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91-562: Phone Link enables a PC to send (and receive) text messages relayed from the mobile device, including both SMS and MMS , as well as RCS for select smartphones. It can also access the 2000 most recent photos on the connected phone. Audio that is played on the phone can also be controlled on the Phone Link interface, so long as the playing apps have media controls in the Android notification area. Phone Link can also be used to mirror

182-762: A cellular network or may also be sent via satellite or Internet connection. The term originally referred to messages sent using the Short Message Service (SMS) on mobile devices. It has grown beyond alphanumeric text to include multimedia messages using the Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and Rich Communication Services (RCS), which can contain digital images, videos, and sound content, as well as ideograms known as emoji ( happy faces , sad faces, and other icons), and on various instant messaging apps. Text messaging has been an extremely popular medium of communication since

273-625: A , e , s , z ) to enable using cell phones without Polish script or to save space in Unicode messages. Historically, this language developed out of shorthand used in bulletin board systems and later in Internet chat rooms , where users would abbreviate some words to allow a response to be typed more quickly, though the amount of time saved was often inconsequential. However, this became much more pronounced in SMS, where mobile phone users either have

364-582: A 1,000-foot range picocell, but it survived. American Personal Communications (APC), the first GSM carrier in America, provided the first text-messaging service in the United States. Sprint Telecommunications Venture, a partnership of Sprint Corp. and three large cable-TV companies, owned 49 percent of APC. The Sprint venture was the largest single buyer at a government-run spectrum auction that raised $ 7.7 billion in 2005 for PCS licenses. APC operated under

455-593: A GSM subgroup under the leadership of Finn Trosby. It was further developed under the leadership of Kevin Holley and Ian Harris (see Short Message Service ). SMS forms an integral part of Signalling System No. 7 (SS7). Under SS7, it is a "state" with 160 characters of data, coded in the ITU-T "T.56" text format, that has a "sequence lead in" to determine different language codes and may have special character codes that permit, for example, sending simple graphs as text. This

546-446: A bridge, to get them more interested in formal writing. Direct Text Marketing Direct text marketing is a form of SMS marketing . This includes using a medium which involves text messaging over a mobile device and can be done from a mobile phone or in bulk using an SMS Aggregator and distributor online. Some businesses provide the entire service including creating the messages and sending them via an aggregator on behalf of

637-508: A business. Today, direct text marketing has been subsumed under mobile marketing , which includes rich media embedded into the marketing messages as well as those messages sent via mobile applications besides SMS. Companies and businesses can benefit from using this form of modern marketing by sending either promotional content, reminders, event announcements, discount coupons or any other informational content via text format directly to individuals via their personal mobile phones or PDAs, which

728-481: A character onscreen. Messages usually cost 0.05 to 0.86 Euro apiece, and games can require the player to send dozens of messages. In December 2003, a Finnish TV channel, MTV3 , put a Santa Claus character on-air reading aloud text messages sent in by viewers. On 12 March 2004, the first entirely "interactive" TV channel, VIISI, began operation in Finland. However, SBS Finland Oy took over the channel and turned it into

819-431: A decline in the use of SMS in parts of the world. A survey conducted by MetrixLabs showed that 63% of Baby Boomers, 63% of Generation X, and 67% of Generation Y said that they used instant messengers in place of texting. A Facebook survey showed that 65% of people surveyed thought that messaging applications made group messaging easier. Of many texting trends, a system known as microblogging has surfaced, which consists of

910-421: A friend or colleague about a meeting. As with e-mail, informality and brevity have become an accepted part of text messaging. Some text messages such as SMS can also be used for the remote control of home appliances. It is widely used in domotics systems. Some amateurs have also built their own systems to control (some of) their appliances via SMS. A Flash SMS is a type of text message that appears directly on

1001-475: A gendered dimension and it plays into the development of teen identity. In addition we text to a very small number of other persons. For most people, half of their texts go to 3 – 5 other people. Research by Rosen et al. (2009) found that those young adults who used more language-based textisms (shortcuts such as LOL, 2nite, etc.) in daily writing produced worse formal writing than those young adults who used fewer linguistic textisms in daily writing. However,

