Do You Use SMS On Your Windows Mobile Device?

[Ed Hansberry]

I was wondering how many of you used SMS on their mobile devices given Windows Mobile has other communication methods like email, IM and a variety of others that you could install. My wife and I use SMS several times a day. It is a good way to keep each other up to date on what is going on, but when it comes to other people I know in North America, SMS is not very widely used. I know it is a much bigger deal outside of the US and Canada, but it is also very costly to do a lot of international SMSing. I am not going to bother asking about MMS. You can be the biggest MMS fan on the planet and if you can put up with the MMS client on Windows Mobile devices, you have a strange predisposition to self-inflicted torture. 8O <br /><br />Note: If you are using SMS as "push notification" for pre-WM5 MSFP devices, don't count that.

[JonnoB]

I have 2 teen-age daughters who text messages all day long. It seems to be a very common practice among teens these days. They have the T-Mobile Dash (thanks to the MS sponsored $100 deal a month or so ago) and my wife and I both have the Qtek 9100 (HTC Wizard). My 12-yr old son received the hand-me down Nokia from my oldest daughter. That is 5 phones on the T-Mobile family plan. We do not even use land-lines anymore. A while back, T-Mobile had a deal for the family plan to get unlimited text messages for $9.99/month. I think it is $20 now. Anyway, I got that special promo at the time and we each have effectively have had a $2/month each, unlimited messaging since. Collectively, as a family, we send thousands of messages every month so it was very worth it. The younger generation will definately be more into 'texting' than us old folk.

[Arne Hess]

I was wondering how many of you used SMS on their mobile devices given Windows Mobile has other communication methods like email, IM and a variety of others that you could install.
I use it heavily every day and for me it's not a questions of Windows Mobile (I use) or not but a question of interoperability. Like circuit switched voice, SMS is one of the few services I can be sure it reaches the other, doesn't matter if the recipient is using a PAYG, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Palm or what ever device. It simply works and therefore it's the safest way to write messages on the go which reaches the recipient instantly (as soon as he/she switches on the mobile phone).

That's why I love SMS and it might be the reason why it will never get a replacement.

[RogerStenning]

My partner and I live some distance apart; it's the one way we have of communicating easily from over a hundred miles away in the UK when we're both at work, and can't talk on the phone instead!

[rhelwig]

I hate SMS. It costs me 10 cents per message received, even if I didn't request it. It wouldn't be so bad if I only paid for messages I sent - then I could have some control over how much it costs me. (I have Verizon - tried Cingular, but where I'm at only Verizon has any signal at all)

The other day I received 16 SMS messages from a roommate. He had erroneously sent an email using his SMS account, and to the wrong address. The system split his message into 16 separate messages, sending them to me days after he "sent" them. Yes, he's a moron; but why should I be penalized for his mistakes?

I can see using it for short one-time messages like "plan B is a go", but using it like a chat program seems absurd to me.

[Ed Hansberry]

I hate SMS. It costs me 10 cents per message received, even if I didn't request it.
Can't you pay $2-3/mo and get 100-200 SMS messages :?:

[pocketpcadmirer]

On an average, I send around 150-200SMSes per day(yes, per day). Around 80SMS to my love and rest to my friends.

I have taken some scheme underwhich each SMS cost me just $0.002 !!(in indian rupees 10paise per SMS)

[rhelwig]

I hate SMS. It costs me 10 cents per message received, even if I didn't request it.
Can't you pay $2-3/mo and get 100-200 SMS messages :?:

Probably, but the point is: why should I pay for receiving messages, especially ones I didn't request?

Also, since email is free and has more functionality, why would I ever bother using SMS?

[Rod3]

Can't even imagine using it. Everybody I know thinks it's for kids, and would be insulted if I started messaging them. I'd rather call, or email. I guess it's your peer group that sets the standard. And mine definitely aren't teens.

[Perry Reed]

My wife and I use it constantly during the day, between our PPC-6700's. Yeah, we could email, and we do that, too, but generally we use SMS.

I also use it occasionally with one or two other friends.

