Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Did you know about Teleflip?

I didn't realize this service existed. If you want to send an SMS message to someone's cell phone, you can just put the number followed by '@teleflip.com' and send them a short email. In a matter of a couple of minutes they will receive your email as an SMS message on their phone. (eg. say your cell number is (444)555-6809, then you would send an email from your pc to '4445556809@teleflip.com').

You don't have to register anything with the site (you don't even have to visit it). The service is free although your provider may charge you for receiving SMS messages depending on your plan.

Caveats?
It currently only works in North America (Canada, US, Caribbean, Hawaii, Guam).
There is the chance that spammers might use the service. However they have a 'One Strike You're Out' policy whereby if you receive spam that has been forwarded by Teleflip, you can contact them with the details and they will put a stop to the spammer.

Is it useful? Dunno for sure. I could see myself sending a quick email to my own cell for reminders (pick up milk tonight!) or to send a quick note to a friend or someone. I much prefer talking or a proper email, but it does sound kinda nifty.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

you can actually do the same thing with aol instant messenger or ichat by inputting the phone number as the user id you are texting. again free except for fees on the receiving end.