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1092-1298: A high quality of their services. Just one of many SMS applications that have proven highly popular and successful in the financial services industry is mobile receipts. In January 2009, Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) published the Mobile Banking Overview for financial institutions in which it discussed the advantages and disadvantages of mobile channel platforms such as Short Message Services (SMS), Mobile Web, Mobile Client Applications, SMS with Mobile Web and Secure SMS. Mobile interaction services are an alternative way of using SMS in business communications with greater certainty. Typical business-to-business applications are telematics and Machine-to-Machine , in which two applications automatically communicate with each other. Incident alerts are also common, and staff communications are also another use for B2B scenarios. Businesses can use SMS for time-critical alerts, updates, and reminders, mobile campaigns, content and entertainment applications. Mobile interaction can also be used for consumer-to-business interactions, such as media voting and competitions, and consumer-to-consumer interaction, for example, with mobile social networking, chatting and dating. Text messaging

1183-831: A large number of consumers racking up huge phone bills. A new type of free-premium or hybrid-premium content has emerged with the launch of text-service websites. These sites allow registered users to receive free text messages when items they are interested in go on sale, or when new items are introduced. An alternative to inbound SMS is based on long numbers (international mobile number format, e.g., +44 7624 805000, or geographic numbers that can handle voice and SMS, e.g., 01133203040 ), which can be used in place of short codes or premium-rated short messages for SMS reception in several applications, such as TV voting , product promotions and campaigns. Long numbers are internationally available, as well as enabling businesses to have their own number, rather than short codes, which are usually shared across

1274-445: A lot of brands. Additionally, long numbers are non-premium inbound numbers. The use of text messaging for workplace purposes grew significantly during the mid-2000s. As companies seek competitive advantages, many employees used new technology, collaborative applications, and real-time messaging such as SMS, instant messaging , and mobile communications to connect with teammates and customers. Some practical uses of text messaging include

1365-524: A miniaturized blog, inspired mainly by people's tendency to jot down informal thoughts and post them online. They consist of websites like X (formerly Twitter ) and its Chinese equivalent Weibo (微博). As of 2016, 21% of all American adults used Twitter. As of 2017, Weibo had 340 million active users. In some countries, text messages can be used to contact emergency services. In the UK, text messages can be used to call emergency services only after registering with

1456-509: A month for €10. In Finland, which has very high mobile phone ownership rates, some TV channels began "SMS chat", which involved sending short messages to a phone number, and the messages would be shown on TV. Chats are always moderated, which prevents users from sending offensive material to the channel. The craze evolved into quizzes and strategy games and then faster-paced games designed for television and SMS control. Games require users to register their nicknames and send short messages to control

1547-508: A more efficient way to communicate. Crystal has also been quoted in saying that "In a logical world, text messaging should not have survived." But text messaging didn't just come out of nowhere. It originally began as a messaging system that would send out emergency information. But it gained immediate popularity with the public. What followed is the SMS we see today, which is a very quick and efficient way of sharing information from person to person. Work by Richard Ling has shown that texting has

1638-527: A music channel named The Voice in November 2004. In 2006, the Prime Minister of Finland , Matti Vanhanen , made the news when he allegedly broke up with his girlfriend with a text message. In 2007, the first book written solely in text messages, Viimeiset viestit ( Last Messages ), was released by Finnish author Hannu Luntiala . It is about an executive who travels through Europe and India. In

1729-756: A number of spelling abbreviations: as in the phrase "txt msg", "u" (an abbreviation for "you"), "HMU"("hit me up"; i.e., call me), or use of camel case , such as in "ThisIsVeryLame". To avoid the even more limited message lengths allowed when using Cyrillic or Greek letters, speakers of languages written in those alphabets often use the Latin alphabet for their own language . In certain languages utilizing diacritic marks, such as Polish, SMS technology created an entire new variant of written language: characters normally written with diacritic marks (e.g., ą , ę , ś , ż in Polish) are now being written without them (as

1820-525: A numeric keyboard (with older cellphones) or a small QWERTY keyboard (for 2010s-era smartphones), so more effort is required to type each character, and there is sometimes a limit on the number of characters that may be sent. In Mandarin Chinese , numbers that sound similar to words are used in place of those words. For example, the numbers 520 in Chinese ( wǔ èr líng ) sound like the words for "I love you" ( wǒ ài nǐ ). The sequence 748 ( qī sì bā ) sounds like

1911-634: A part of the voting system (there was also a voting over traditional landline phone lines). In 2005, the Eurovision Song Contest organized the biggest televoting ever (with SMS and phone voting). During roaming , (that is, when a user connects to another network in different country from their own) the prices may be higher, but in July 2009, EU legislation went into effect limiting this price to €0.11. Mobile service providers in Finland offered contracts in which users can send 1000 text messages

