Text message a cell phone using Outlook (2000/2003/2007)

You don't need text messaging, or a cell phone for that matter, to send text messages to someone who has the service. Virtually every mobile phone and carrier around these days offers Short Message Service protocol, or phone messaging. It's a simple method of sending messages between the mobile phone and another device. Usually, you tediously enter your message into your phone (via the 12 tiny alphanumeric keys on the keypad), and then enter the number to which you wish to send the note. However, most people don't realize that you can send a short message from a computer to the phone, since your email client doesn't accept telephone numbers only, as a telephone does. The secret is the carrier.

Each mobile phone carrier maintains a mail server that allows them to handle short messaging between their phones and other devices—even across carriers. And that means each mobile phone has to have its own email address. For instance, if your mobile number is (502) 555-1475 and you use Voicestream, you can instant message your phone by simply entering the phone number and then a domain specific to that carrier, which in Voicestream's case is @voicestream.net. Therefore, to send a message to your phone, you'd enter 5025551475@voicestream.net in the To field in Outlook, and then simply continue with your email as normal. You'll also need to keep your message short, since SMS only transfers the first 110 characters of your message (thus the Short in Short Message Service).