of things: Sending notes to your friends when you're in a meeting or some other place you can't talk; letting people know where you are without interrupting whatever they're doing; passing love notes; getting information from Google SMS or 4INFO. But there's one thing you should never send via SMS: a Dear John letter.

Text messaging is way too impersonal (not to mention brief) to use it for breaking up with someone. Not that it stops some people from doing just that. In fact, it appears that Britney Spears just broke up with her husband (and father of her children) Kevin Federline via SMS. Now that's cold.

This video catches the moment on film where KFed gets the bad news via SMS (it's about 1:30 into the video).

San Francisco quake alerts via SMS.

2006-10-31T12:21:00.000-08:00

Do you live or work in San Francisco, or know someone who does? AlertSF is a free service that will send text messages to your phone, BlackBerry, or pager whenever an earthquake occurs in the city. The alerts may also include potentially critical information about where to get help or emergency services after a disaster. The system is also set up to deal with a tsunami hitting San Francisco.

To sign up, go to http://alertsf.org and sign up for a new account. You'll need to enter an email address (that will become your login) and password, then tell the system what kind of phone or pager you have and what it's number is. Once you've created an account, it will send a confirmation text message to your phone. You can also pick one or more areas of the city or specific addresses that you're interested in, so you can keep tabs on your home, office, and child's school, for instance.

Important note: Systems like this can only work if your carrier's cellular network is still available after a disaster. If a tsunami strikes your city and knocks down all the cell towers in a particular region, your cell phone will not work at all, for voice or for text messages. It's also important to remember that you may not be able to recharge a cell phone if the power is out. However, if your phone is working and the cellular network is available, text messaging can be an extremely effective way of communicating during an emergency, and services like AlertSF can really help.

Texting for prizes.

2006-10-30T16:28:00.000-08:00

High school students in Chula Vista, California recently got a surprise visit from hiphop mogul Diddy. How? Students at the school sent more text messages than any other San Diego area school during a local radio station contest.

During the four-day contest, Chula Vista students sent 34,000 SMS messages to the radio station, with some students sending hundreds of messages singlehandedly.

According to the news report, 40% of Americans with cell phones have tried SMS texting -- and it's definitely catching the eye of marketers interested in snaring our attention.

For instance, it's not uncommon to find SMS "short codes" embedded in ads, CDs, or other products. Send a message to this special short code and you can get access to special ringtones or information -- or you can get a chance to win a prize.

Exciting new marketing trend? Or yet another high-tech way to distract students from their schoolwork? Let me know what you think.

SMS Viruses: Should You Be Worried?

2006-09-06T13:29:00.000-07:00

Last week, the antivirus software company McAfee announced that they'd seen several examples of malicious software targeting people via SMS. McAfee dubbed these "SMiShing attacks," for "SMS phishing." (Phishing is a kind of fraud where people send bogus email messages, purportedly from some official source like your credit card company or a government, to try to trick you into giving up your personal information or clicking on a dangerous URL.)

The way these attacks worked is that people would receive an SMS message saying something like "You've just been subscribed to a dating service!" or "This is your cell phone company. Click here to download our cell phone antivirus software." Then, if people responded to that SMS message -- either by replying to the SMS or by following the URL embedded in it -- something bad would happen. In one case people were charged $2 when they tried to unsubscribe from a bogus dating service. In another case, clicking on the link loaded "Trojan Horse" software onto your phone, disabling it.

Does this mean that you need to start worrying about SMS viruses? Not really. Both attacks were fairly small, and they were limited to European cell phone users. Also, the victims had to have a particular cell phone model for the attacks to work. All in all, these were pretty weak security attacks.

Still, the attacks underscore an important lesson: Don't act on anything in an SMS text message unless you know, and trust, the sender. Even if you get a message that says it's from your cellular carrier, don't click on any links in the message or reply to it. Instead, dial your carrier's usual customer service phone number -- or visit your carrier's web site -- to investigate the offer before doing anything about it.

AMBER Alerts via SMS.

2006-09-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

AMBER Alerts go out whenever the police have information about child abductions. In many cases, these alerts -- which are usually displayed on TV broadcasts, freeway information signs, and other public places -- have resulted in timely tips that have helped law enforcement recover the kidnapped child.

Now you can get AMBER Alerts on your cell phone, too. The wireless industry association, CTIA, teamed up with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the U.S. Department of Justice to deliver geographically-targeted AMBER alerts via SMS. That means whenever an AMBER Alert goes out in your area, you'll get an SMS text message telling you what to look for (the make and model of the kidnapper's car, or a license plate number, for instance).

To found out more, see the CTIA Wireless Foundation page on Wireless AMBER Alerts, or go directly to the sign up page for wireless AMBER Alerts.

eBay auction alerts via SMS.

2006-09-05T17:37:00.000-07:00

eBay recently launched a service that lets you get SMS notifications on auctions you're bidding on. If you've ever lost a bidding war because you forgot to sign on to eBay just before an auction ended, you'll appreciate this service. Whenever you're outbid, eBay will send you a short text message -- and you can raise your bid just by replying to that message, right on your phone.

To set up SMS alerts on eBay, go to "My eBay" and then click on "Preferences" (the link is underneath "My Account" in the left-hand sidebar). Then click on "Notification Preferences."