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2002-752: A partnership with Samsung Electronics . In March 2022, Your Phone was rebranded to Phone Link and the interface was changed. At the same time, the Your Phone Companion app on mobile was also renamed, to Link to Windows. In April 2023, Microsoft started rolling out support for the iPhone on Windows 11 only. Text messaging Text messaging , or simply texting , is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile phones , tablet computers , smartwatches , desktops / laptops , or another type of compatible computer. Text messages may be sent over

2093-565: A primary role in the implication of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in an SMS sex scandal. Short messages are particularly popular among young urbanites. In many markets, the service is comparatively cheap. For example, in Australia, a message typically costs between A$ 0.20 and $ 0.25 to send (some prepaid services charge $ 0.01 between their own phones), compared with a voice call, which costs somewhere between $ 0.40 and $ 2.00 per minute (commonly charged in half-minute blocks). The service

2184-436: A quick and easy way to communicate with friends, family, and colleagues, including in contexts where a call would be impolite or inappropriate (e.g., calling very late at night or when one knows the other person is busy with family or work activities). Like e-mail and voicemail , and unlike calls (in which the caller hopes to speak directly with the recipient), texting does not require the caller and recipient to both be free at

2275-493: A short amount of time and without needing to set time aside to engage in conversation. With voice calling, both participants need to be free at the same time. Mobile phone users can maintain communication during situations in which a voice call is impractical, impossible, or unacceptable, such as during a school class or work meeting. Texting has provided a venue for participatory culture , allowing viewers to vote in online and TV polls, as well as receive information while they are on

2366-468: A sufficient extent that the term texting (used as a verb meaning the act of mobile phone users sending short messages back and forth) has entered the common lexicon. In 2012, young Asians considered SMS as the most popular mobile phone application. In the same year, 50 percent of American teens send 50 text messages or more per day, making it their most frequent form of communication. In 2004 in China, SMS

2457-603: A typewriter at home, Hillebrand typed out random sentences and counted every letter, number, punctuation mark, and space. Almost every time, the messages contained fewer than 160 characters, thus giving the basis for the limit one could type via text messaging. With Bernard Ghillebaert of France Télécom , he developed a proposal for the GSM (Groupe Spécial Mobile) meeting in February 1985 in Oslo. The first technical solution evolved in

2548-450: Is 1 peso per SMS (about US$ 0.023). Even after users were charged for SMS, it remained cheap, about one-tenth of the price of a voice call. This low price led to about five million Filipinos owning a cell phone by 2001. Because of the highly social nature of Philippine culture and the affordability of SMS compared to voice calls, SMS usage shot up. Filipinos used texting not only for social messages but also for political purposes, as it allowed

2639-561: Is available on a wide range of networks, including 3G networks. However, not all text-messaging systems use SMS; some notable alternate implementations of the concept include J-Phone 's SkyMail and NTT Docomo 's Short Mail , both in Japan. E-mail messaging from phones, as popularized by NTT Docomo's i-mode and the RIM BlackBerry , also typically use standard mail protocols such as SMTP over TCP/IP . As of 2007 , text messaging

2730-490: Is beneficial because of the relatively low cost entailed. Some observers have commented that it allows companies to reduce their impact on the environment because they are no longer using paper for their direct mails. The fundamental value is that the target audience is often compelled to open the text messages that arrive in their inbox. In a study in the United Kingdom, 81 percent opened and read text messages sent for

2821-625: Is commonly used in other languages as well. Crystal gives some examples in several languages such as Italian sei , "six", is used for sei , "you are". Example: dv6 = dove sei ("where are you") and French k7 = cassette ("cassette tape"). There is also the use of numeral sequences, substituting for several syllables of a word and creating whole phrases using numerals. For example, in French, a12c4 can be said as à un de ces quatres , "see you around" (literally: "to one of these four [days] "). An example of using symbols in texting and borrowing from English

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2912-750: Is enormously profitable to the service providers. At a typical length of only 190 bytes (including protocol overhead), more than 350 of these messages per minute can be transmitted at the same data rate as a usual voice call (9 kbit/s). There are also free SMS services available, which are often sponsored, that allow sending and receiving SMS from a PC connected to the Internet. Mobile service providers in New Zealand, such as One NZ and Spark New Zealand , provided up to 2000 SMS messages for NZ$ 10 per month. Users on these plans sent on average 1500 SMS messages every month. Text messaging became so popular that advertising agencies and advertisers jumped into

