How to send an SMS from cell phone to an AIM user
I’m not sure if this is common knowledge or not, but I only learned about it recently. Some cell phones let you sign on to instant messenger clients (usually AIM), but that can be less than ideal. When I did that a couple years ago, every single communication my phone did with AIM counted as a text message. That includes messages you send or receive, as well as sign-on related messages, and even disconnection messages. I’d get disconnected fairly frequently, and every time that happened, it would cost me 2-3 text messages to sign back on. At 10 cents a pop (unless you pay for a plan with a bucket of monthly text messages), that got annoying pretty fast.
Well, I recently found out that you can send a message to an AIM user, using your cell phone, without logging on with any actual AIM client. Just send an SMS text message with the following format:
Message: AIM_screen_name: message text
I know there are all sorts of “mobile AIM” features, but this is one simple one that has come in handy several times for me, already.
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August 22nd, 2006 at 1:40 pm
Great tip! I just tried that and it works for me!
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:14 am
Great tip. Does anyone know if this works in every country (I am in The Netherlands)?
June 25th, 2008 at 10:25 am
@Arnold:
I didn’t look too hard, but you may want to check out this Lifehacker entry:
SMS: Five free SMS services
Be sure to read the comments, too. Several individuals mention their experiences/tips regarding international SMS.
August 7th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Dave, do you know why this sms text messaging only works for certain phones? My phone is about 4 years old and it will not work on my phone, but someone with a newer phone works fine and goes right through…..Seems that the older phones will not work.. Any ideas why?