You'll see a link to add a mobile phone number for SMS text message alerts. Click on it, and you'll get a screen where you enter your cellular service provider (aka carrier) and phone number. Currently, eBay supports Cingular, T-Mobile, Sprint, Nextel, Verizon, and Alltel. If you're concerned about security, you can also specify a short PIN that you have to enter in order to confirm bids that you send from your phone. You can also limit the hours that eBay will send messages to you (so you don't get woken up at 1am by the beep your phone makes when it receives an SMS), and tell it how many minutes before an auction ends that you want to receive a reminder.

Once you've verified your phone number (by replying to a confirmation SMS), eBay will give you an SMS notification option any time you're bidding on an item. You'll also be able to place items on your watchlist (without bidding on them) and receive regular updates via SMS.

eBay charges $0.25 for every 10 messages sent, and the charges will appear on your cell phone bill.

If you want to turn off eBay SMS notifications, just reply to an eBay text message with the word STOP.

Send text messages to landline phones.

2006-08-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

What if you need to send a message to someone and you can't just talk to them on the phone -- perhaps because you're in the library or in class? And what if they don't have an SMS-capable cell phone?

If you've got a Sprint phone, no worries -- you can use the "Text to Landline" service to send text messages to people, even if they don't have SMS text messaging.

All you need to do is compose a text message in the normal way, and enter the 10-digit phone number of the person you want to send it to. After you send it off, Sprint will turn your text message into a voice message, using text-to-speech technology. Your computerized voice message will play whenever the person on the other end picks up their phone.

Sprint even offers the option for the recipient to reply (via voice) and their response will be sent to you as a voice message.

Pretty slick, huh? And it costs exactly the same amount as it does to send an ordinary text message. (check Sprint SMS pricing info)

For more details, check out the Text to Landline FAQ for Sprint subscribers. If you're on Nextel, read the FAQ on Text to Landline for Nextel customers.

Get info from 4INFO.

2006-08-06T23:33:00.000-07:00

When it comes to getting free information via SMS, there's definitely more than one game in town. 4INFO offers a wide range of free information services, all of which are accessible by SMS text messaging.

The basic gist of 4INFO is this: You send an information request to the short code 4INFO (44636). In a few seconds to a minute, you'll get an SMS message in return containing the information you were looking for.

For example, say you wanted to know the latest scores for the Yankees. All your SMS message needs to contain is one word: yankees. Send it off to 44636, then wait a moment. 4info will reply with an SMS containing the latest game score and the date and time of the next game.

For stock prices, just send a ticker symbol as your message: aapl or ibm. 4info will respond with a message containing the current price, the day's high and low, and the stock market volume.

4info can also do FedEx package tracking, give you the weather forecast by ZIP code, tell you where to find a Wi-Fi hotspot in your ZIP code, give you your horoscope, and even tell you how to mix drinks. It's an amazingly versatile information service, and all of it is completely free. (You will incur charges from your cellular carrier for using SMS, however.)

4info also offers SMS text alerts, so you can get messages automatically every day that tell you what weather to expect, when that package you sent actually gets delivered, what your horoscope for that day is, and the like. You can even get inning-by-inning or quarter-by-quarter updates on pro sports games. To get alerts, you'll need to register on the 4info web site first (it's free).

For more information on the kinds of searches 4info supports, along with examples of each one, check out the 4INFO how-to page.

Trnsl8 txt spk!

2006-08-06T23:04:00.000-07:00

Can't make sense of SMS text shortcuts? Check out Transl8It, a handy web form for turning ordinary English text into "txt spk" and vice versa.

Save money on 411 info calls.

2006-08-04T10:41:00.000-07:00

411 Directory Assistance can cost a bundle!

You might not realize it unless you're in the habit of closely examining your cell phone bill, but cellular service providers charge a lot for "411" calls (calls you make to local -- or national -- directory assistance by dialing 411).

Here are the fees that some of the top carriers charge for each call to 411:

Boost Mobile's Boost 411: $1.29 plus airtime (compare Boost Mobile SMS costs)
Cingular 411: $1.50 plus airtime (compare Cingular SMS costs)
Nextel Directory Assistance: $1.25 plus airtime (compare Nextel SMS costs)
Sprint 411: $1.40 plus airtime (compare Sprint SMS costs)
T-Mobile 411: $1.49 plus airtime (Compare T-Mobile SMS costs)
Verizon Wireless 411 Connect: $1.49 plus airtime (compare Verizon SMS costs)
Virgin Mobile 411: $1.75 plus airtime (compare Virgin Mobile SMS costs)

Note that you are using your minutes ("airtime") each time you call 411 -- so if you call from a roaming area, you could be charged 40 cents or 60 cents or more for each minute you're on the phone with 411 -- in addition to the above charges. Ouch!

At these rates, it makes a lot of sense to use an SMS-based search service like Google SMS instead of dialing 411. SMS-based 411 inquiries are free, except for the SMS charges, so you can save a dollar or more for each lookup you do via text instead of calling directory assistance.

For example, suppose you want to find a local flower shop. A call to Cingular 411 costs $1.50 plus airtime -- and the operator might not give you the number and address of a shop unless you know its name first.

But if you send an SMS to Google saying "florist 90210" you might get 3 messages back from Google, each of which has the name, address, and phone number of a different florist. For a total of 4 SMS messages (the one you sent plus the 3 you receive) Cingular will charge you 40 cents.

That's a savings of $1.10 -- plus you're not using any airtime -- and you get three times as much information. Now that's a strong argument for using SMS!