3003-540: Is mainly popular among people from 13 to 22 years old, it is also increasing among adults and business users. The age that a child receives their first cell phone has also decreased, making text messaging a popular way of communicating. The number of texts sent in the US has gone up over the years as the price has gone down to an average of $ 0.10 per text sent and received. To convince more customers to buy unlimited text messaging plans, some major cellphone providers have increased

3094-591: Is referred to by different colloquialisms depending on the region. It may simply be referred to as a "text" in North America, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines; an "SMS" in most of mainland Europe; or an "MMS" or "SMS" in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The sender of a text message is commonly referred to as a "texter". The electrical telegraph systems, developed in

3185-839: Is the use of @ . Whenever it is used in texting, its intended use is with the English pronunciation. Crystal gives the example of the Welsh use of @ in @F , pronounced ataf, meaning "to me". In character-based languages such as Chinese and Japanese, numbers are assigned syllables based on the shortened form of the pronunciation of the number, sometimes the English pronunciation of the number. In this way, numbers alone can be used to communicate whole passages, such as in Chinese, "8807701314520" ( bào bao nǐ qīng qing nǐ yīshēng yìshì wǒ ài nǐ ) can be literally translated as "Hug hug you, kiss you, whole life, whole life I love you." English influences worldwide texting in variation, but still in combination with

3276-502: Is used for tsunami warnings and in Europe, SMS is used to inform individuals of imminent disasters. Since the location of a handset is known, systems can alert everyone in an area that the events have made impossible to pass through e.g. an avalanche. A similar system, known as Emergency Alert , is used in Australia to notify the public of impending disasters through both SMS and landline phone calls. These messages can be sent based on either

3367-631: Is widely used in business settings; as well, it is used in many civil service and non-governmental organization workplaces. The U.S. And Canadian civil service both adopted BlackBerry smartphones in the 2000s. Group texts involve more than two users. They are often used when it is helpful to message many people at once, such as inviting multiple people to an event or arranging groups. They are also used in business for marketing and other customer notifications as well as intracompany communication. Group texts are often sent as MMS messages and therefore require an internet connection to send instead of using

3458-566: The National Health Service (England) more than £600 million ($ 980 million) a year. SMS messages are thought to be more cost-effective, swifter to deliver, and more likely to receive a faster response than letters. A 2012 study by Sims and colleagues examined the outcomes of 24,709 outpatient appointments scheduled in mental health services in South-East London. The study found that SMS message reminders could reduce

3549-513: The Filipino population), with around 1.39 billion SMS messages being sent daily. Because of the large number of text messages being sent, the Philippines became known as the "text capital of the world" during the late 1990s until the early 2000s. There are three mobile network companies operating in New Zealand, with some sub-brands and MVNOs. Spark NZ (formerly Telecom NZ), was the first telecommunication company in New Zealand. In 2011, Spark

3640-469: The Filipinos to express their opinions on current events and political issues. It became a powerful tool for Filipinos in promoting or denouncing issues and was a key factor during the 2001 EDSA II revolution, which overthrew then-President Joseph Estrada , who was eventually found guilty of corruption. According to 2009 statistics, there were about 72 million mobile service subscriptions (roughly 80% of

3731-473: The Great Debate"), David Crystal states that texters in all eleven languages use "lol" ("laughing out loud"), "u", "brb" ("be right back"), and "gr8" ("great"), all English-based shorthands. The use of pictograms and logograms in texts are present in every language. They shorten words by using symbols to represent the word or symbols whose name sounds like a syllable of the word such as in 2day or b4. This

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3822-477: The Philippines in 1995. In 1998, Philippine mobile service providers launched SMS more widely across the country, with initial television marketing campaigns targeting hearing-impaired users. The service was initially free with subscriptions, but Filipinos quickly exploited the feature to communicate for free instead of using voice calls, which they would be charged for. After telephone companies realized this trend, they began charging for SMS. The rate across networks

3913-444: The SMS traffic between businesses and mobile subscribers, being mainly responsible for carrying mission-critical messages, SMS for enterprises, content delivery and entertainment services involving SMS, e.g., TV voting. Considering SMS messaging performance and cost, as well as the level of text messaging services, SMS gateway providers can be classified as resellers of the text messaging capability of another provider's SMSC or offering

