People caught between e-mail and text messaging are going to like this service. With SMSOfficer, which is a plug-in for Outlook, you can send and receive text messages from your desktop e-mail to cell phones. The service works with any cell phone carrier (but only with Outlook e-mail). The first 10 texts are free, and then it costs $20 for the next 250.
It takes advantage of the Outlook Mobile Service that was baked into Outlook 2007. Your SMS message gets sent to SMSOfficer’s servers, where they are turned into SMS messages and sent over the mobile carrier networks. Up until now, few other services in the U.S. took advantage of the capability. I have not tried this out because I do not use Outlook. (You can read a review here). But there is definitely a big need for unified messaging across devices.
Ultimately, though, SMS is a compromise solution. What you really want is your e-mail on your phone. For the growing number of people buying smart phones (or simply using the mobile versions of Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and others), that day is already here. Pretty soon, paying $20 on top of your data plan so you can send an abbreviated e-mail to someone’s mobile phone is not going to look like such a great deal.
We need SMS 2.0.
No one should every pay for this service. Nor should they have to. They are just grabbing for the cash as the door closes (ie- smart phones take over the marketplace)
You can already send SMS messages through yahoo email, for free I believe.
Cool product, but it should be free.
I am so used to send free SMSs that I will never accept to pay for this service. It may appeal to corporate clients though…
I think it’s quite expensive as there are some other service where we can get free sms.
Free SMS is usually not True SMS (via shortcode) unless someone is subsidizing the payment. Free SMS usually requires the full SMS e-mail address.
With Callwave this feature is free with gmail. This service is outrageously expensive and anyone paying for this service has money to burn or is ignorant to alternative services like twitter.
I don’t understand how this really benefits most corporations. Many of them give blackberry devices to employees (or if they aren’t given, the employees buy them anyway) because of the need to stay constantly alerted. Even in-the-field businesses such as Real Estate Agencies prefer email over SMS.
http://collegemogul.com
You can already do this for free using Outlook 2007. I send SMS messages through it all the time and never pay anything.
This startup is pretty much useless..
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It is really expensive…without doubt we can find much cheaper..
http://flunnyhack.blogspot.com
@Jahbuh Dahut - Oh good god, Twitter is NOT a replacement for SMS in any way shape or form. Give me a break.
amen
sms is broken in two major ways
1- you can’t sms from an 800 number
2- you can’t sms from a landline. For example, a FICO reminder service messaging from 512-775-8100 can’t easily be done. The messages need to be under 22 characters and has to have call-back source number versus a random spam@spammers.com email address.
If anyone has tech solutions on this, feel free to message me
I like Joopz, http://www.joopz.com, which not only lets you text message from outlook but you also receive your reply through outlook. If you then are on the move you can forward the conversation to your cellphone. The cost is $2.95/mo or $19.95/yr. You can also use the web-based version for free if you send less than 50 messages per month.
teleflip anyone? send an email to phone number followed by @teleflip.com and it will show up as a sms on the persons phone. (ie. 1234567890@teleflip.com will send a message to (123) 456-7890. Simple and free.
I use gmail now, so won’t be any help!
Group2call.com offers both free SMS and voice from ANY email application. What’s more you can blast simultaneous voice or SMS out to a group of people as easy as emailing yourgroup@group2call.com.
I find that http://www.mbox.com.au/ gives me everything I need and I mean EVREYTHING and it’s dirt cheap, no need to reinvent the wheel so to speak. Don’t let the .au fool you they have two points of presence in the US on the East and West Coast
I agree that this type of thing is probably a bit late… and there are a bunch of free alternatives already…
It seems to be a time saver since it is integrated with outlook…
Apple users might want to check out http://novamedia.de/e_pages/e_.....pp_ab.html. It’s a plugin for the Mac Address Book, which integrates SMS und dialing functionality into Address Book in combination with a compatible mobile phone.
Ok that’s not a web service, just use bluetooth to connect your mobile phone to your Mac.
(they have a couple of other very interesting mobile phone apps for Mac OSX, I use FoneLink and Launch2net )
This service justifies the payment for non US users who has to pay for every SMS sent from their phone.
There is no such service today which lets you send SMS to any int’ number.
I agree in the US there are other alternatives but no using the Outlook OMS option.
I agree that the potential for this startup is limited. However your statement “What you really want is your e-mail on your phone.” may be valud in the US but in the rest of the world SMS and Email sit quite nicely side by side and serve differnet purposes. I think your viewpoint on this is a reflection of the lack of uptake in the US market.
Jesus Erick why do you have to be such a tosser?
“I have not tried this out because I do not use Outlook”??
If you haven’t tried it then why are you blogging about it? Let someone who tried right about it if you have no clue how the service even runs.
And you don’t use Outlook? Good for you! Maybe you can work on alpha versions of Mac’s next OS and blog about things the rest of us won’t ever see anyway ’cause we’re stuck in PC world.
I wrote an article that links to a list of sms email address for various providers in the US and Canada.
This method is completely free, although it requires you to know the service provider email address for SMS.
Having said that, you can check it out over at http://www.thetechjuice.com/20.....esses.html