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.