4004-496: The US agreed to stop billing for PSMS in 45 states, effectively ending its use in the United States. Outside the United States, premium short messages have been used for "real-world" services. For example, some vending machines now allow payment by sending a premium-rated short message, so that the cost of the item bought is added to the user's phone bill or subtracted from the user's prepaid credits. Recently, premium messaging companies have come under fire from consumer groups due to

4095-456: The United Kingdom, the figure was around 35–40 SMS messages per month. In each of these countries, the cost of sending an SMS message varied from €0.04–0.23, depending on the payment plan (with many contractual plans including all or several texts for free). In the United Kingdom, text messages are charged between £0.05–0.12. Curiously, France did not take to SMS in the same way, sending just under 20 messages on average per user per month. France has

4186-427: The United States in 2021, showing continued popularity of the technology. In the U.S., SMS is often charged both at the sender and at the destination, but, unlike phone calls, it cannot be rejected or dismissed. The reasons for lower uptake than other countries are varied. Many users have unlimited "mobile-to-mobile" minutes, high monthly minute allotments, or unlimited service. Moreover, " push to talk " services offer

4277-507: The United States, text messaging is very popular; as reported by CTIA in December 2009, the 286 million US subscribers sent 152.7 billion text messages per month, for an average of 534 messages per subscriber per month. The Pew Research Center found in May 2010 that 72% of U.S. adult cellphone users send and receive text messages. CTIA reported in 2022 that 2 trillion SMS and MMS were sent in

4368-558: The adult population had a mobile phone. In general, texting is more popular than making phone calls, as it is viewed as less intrusive and therefore more polite. In 2009, it was predicted that text messaging would become a key revenue driver for mobile network operators in Africa over the following couple of years. Today, text messaging is already slowly gaining influence in the African market. One such person used text messaging to spread

4459-497: The amount is typically divided between the mobile network operator and the value added service provider (VASP), either through revenue share or a fixed transport fee. Services like 82ASK and Any Question Answered have used the PSMS model to enable rapid response to mobile consumers' questions, using on-call teams of experts and researchers. In November 2013, amidst complaints about unsolicited charges on bills, major mobile carriers in

4550-537: The brand name Sprint Spectrum and launched its service on 15 November 1995, in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland. Vice President Al Gore in Washington, D.C., made the initial phone call to launch the network, calling Mayor Kurt Schmoke in Baltimore. Initial growth of text messaging worldwide was slow, with customers in 1995 sending on average only 0,4 messages per GSM customer per month. One factor in

4641-517: The curse "go to hell" ( qù sǐ ba ). Predictive text software, which attempts to guess words ( Tegic 's T9 as well as iTap ) or letters (Eatoni's LetterWise ) reduces the labour of time-consuming input. This makes abbreviations not only less necessary but slower to type than regular words that are in the software's dictionary . However, it makes the messages longer, often requiring the text message to be sent in multiple parts and, therefore, costing more to send. The use of text messaging has changed

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4732-450: The distinction), the operators may still internally transmit the content as short messages, especially if the destination is on the same network. Text messaging has historically been popular and cheap in China. About 700 billion messages were sent in 2007. Text message spam has also been a problem in China. In 2007, 353.8 billion spam messages were sent, up 93% from the previous year. It is about 12.44 messages per week per person. In 2010, it

4823-534: The early 19th century, used electrical signals to send text messages. In the late 19th century, wireless telegraphy was developed using radio waves . In 1933, the German Reichspost ( Reich postal service) introduced the first " telex " service. The University of Hawaii began using radio to send digital information as early as 1971, using ALOHAnet . Friedhelm Hillebrand conceptualised SMS in 1984 while working for Deutsche Telekom . Sitting at

4914-445: The emergency SMS service. This service is primarily aimed at people who, because of disability, are unable to make a voice call. It has recently been promoted as a means for walkers and climbers to call emergency services from areas where a voice call is not possible due to low signal strength. In the US, there is a move to require both traditional operators and over-the-top messaging providers to support texting to 911. In Asia, SMS

5005-409: The event. Modern SMS text messaging is usually sent from one mobile phone to another. Finnish Radiolinja became the first network to offer a commercial person-to-person SMS text messaging service in 1994. When Radiolinja's domestic competitor, Telecom Finland (now part of TeliaSonera ), also launched SMS text messaging in 1995 and the two networks offered cross-network SMS functionality, Finland became