[Ed Hansberry]

Can't even imagine using it. Everybody I know thinks it's for kids, and would be insulted if I started messaging them. I'd rather call, or email. I guess it's your peer group that sets the standard. And mine definitely aren't teens.
So? The few people that I do use it with are business professionals with state/federal licenses in their field.

"Hey, meet me in conference room B" as I am walking in from the parking lot is far faster for both sender and receiver than dialing. SMS definitely has its place, and you don't have to be a teen to use it.

[jarekt]

I have a GF who is SMS addicted so that i have to use it very often (that's the reason that i bought full qwerty keyboard device). Aside that I use it for business purposes - quite often I just want to inform my clients about something without chitchatting. Email makes no alternative for SMS (MMS is much less reliable either). Only SMS guarantees that my client will get a message instantly no matter what kind of phone he has. With message delivery notification I know instantly when my message reaches my client device which is very useful.

I pay about 0,05 $ for sms. It's not so cheap but it's worth it.

[MitchellO]

If everyone was like me and had email on their phone, I would never use SMS. I have my treo setup to check my email account every 20 mins. I have an unlimited send/receive email pack on my phone so it is always cheaper for me to email someone than SMS them.

And here in Australia we don't get charged to receive SMS messages.

Posted from my Treo 750v!!

[Mark Kenepp]

I hate SMS. It costs me 10 cents per message received, even if I didn't request it. It wouldn't be so bad if I only paid for messages I sent - then I could have some control over how much it costs me.

Though I don't hate SMS myself, I do agree that it is unfair to pair for messages received. At the very least, one should be able to completely disable SMS on their account for those who don't want to use it and want to prevent paying for SMS's received.

I am sure that there are some European members here that think it totally absurd that we pay for incoming calls and messages here in the US (and I assume Canada and Mexico as well).

Regarding my SMS usage, I subscribe to some SMS services like sports scores, today in history and things like that. I very rarely send SMS to anyone I know (partly because I don't really know many people).

My significant other doesn't text so I rarely send her a message. I have, however, SMSed here family back in Ireland at times when I needed to pass on some news or get an update from them, (like the results of the All Ireland Senior Club Camogie Semi-finals 8)

[Phillip Dyson]

I use SMS on occasion. Its quick and interoperable.
Ironically its my Mom who sends me most of my messages.

[Yata]

I get 500 free text messages a month and, being European, I eat through most of them.

As already mentioned, there's quite a few key factors in why SMS is so great - any phone can receive them, the "push" style of messaging and the high chance that the recipient will read the message (as opposed to e-mails which are regularly ignored).

Paying to receive SMS sounds crazy to my European brain. Charging for something that you have no control over? Madness...

[Omega2008]

I use it daily with my girlfriend, family and friends. Email is more functional but it would take forever for them to get it since I am the only one that has push email. SMS is a quick way to convey information quickly.

[Darius Wey]

I use it almost daily. Personally, I feel it's faster and cheaper to send a quick message across than to make a 10-second call to tell Joe Smith to meet you at Location XYZ.

And here in Australia we don't get charged to receive SMS messages.

Amen to that.

[Underwater Mike]

I hate SMS. It costs me 10 cents per message received, even if I didn't request it.
Can't you pay $2-3/mo and get 100-200 SMS messages :?:

Probably, but the point is: why should I pay for receiving messages, especially ones I didn't request?

Also, since email is free and has more functionality, why would I ever bother using SMS?

On Cingluar, the cheapest SMS add-on is a lot more than that. And, at least with incoming calls, you can choose not to answer the phone and therefore not use airtime. With SMS, you have no choice unless you have it disabled on your account. But then you can't use it if you want to.

[minimage]

My SMS was free with Sprint until I replaced my Nokia PM-6225 with a PPC-6700. Now I pay $5 a month for 100 messages. Occasionally I send my husband a reminder or send and receive messages to/from my mother and friends, but I think it's time I consider dropping that five-dollar payment. I'm pretty sure I'm not even sending/receiving 50 messages a month, so I'd probably be better off paying the ten cents per.

