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[O262]Online Text Messaging Service

by David H. Urmann, Dav

People used to call another person with their mobile phones. But times changed, and texting has now become the norm in communicating via mobile phones.

The term SMS is a term another term for Short Message Service. It refers to the means of communicating by means of a mobile phone, PDA or computer to send messages.

Usually mobile phones continuously send and receive information from the cell sites' control channel even if idle. This allows your mobile phone to change cell sites as you move to other locations.

The control channel also serves as a way to send a message to your phone whenever someone calls which makes the phone ring. The tower then provides a voice channel frequency to allow voice calls.

The control channel is also used when sending text messaging. When an SMS message is sent, the message will be forwarded to the SMSC and then flows towards the tower. The tower then forwards the message to the mobile phone as a little piece of data to the control channel.

Text messaging has its many advantages over other means of communication technology. Text messaging allows mobile users to communicate privately without being heard by others. Sending an SMS messages is also a lot faster than composing e-mails.

It is also very convenient since you don't need a computer unlike instant messaging and e-mailing. Text messaging also allows hearing impaired persons to communicate. Text messaging service is a lot more cheaply compared to the cost of voice calls.

Another advantage of text messaging is that whenever a text message is sent to a mobile phone, the message is stored in the SMSC. This means that even if the mobile phone is off or is unavailable, the message will still be received as soon as the mobile phone is turned on or has a signal. Text messages can also be saved in the SIM card as long as it is not deleted.

In addition, text messaging allows subscribers to send messages to multiple users at the same time. This is called broadcasting, also used by many companies to distribute advertisements, news updates and other promotional information to mobile phone subscribers. Some TV shows use text messaging service for their contests or polls. TV viewers can participate in game shows through texts. There are also SMS subscriptions provided by mobile telecom providers to provide subscribers regular information such as news reports, weather reports, sports news or any other interests.

Yahoo! and Google also uses text messaging services as a way to get information on movie schedules, business listings and driving directions.
With the development of the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), it is now possible to send messages more efficiently and faster.

One of the latest advancement in text messaging service is the introduction of the Multimedia Messaging Service or MMS which allows subscribers to send text messages combined with pictures or sounds. This service is available if you have MMS capable mobile phones.

Due to the many advantages of text messaging service, many people around the world are using this service to communicate with their loved ones even in far away countries. Text messaging service is also being used by business owners to communicate with their employees and business associates.

Text messaging has, since its invention, has become one of the most favoured methods of communication of our time. It's simple to use and will be delivered immediately. There is no waiting around for someone to answer the phone, there is no having to make small talk and it is completely private. You can do it at your desk at work, you can do it while you are in the bath or you can do it whilst cooking the dinner, watching TV, dancing in a club or in a waiting room. In fact, you can do it absolutely anywhere, apart from while you are driving, and nobody else knows about it.

Unless, of course, you send it to the wrong person and then you could possibly be in the brown stuff up to your neck (voice of experience). This is something you don't want to do, particularly if the message is either uncomplimentary or personal.

It is now possible to be notified of appointments, offers, events and personal reminders via text message and for this to be possible a whole industry has sprung up offering text messaging services to companies and organisations.

Is this a worthwhile service I hear you ask? Why not just ring the person involved and talk to them? Well, that sort of thing takes a great deal of time and time itself is something that nobody has enough of these days. It would also be pretty annoying to be rung in the middle of dinner to find out that someone was trying to sell you tickets to one event or another.

So, with a text messaging service, it can be automated and there is no need to pay staff to do it for you. It's also a pretty good form of advertising as I know myself. When I have been contacted by an automated text messaging service to let me know of upcoming concert tickets I have considered it much more seriously than I would if I had read about the concert.

A text messaging service is also a way of getting information to people that they wouldn't necessarily go looking for. Again, this is a form of advertising and one that can be done at a much reduced cost to the business.

There is a whole dating industry set up that utilises text messaging services too. Internet dating sites and even The Times and other such reputable papers have a personal column that uses text messages for people to get in touch with each others. That lack of personal touch comes in handy in these circumstances, in the event of one party or another backing out without losing face.

Social networking sites also use text messaging services for when users are offline. If a message comes in, it can either be forwarded to the users mobile phone via text or that person can simply be sent an automated message notifying them that a message is waiting for them. This will entice the user back to their PC quicker than they might have done if they hadn't received the text. This thus generates more business for the user.

We then have the slightly more dubious market of porn businesses that use text messaging services to put working girls/boys in touch with potential customers.
It seems however we dress it up and however people complain about the lack of personal touch, text messaging is here to stay as a method of communication that is probably the most convenient.

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Both David H. Urmann & Catherine Harvey are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

David H. Urmann has sinced written about articles on various topics from Promotional Advertising, Cooking Tips and Travel and Leisure. For more information on and