5096-526: The exact opposite was true for informal writing. This suggests that perhaps the act of using textisms to shorten communication words leads young adults to produce more informal writing, which may then help them to be better "informal" writers. Due to text messaging, teens are writing more, and some teachers see that this comfort with language can be harnessed to make better writers. This new form of communication may be encouraging students to put their thoughts and feelings into words and this may be able to be used as

5187-543: The first nation where SMS text messaging was offered on a competitive as well as a commercial basis. GSM was allowed in the United States, but the radio frequencies were blocked and awarded to US "Carriers" to use US technology, which limited development of mobile messaging services in the US. The GSM in the US had to use a frequency allocated for private communication services (PCS) – what the ITU frequency régime had blocked for DECT ( Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications ) –

5278-416: The individual properties of languages. American popular culture is also recognized in shorthand. For example, Homer Simpson translates into: ~(_8^(|). Crystal also suggests that texting has led to more creativity in the English language, giving people opportunities to create their own slang, emoticons , abbreviations, acronyms, etc. The feeling of individualism and freedom makes texting more popular and

5369-422: The instant connectivity of SMS and are typically unlimited. The integration between competing providers and technologies necessary for cross-network text messaging was not initially available. Some providers originally charged extra for texting, reducing its appeal. In the third quarter of 2006, at least 12 billion text messages were sent on AT&T's network, up almost 15% from the preceding quarter. While texting

5460-451: The location of the phone or the address to which the handset is registered. In the early 2020s, device manufacturers have begun to integrate satellite messaging connectivity and satellite emergency services into conventional mobile phones for use in remote regions, where there is no reliable terrestrial cellular network. SMS messages are used in some countries as reminders of medical appointments. Missed outpatient clinic appointments cost

5551-411: The main screen without user interaction and is not automatically stored in the inbox. It can be useful in cases such as an emergency (e.g., fire alarm ) or confidentiality (e.g., one-time password ). SMS has historically been particularly popular in Europe, Asia (excluding Japan; see below), the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, while also gaining influence in Africa. Popularity has grown to

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5642-451: The most important guarantees industries such as financial services, energy and commodities trading, health care and enterprises demand in their mission-critical procedures. One way to guarantee such a quality of text messaging lies in introducing SLAs ( Service Level Agreement ), which are common in IT contracts. By providing measurable SLAs, corporations can define reliability parameters and set up

5733-412: The move that allowed students of secondary schools to use mobile phone text language in the end-of-the-year-exam papers. Highly publicized reports, beginning in 2002, of the use of text language in school assignments, caused some to become concerned that the quality of written communication is on the decline, and other reports claim that teachers and professors are beginning to have a hard time controlling

5824-403: The move. Texting can also bring people together and create a sense of community through " Smart Mobs " or "Net War", which create "people power". Research in 2015 has also proven that text messaging is somehow making the social distances larger and could be ruining verbal communication skills for many people. The small phone keypad and the rapidity of typical text message exchanges have caused

5915-758: The number of missed psychiatric appointments by 25–28%, representing a potential national yearly saving of over £150 million. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, medical facilities in the United States are using text messaging to coordinate the appointment process, including reminders, cancellations, and safe check-in. US-based cloud radiology information system vendor AbbaDox includes this in their patient engagement services. Short codes are special telephone numbers, shorter than full telephone numbers, that can be used to address SMS and MMS messages from mobile phones or fixed phones. There are two types of short codes: dialling and messaging. SMS gateway providers facilitate

6006-449: The price to send and receive text messages from $ .15 to $ .20 per message. This is over $ 1,300 per megabyte . Many providers offer unlimited plans, which can result in a lower rate per text, given sufficient volume. Japan was among the first countries to adopt short messages widely, with pioneering non-GSM services including J-Phone 's SkyMail and NTT Docomo 's Short Mail . Japanese adolescents first began text messaging, because it

6097-591: The problem. However, the notion that text language is widespread or harmful is refuted by research from linguistic experts. An article in The New Yorker explores how text messaging has anglicized some of the world's languages. The use of diacritic marks is dropped in languages such as French, as well as symbols in Ethiopian languages . In his book, Txtng: the Gr8 Db8 (which translates as "Texting:

6188-479: The purpose of direct marketing. There are numerous possibilities for direct text marketing, including customer services, alerts, CRM, communication via a two-way direct response mechanism, brand bonding, and event ticketing. Mobile phones and PDAs are personal technologies, but "57% of adults with cell phones have received unwanted or spam text messages on their phones". Services of sending promotional or coupon discounts are usually an opt-in service, which means

