Text Message Services

I started text messaging five years ago. It started extremely infrequently. Text messages weren't very popular yet, and many of my friends would get mad if you sent them a text since it cost them extra money. But slowly it started to catch on. It was nice though that already back then you could use AIM to send an SMS to a phone, and the phone could respond back. I didn't know of a way to initiate an AIM though.

As more of my friends started to catch on to text messaging, I eventually got a 20 text messages/month plan. Then suddenly I had friends who started text messaging after I started, but had unlimited plans and were using it constantly. This bumped me up to 50 SMS/month and eventually to also get an unlimited plan myself. Text messages were useful for communicating with someone when you're in a noisy bar and they are still trying to find their way. I personally don't have my text message notifications make a sound, so I tell friends to text me to check if I'm awake if they are afraid of calling too late (meaning at 3am, since I'm a known insomniac). Coworkers would text in meetings. They are good for leaving messages for people who are notorious for not checking voicemail, finding out a quick answer for something that does not require a full conversation, or just letting someone know something that you do not need an immediate answer to, or an answer at all.

But text messages aren't only useful for communicating to people. There are many bots out there that text message for useful reasons. Having an unlimited plan makes it easier to take advantage of these services.

GOOGLE (466453)
This is the service I send text messages to the most often. It provides many useful features. On initial set-up, I set the zip code of where I live (by texting "set location <zipcode>"). This is how I might text GOOGLE on a typical day:

When I wake up in the morning, I text message GOOGLE "w" and it responds back with the weather for today. I get dressed accordingly and go to work. My coworkers and I want to go to lunch. Someone has a craving for Mexican food, so I text message "mexican" and GOOGLE responds back with the Mexican restaurants in the area, along with their addresses and phone numbers. In a meeting later, someone uses a word I'm not familiar with. I quickly text "define <word>" and learn it (depending on the company I've worked at, either everyone texted in meetings and it was okay, or nobody did and it was considered rude to do so). After work, I'm supposed to meet some friends at a bar downtown that I've never been to. I remember the name, but forgot to write down the address. So I text message "<bar name> <zipcode, since it's not in my set zipcode>" and get the address. I do not recognize the address, so I get directions by texting "<work address> to <bar address>". Using these directions, I get to the bar. While at the bar, a song comes on. It sounds familiar, but none of us can remember the name of the song. So I text message "web lyrics don't you remember you told me you loved me baby" and have a sudden "Duh" moment. Someone asks me if I happened to catch last night's hockey game and what the score was. I text message "score <teamname>" and find out.

Between sending and receiving the text messages with some of the responses being multiple texts, I probably just used up my old quota of 20 texts/month right there. But I don't blink an eye with my unlimited plan, and I find the convenience worth it!

Google Calendar (GVENT/48368)
I keep my calendar on Google Calendar. It has a nifty option to have your calendar events texted to you for a reminder, so I have it set up to both text message me 24 hours before an event, and 1 hour before an event. In cases where I might need an address later, I include the address in my description of my event so I get in my text as well. I never forget anymore.

You can also check your calendar by sending texts to GVENT using various commands.

MYNBA (69622)
I grew up watching the NBA. When I can't get to a TV to watch the game, I like having updates at halftime and the end of the game on how my team's doing, so I signed up for alerts from MYNBA. They also text me when it's a close game with 5 minutes to go, so I can maybe hurry to a TV to catch the end of it. To find your team's code, go here.

Note: other sport organizations provide similar services, as do other websites (such as CBSSports). This is just the one I use.

AIMAIM (246246) or AOL010 (265010)
Like I mentioned before, AIM was one of the first services that caught onto SMS, but it's also really evolved since then. Now you can log into an screenname or initiate conversations. You can opt not to sign into a screenname, and your screenname will just be your phone number (example: +15558675309). I don't think AOL's own website does a good enough job explaining their own service, so you can refer to this pdf I found online.

40404
I'm not quite sure why they chose this shortcode, but this is the shortcode for Twitter. You have to log online onto your account to set it up, but after you give them your phone number, you can send text messages to this shortcode to update your Twitter messages. You can also set it up so that your friends' Twitter updates come to your phone, but with how often some people Twitter, I personally have avoided the latter option.


The services I listed above are free by the provider, meaning that they don't cost anything extra besides what your normal text messaging plan is. I want to warn those just getting into SMS services however, there are similar services out there that do tack on an additional charge, so beware. But for me, until the next generation of iPhones come out and I get that, I find no reason to pay for data/web capability on my phone while I have unlimited texting. The various services out there seem to provide everything I need. Feel free to suggest to me SMS services you use yourself!