[Cybrid]

I use SMS as a alternative to calling when I have information that the receipient might otherwise need to write down anyway.
"Your sis clld. CB @ 555.555.5555...Need milk, cheese, eggs, ...."
Otherwise my unlimited* voice vs. ¢10 per mssge makes it impractical. Calling seems more personal anyway.

Soon with Push Email, the difference between email and MMS or SMS will be irrelevant.

[sweb3028]

I generally use SMS only when replying to business associates that prefer it or for those family and friends that aren’t as familiar with other forms of mobile messaging.

[Ed Hansberry]

On Cingluar, the cheapest SMS add-on is a lot more than that. And, at least with incoming calls, you can choose not to answer the phone and therefore not use airtime. With SMS, you have no choice unless you have it disabled on your account. But then you can't use it if you want to.
there is a number for SMS messages in the settings of WM GSM phones. what if you changed the number? it is in the phone in Menu|Options|Services|Voice and text messages. you could then change it back if you wanted use it. no clue if that will work… just speculating.

[MitchellO]

On Cingluar, the cheapest SMS add-on is a lot more than that. And, at least with incoming calls, you can choose not to answer the phone and therefore not use airtime. With SMS, you have no choice unless you have it disabled on your account. But then you can't use it if you want to.

Are you serious that you get charged for INCOMING calls as well as outgoing?? That is just outrageous!!

[MitchellO]

Any my choice for the poll would be 2-3 times per day.

[Kris Kumar]

I use SMS to communicate with my wife. Even though she has a Windows Mobile Smartphone, her phone does not have the data plan, so SMS is the best and the surest way to send her messages. I agree with Arne, I like fact the SMS is guaranteed to be delivered the moment is switched on or in the coverage area.

Now if she had data plan, she would need to have push email support before we can eliminate SMS.

[TopDog]

Are you serious that you get charged for INCOMING calls as well as outgoing?? That is just outrageous!!
My thought exactly... never heard of that before.

I use SMS daily. Most of the time to friends, colleagues and family, but also occasionally also to business partners that I know prefer it for short messages.

SMS is very common and cheap here in Scandinavia.

[MitchellO]

SMS is very common and cheap here in Scandinavia.

Its very common here in Australia too, although it could definately be cheaper.

[Janak Parekh]

Are you serious that you get charged for INCOMING calls as well as outgoing?? That is just outrageous!!
It's always been like that in North America. It's an artifact of the very powerful landline lobby that was established in the last 100+ years, since we built out a very extensive wired infrastructure very early in the game. The landline lobby is fearful that if we have calling party pays (CPP), then people will really ditch landline service in spades, and so they've been successful in blocking that policy change.

Some more information, including other technical issues, can be found here (http://www.mobilein.com/calling_party_pays.htm). The one positive upshot is that mobile minutes are really cheap here, so the effect is largely muted. In fact, minutes are so cheap here (for instance, T-Mobile offers 1,000 weekday minutes and unlimited night/weekend minutes for $50/month) that sometimes people are more willing to talk than to SMS. That said, SMS has finally become cheap and ubiquitous enough that its other advantages are noticeable, and I use SMS extensively with pretty much anyone in my age group. However, I still don't SMS my parents, uncles, aunts, etc.

--janak

[vilasman]

I use SMS alot with my wife. She works in a office and I am in the field all day. I SMS her so that her phone wont ring and disturb her office mates and I prefer it because i dont have to stop what I am doing, to answer. I can read the message when it is convient. I do have push email and my wife is at her computer most of the day.
But...
It is easier to go to contacts ( I have a T-Mobile MDA) and select to send her a message, or just go to messages and reply to one she has sent me, than it is to go online, log into my email and send the message.
And I am 40, not so much of a young folk anymore

[MultiMatt]

I used to work at Best Buy as a manager, and we all SMS'd each other frequently throughout the day, updating sales numbers. In my recent position, it's not used nearly as much for work purposes, but I still send msgs quite regularly to friends.
One of the most popular things I use SMS for is Birthdays and Anniversaries. I have all of my friends and family's special dates entered in my device, and when their special day arrives, I shoot them an SMS right from my Today screen using Spb Diary (http://www.handster.com/product.php?id=15&amp;partner_id=46).
Of course, that only works with people for whom I have a mobile phone number, and some people occasionally never get the message because they have no clue how to operate the text message feature of their phone! But for the most part, it is a great way to shoot a quick note which can be read at the convenience of the recipient...