6279-575: The quality of their relationships. They concluded this age group prefers "selective interpersonal relationships in which they maintain particular, partial, but rich relations, depending on the situation". The same studies showed participants rated friendships in which they communicated face-to-face and through text messaging as being more intimate than those in which they communicated solely face-to-face. This indicates participants make new relationships with face-to-face communication at an early stage, but use text messaging to increase their contact later on. As

6370-405: The relationships between participants grew more intimate, the frequency of text messaging also increased. However, short messaging has been largely rendered obsolete by the prevalence of mobile Internet e-mail, which can be sent to and received from any e-mail address, mobile or otherwise. That said, while usually presented to the user simply as a uniform "mail" service (and most users are unaware of

6461-484: The same GSM technology as other European countries, so the uptake is not hampered by technical restrictions. In the Republic of Ireland, in 2012, 1.5 billion messages were sent every quarter, on average 114 messages per person per month. In the United Kingdom, as of March 2012, over 1 billion text messages were sent every week. The Eurovision Song Contest organized the first pan-European SMS voting in 2002, as

6552-476: The same moment; this permits communication even between busy individuals. Text messages can also be used to interact with automated systems, for example, to order products or services from e-commerce websites or to participate in online contests. Advertisers and service providers use direct text marketing to send messages to mobile users about promotions, payment due dates, and other notifications instead of using postal mail , email , or voicemail . The service

6643-644: The screen of an Android device ; however this feature is currently only available on select devices with the Link to Windows service pre-installed. The app also has a cross-device copy and paste feature allowing users to send copied text and images between devices using the same copy and paste shortcuts on each device. At its Build 2018 event on May 7, 2018, Microsoft presented the Your Phone app, which allowed users to use their PCs to see recent photos on their Android based phones, and to send SMS messages. Your Phone

6734-514: The sender's text messaging plan. There are a growing number of websites that allow users to send free SMS messages online. Some websites provide free SMS for promoting premium business packages. In 2003, Europe followed next behind Asia in terms of the popularity of the use of SMS. That year, an average of 16 billion messages were sent each month. Users in Spain sent a little more than fifty messages per month on average in 2003. In Italy, Germany and

6825-464: The service by mobile phone subscribers occurs in the Philippines, with an average of 27 texts sent per day per subscriber. Text messaging is most often used between private mobile phone users, as a substitute for voice calls in situations where voice communication is impossible or undesirable (e.g., during a school class or a work meeting). Texting is also used to communicate very brief messages, such as informing someone that you will be late or reminding

6916-564: The slow take-up of SMS was that operators were slow to set up charging systems, especially for prepaid subscribers, and to eliminate billing fraud, which was possible by changing SMSC settings on individual handsets to use the SMSCs of other operators. Over time, this issue was eliminated by switch billing instead of billing at the SMSC and by new features within SMSCs that allowed the blocking of foreign mobile users sending messages through them. SMS

7007-525: The text messaging business. Services that provide bulk text message sending are also becoming a popular way for clubs, associations, and advertisers to reach a group of opt-in subscribers quickly. In 2013, research suggested that Internet-based mobile messaging would grow to equal the popularity of SMS by the end of 2013, with nearly 10 trillion messages being sent through each technology. Services such as Facebook Messenger / WhatsApp , Signal (software) , Snapchat , Telegram (software) , Viber have led to

7098-678: The text messaging capability as an operator of their own SMSC with SS7 . SMS messaging gateway providers can provide gateway-to-mobile (Mobile Terminated–MT) services. Some suppliers can also supply mobile-to-gateway (text-in or Mobile Originated/MO services). Many operate text-in services on short codes or mobile number ranges, whereas others use lower-cost geographic text-in numbers. SMS has been widely used for delivering digital content, such as news alerts, financial information, pictures, GIFs, logos and ringtones. Such messages are also known as premium-rated short messages (PSMS). The subscribers are charged extra for receiving this premium content, and

7189-406: The turn of the century and has also influenced changes in society. Text messages are used for personal, family, business, and social purposes. Governmental and non-governmental organizations use text messaging for communication between colleagues. In the 2010s, the sending of short informal messages became an accepted part of many cultures, as happened earlier with emailing . This makes texting

7280-455: The use of SMS for confirming delivery or other tasks, for instant communication between a service provider and a client (e.g., a payment card company and a consumer), and for sending alerts. Several universities have implemented a system of texting students and faculties campus alerts. One such example is Penn State . As text messaging has proliferated in business, so too have regulations governing its use. One regulation specifically governing

