Sms 101

[pelham456]

i haven't used a cell phone in how knows god long, so pls forgive my ignorace. but are txts a special mode kind of "off to the side"?

i notice they are usually 5 digits in the US. do these relate in ANY WAY to the actual phone number?

is there even a one-to-one correspondence? a phone will have txt 12345, say, and ONLY 12345?

so how does one txt to these from a landline? i think by law (US) there has to be a way -- since they are used for contests etc which are heavily regulated -- but damn if i can figure out HOW. every time some radio stn says "txt in for such-and-such prize" it pisses me off that i can't work out HOW.

i used to know how to txt PC-2-phone, btw, but even that has gotten tricky in recent years. anyone know how?

there were several apps ("chikka" the one i recall) which specialized in this, but turned out u cud do it yourself just by knowing the recipient's carrier. sending msg as an email to "[cellnumber]@verizonsms.com" or "[cellnumber]@cingulaironline.net" or w/e.

altho in this particular case (radio contest), that wouldn't work either, since they never give u the real phone number. just some weird "txt" number.

hmmm. WAIT a min. why don't my FRIENDS have such numbers? how do u txt to each other in the real (non radio contest) world? u ARE using the actual phone numbers, right????

*konfoozed*


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PS: i recall a wiki about "short codes". are these 5 digit things just an OPTION available, used only by the very few (like radio stns) for PR purposes? so basically a redirect/alias?

individual could do likewise, but just doesn't bother, is that the idea?

[OddBa11]

Friends, or phone to phone use the actual phone number.

The special numbers to which you refer are simply a way of allowing a person with a phone to reach out to a mailbox not associated with a phone. ( ie: phone to PC ). You see this, as you noted, for radio stations, or advertising on TV. This isn't for everyday use, and anyone with a cellphone wouldn't need it.