For those who say that SMS is just for kids, I disagree. The ability to instantaneously shoot someone a quick message is VERY convenient, and often more effective than email. Perfect? No, but very handy...!

Matt

[tom dunne]

Are you serious that you get charged for INCOMING calls as well as outgoing?? That is just outrageous!!

Don't forget that here in Europe we get charged for incoming calls when we are outside our home country (roaming), so it's not that unusual.

As for texting - probably send 10-20 a day. My wife, on the other hand, probably sends that many in an hour. :D

[Tony Rylow]

I send and receive a total of about 800 sms messages a month. Mostly just back and forth from my GF nad a couple close friends and family.

[ppcsurfr]

Well, I've been using SMS even before Windows Mobile devices became phone devices as well...

I used to have unlimited SMS service, but my network decided on charging for it... roughly about US$0.02 per message. My current plan still allows me to send 400+ messages without getting charged extra...

I normally send and receive about 1500 messages a month...

This I think is the most common way of communicating when you want to send a message instead of conversing with the person. SMS in the Philippines replaced the pager and the paging service. It's much easier to directly send a message... sometimes messages that don't require immediate replies.

[daS]

"Hey, meet me in conference room B" as I am walking in from the parking lot is far faster for both sender and receiver than dialing. SMS definitely has its place, and you don't have to be a teen to use it.
I don't agree Ed.

You have to enter the same phone number for both SMS and dialing. But if you call, you can find out: a) is the person available to meet you at the time, b) has an alternate meeting time/place been determined, D) is there a change in the meeting agenda topics, etc.

Also, with a phone call, I know if the person received my message or not. With SMS, I don't know if the phone was left in his/her desk, car, etc., or if the cellular reception is bad where they are currently located. OTOH, If I try calling and only end up with voicemail, I can try another form of communications (call the office phone, ask the receptionist to page them, etc.)

[Clinton Fitch]

I'm a little late to the conversation here :oops: but I thought I'd throw my .02 out there....

I love SMS, use it daily with my team of engineers and family. It is something that, although I have push mail, is a quick and easy way to have somewhat instant communcation across the wide range of blackberry, palm and WinMo devices in my company. When I'm by the laptop and my device is docked I use Jeyo Mobile Extender which lets me SMS from Outlook - love it.

I do think this is a generational thing to an extent. Both my kids (18 &amp; 15) use SMS for communication stating that email is "for old people". :roll:

[Ed Hansberry]

"Hey, meet me in conference room B" as I am walking in from the parking lot is far faster for both sender and receiver than dialing. SMS definitely has its place, and you don't have to be a teen to use it.
I don't agree Ed.

You have to enter the same phone number for both SMS and dialing. But if you call, you can find out: a) is the person available to meet you at the time, b) has an alternate meeting time/place been determined, D) is there a change in the meeting agenda topics, etc.

oddly enough, I don't worry much about that. rank has its privileges I guess.
Also, with a phone call, I know if the person received my message or not. With SMS, I don't know if the phone was left in his/her desk, car, etc., or if the cellular reception is bad where they are currently located. OTOH, If I try calling and only end up with voicemail, I can try another form of communications (call the office phone, ask the receptionist to page them, etc.)

we are all tethered to our cell phones here, so that isn't an issue. It may not work for you but I still assert SMS definitely has its place, and you don't have to be a teen to use it.

[paschott]

Count me in as one of the people who would disable it for the most part. I'd really like to be able to turn it on/off as needed (with the default for me being "off"). I don't use it to reach other people and don't use it often enough on my Cingular network to justify even the minimum plan. I really dislike getting charged $.10 for each message received, even if I don't want the message. It hasn't happened often, but I do get the sporadic message from a co-worker from their phone. I shoot back something along the lines of "e-mail me, I get e-mail on my phone and get charged for your text messages."