7371-780: The use of text messaging in financial-services firms engaged in stocks, equities, and securities trading is Regulatory Notice 07-59, Supervision of Electronic Communications, December 2007 , issued to member firms by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). In Regulatory Notice 07-59, FINRA noted that "electronic communications", "e-mail", and "electronic correspondence" may be used interchangeably and can include such forms of electronic messaging as instant messaging and text messaging. Industry has had to develop new technology to allow companies to archive their employees' text messages. Security, confidentiality, reliability, and speed of SMS are among

7462-434: The way that people talk and write essays, some believing it to be harmful. Children today are receiving cell phones at an age as young as eight years old; more than 35 per cent of children in second and third grade have their own mobile phones. Because of this, the texting language is integrated into the way that students think from an earlier age than ever before. In November 2006, New Zealand Qualifications Authority approved

7553-447: The word about HIV and AIDS. In September 2009, a multi-country campaign in Africa used text messaging to expose stock-outs of essential medicines at public health facilities and put pressure on governments to address the issue. The advent of text messaging made possible new forms of interaction that were not possible before. A person could carry out a conversation with another user without the constraint of being expected to reply within

7644-405: Was a cheaper form of communication than the other available forms. Thus, Japanese theorists created the selective interpersonal relationship theory , claiming that mobile phones can change social networks among young people (classified as 13- to 30-year-olds). They theorized this age group had extensive but low-quality relationships with friends, and mobile phone usage may facilitate improvement in

7735-555: Was broken into two companies by regulation, with Chorus Ltd taking the landline infrastructure and Spark NZ providing services including over their mobile network. Vodafone NZ (now One NZ ) acquired mobile network provider Bellsouth New Zealand in 1998 and had 2.32 million customers as of July 2013. Vodafone launched the first Text messaging service in 1999 and has introduced innovative TXT services like SafeTXT and CallMe 2degrees Mobile Ltd launched in August 2009. In 2005, around 85% of

7826-405: Was part of ISDN ( Integrated Services Digital Network ), and since GSM is based on this, it made its way to the mobile phone. Messages could be sent and received on ISDN phones, and these can send SMS to any GSM phone. The possibility of doing something is one thing; implementing it is another, but systems existed in 1988 that sent SMS messages to mobile phones (compare ND-NOTIS ). SMS messaging

7917-515: Was released as part of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update (1809), as a replacement of the legacy Phone Companion app. At Samsung's Galaxy Note10 launch event, Microsoft previewed the additional Your Phone feature of receiving phone calls directly on a PC via Bluetooth . The feature was made available for all Android phones on February 20, 2020. At the same event it was revealed that Your Phone will ship on most Samsung Galaxy devices as part of

8008-473: Was routine that the People's Republic of China government monitored text messages across the country for illegal content. Among Chinese migrant workers with little formal education, it is common to refer to SMS manuals when text messaging. These manuals are published as cheap, smaller-than-pocket-size booklets that offer diverse linguistic phrases to utilize as messages. SMS was introduced to selected markets in

8099-532: Was the most widely used mobile data service, with 74% of all mobile phone users worldwide, or 2.4 billion out of 3.3 billion phone subscribers, being active users of the Short Message Service at the end of 2007. In countries such as Finland, Sweden, and Norway, over 85% of the population used SMS. The European average was about 80%, and North America was rapidly catching up, with over 60% active users of SMS by end of 2008 . The largest average usage of

8190-662: Was used for the first time on 3 December 1992, at the Three Tuns Public House in Reading, Berkshire, when Neil Papworth , a 22-year-old test engineer for Sema Group in the UK (now Airwide Solutions ), used a personal computer to send the text message " Merry Christmas " via the Vodafone network to the phone of Richard Jarvis, who was at a party in Newbury, Berkshire , which had been organized to celebrate

8281-758: Was very popular and brought service providers significant profit (18 billion short messages were sent in 2001). It has been a very influential and powerful tool in the Philippines, where in 2008 the average user sent 10–12 text messages a day. The same year, the Philippines alone sent on average over 1 billion text messages a day, more than the annual average SMS volume of the countries in Europe, and even China and India. SMS saw hugely popular in India, where youngsters often exchanged many text messages, and companies provide alerts, infotainment, news, cricket scores updates, railway/airline booking, mobile billing, and banking services on SMS. Similarly, in 2008, text messaging played

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