Sending SMS Texts from PC to Mobile?

suez_channel

I wonder if anyone has experience of using a PC to send Text Message to a Customer's mobile phone.

Our small firm would want to use this to remind clients of an upcoming Meeting, so sporadic Individual messages - not bulk Marketing

I have done a google trawl and found such things as Skype Manager, Gmail to mobile, using Outlook, & co.
Links follow for ease of reference if anyone can comment on their own usage please let me know, Thanks

http://www.totext.net/products/email_to_text.html

http://download.skype.com/share/business/guides/skype-manager-quick-start-guide.pdf


https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=106015

http://www.labnol.org/software/tutorials/send-receive-sms-text-messages-from-pc-computer-to-mobile-phone-outlook/2866/

Savvy_Sue

I'd try to find companies / organisations which do this, and see if they've got any recommendations (good or bad!) One thing to check is that your messages are clearly identified: who they're from, and who to contact if there's a problem.

Our dentist sends text reminders the day before appointments, and this is helpful as it says it's from the dentist! After my dad died, I was carrying his phone round for a few weeks to use the credit up, and we kept getting text messages reminding him about tomorrow's appointments. No clue as to which appointment this was, but as he was attending several different hospital outpatient clinics for various things we assume it was one of them. the message asked us to cancel any appointments no longer wanted, but we couldn't because we didn't know who to contact! Mum wasn't able to help us identify what was what, so Dad's in the great 'DNA' stats.

InsideInsurance

The other consideration is what happens to the message is someone actually replies to it? Does it find its way to you or not? If it doesn't do they receive some form of message to advise the message wont have been received?

Our ISP uses it for their helpdesk ticket system so when there's an update you get a text as well as an email advising you. With theirs if you reply your txt gets tagged onto the open ticket - not sure how it works if you have multiple open tickets.

I have integrated automatic txt messaging before in websites but it has always been messages to the site owners (eg a txt when an order's placed or if the site goes down etc) rather than being customer facing.

Many obviously charge for sending texts out on your behalf so make sure the system you use is secure, some are very poorly secured and I've known people loose all their credits when spammers found their ID/password and used the account for bulk txts on payday loans

theesel1994

That's one I miss about my Nokia phone - I was able to use a program with it that meant I could send texts from my PC via my phone. Quite often they'd be lengthy texts sent to several people at once so a lot easier to compose on a PC.

theesel1994

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Our dentist sends text reminders the day before appointments, and this is helpful as it says it's from the dentist!

I started using a dentist again after a gap of 21 years. They phone me up the day before. So I had them phoning me up one morning to rearrange an appointment I was meant to have in a few weeks then they phoned me half an hour later to remind me of the following day's appointment.

paddyrg

http://www.intellisms.co.uk/

There are many similar companies

Use one instead of trying to cobble together something home-made and flaky.