I personally prefer to call or send an e-mail and would rather hook into the net to send an SMS on the really rare occasion that I need to use it. If Cingular dropped the charge for incoming SMS, I'd be more open to the idea. I have no problem if someone wants to pay to send me a message - I just don't want to pay to receive it.

Anyway, my $.02 for what it's worth. Interesting feedback from others on the topic, though. I agree that it's not just for kids/teens. I just don't care for it in its current form in the US.

-Pete

[Dave Beauvais]

... when it comes to other people I know in North America, SMS is not very widely used. ...
I thought that, too, until I visited a friend of mine over the summer and watched as her teenage nieces' thumbs flew over their keypads. It was crazy. In about five minutes, I think the two of them must have sent and received at least fifteen messages each. I asked why they didn't just call the person since it would be more efficient to just speak all that text, and they said because then they end up getting stuck on the phone for 20-30 minutes talking about stupid stuff. With text, they can just respond if they want to and not have to lie about having to go somewhere to get off the phone. :lol:

I use SMS with only one of my friends. I want to use it more but none of them are willing to pay additional monthly fees for an allotment of messages and get mad at me if I send them one because they then have to pay it. One of the things I liked about my Treo 700w before switching to an XV6700 was the "Ignore with text message" option for declining an incoming voice call. I predefined some text messages such as "I'm in a meeting" which I could respond with if I was unable to take their call. My XV6700 doesn't have that, but I can't use it anyway, since nobody wants to receive text messages. Would definitely be nice if incoming messages were free of charge.

I'm thirty, the friend I SMS with is thirty. Everyone else I want to SMS with is in their thirties. I wish they'd just give it a try instead of just looking at it as another line item on their monthly bill.

[GerManager]

As for me, I think somewhere between 200 and 500 sms.

But it's annoying when some people prefer long sms discussions instead of calling and speaking for two minutes:(

[Ed Hansberry]

As for me, I think somewhere between 200 and 500 sms.

But it's annoying when some people prefer long sms discussions instead of calling and speaking for two minutes:(
Lol! yeah, after about the third SMS, I just pick up the phone.

[Bittermormon]

I use the palm sms threader that is floating around (dont PM me asking for it please) and use SMS for all my AIM stuff when I'm away from my copmuter. That way I don't need another 3rd part app slowing down my wizard.

I used WM5NewMenu from XDA developers to create shortcuts to all my common aim people (theres only 6 or so) and its really slick. This month I'm really testing to see if unlimited smsm from Tmo is truly unlimited. Prolly have over 1500 this month.

[alanjrobertson]

I am sure that there are some European members here that think it totally absurd that we pay for incoming calls and messages here in the US (and I assume Canada and Mexico as well). Hehe, hit the nail on the head there! I actually knew about the paying for incoming calls issue in North America already but hadn't realised you paid to received text messages too - that really seems ludicrous!

I'm a low-volume texter by European standards - I get 100/month automatically as part of my price plan and only use abour 20/month. I still tend to phone/e-mail people more but texting is very useful for getting in touch with someone without feeling you're disturbing them as much as a phone call might. I certainly would be very annoyed to have to pay to receive them though!

Alan

[Oleander]

Being from europe, yes I think that policy is absurd, but I can understand why someone would make it. Here landlines is fast becoming a thing of the past - actually the phone companies are losing landline customers at an alarming rate and they certainly dont get young people to sign up (gone VoIP myself). Why pay 20 $ a month for a landline where calls to mobiles cost twice as much as if you call mobile to mobile, when you can pay 0 $ a month for a mobile, half the amount per min. and for 15$ a month get free sms?

Here sms is cheap and gprs cost thru the nose so its sms instead of emails or perhaps instead of IM..

I'm old (40) and sitting in front of a computer all day, so i only do 10-20 sms' a day. :lol:

Here in denmark there are more mobiles than there are citizens so sms is the sure way to get in touch with someone.

[alanjrobertson]

I've still got a landline but the only reason I have it is for my ADSL broadband! (&amp; I suppose my parents call me on it rather than the mobile sometimes) - rather annoying having to pay all that money on line rental.

[Richard76]

Although I mostly use push email on my TyTN here in Canada during my business day, I also use SMS with family and a couple of business associates. I have been trying to get my home office, which is 1,500 kms away from me, to use it more but it has been difficult.

Funny enough, to address the opening post, I just finished reading a couple of articles yesterday in Wireless Telecom. This magazine represents the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association and in the first article they state, "Canadians sent 917 million person-to-person text mssages from their mobile phones in the 2nd quarter of 2006, more than tripling the 290 million sent during the same quarter a year ago." That represents approximately 10 million text messages per day!

The other article dealt with wireless network system overload in an emergency situation. This article was interesting from the standpoint that it talked about what happens when too many users are trying to access the system (make cell phone calls) at the same time in a given geographic area, like during an emegency situation.

The article cited the recent shooting incedent in Montreal at Dawson College. Many users were trying to phone out only to get the fast busy signal, meaning the network was overloaded. And, when trying to redial, this makes matters even worse. Others, however, were sending text messages and they were going through without problems.

This was explained in terms of simple math. Most text messages are restricted to 160 characters, or 1,300 bits. Conversely, voice uses digital voice coders that communicate at rates between 8,000 and 13,000 bits per second. So, even a large text message represents only a fraction of a second compared to a voice call.

Therefore, text messaging is a far more efficient method of communicating, whether during an emergency or not. Just think, how much time of any cell call is taken up by meaningless chit chat. How is the weather? What did you do this weekend? I prefer the KISS principle!

[Janak Parekh]

The article cited the recent shooting incedent in Montreal at Dawson College. Many users were trying to phone out only to get the fast busy signal, meaning the network was overloaded. And, when trying to redial, this makes matters even worse. Others, however, were sending text messages and they were going through without problems.

This was explained in terms of simple math. Most text messages are restricted to 160 characters, or 1,300 bits. Conversely, voice uses digital voice coders that communicate at rates between 8,000 and 13,000 bits per second. So, even a large text message represents only a fraction of a second compared to a voice call.
Actually, there's a bigger reason why SMSes can be sent when a voice channel cannot be acquired: SMSes use the control/signaling channel normally used to ring phones, and avoid using any voice bandwidth whatsoever. So, it's not just a bandwidth issue; SMS uses a typically-low-bandwidth high-availability channel for its exchange, although this does open up cell networks to a denial-of-service attack (if SMS can flood a network, no calls would work either; rate-limiting can help against this to some extent).

I prefer the KISS principle!
Agreed. :)

--janak

[ppcsurfr]

I don't agree Ed.

You have to enter the same phone number for both SMS and dialing. But if you call, you can find out: a) is the person available to meet you at the time, b) has an alternate meeting time/place been determined, D) is there a change in the meeting agenda topics, etc.

Also, with a phone call, I know if the person received my message or not. With SMS, I don't know if the phone was left in his/her desk, car, etc., or if the cellular reception is bad where they are currently located. OTOH, If I try calling and only end up with voicemail, I can try another form of communications (call the office phone, ask the receptionist to page them, etc.)

When to use SMS...

the light stuff...

"Hi. just thinking of you."
"I miss you."

practical...

"pls. sms me when you're free."
"what's your land line number?"
"what's the address?"
"come down now, I'm at the parking lot already."

While you can call and say "I miss you." The other person is required to listen real time. With SMS, you can send it anytime and the recipient can read it at his/her own time.

Can you remember a 12 digit phone number? how about 2 12-digit phone numbers? texting solves this.

SMS is less obtrusive that is why it is used more in the Philippines. That's how we see it. other people in other places have different views of it... while it has taken other countries by storm, some cultures are reluctant to embrace this different form of communication.

The problem now becomes more obvious when American based ideas try to penetrate the worldwide market and they fall short of what Europe and Asia have grown accustomed to.

As an example, Motorola couldn't come up with an SMS friendly phone until after 2001. Even then, they seem to be left behind in GSM-culture features.