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Send Text Messages from Outlook 2007 with SMSOfficer
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 12:32 AM on April 9, 2008
Windows with Outlook 2007 only: Send text messages in a dedicated Outlook interface with SMSOfficer, a free add-on for Outlook 2007. Once you finish the free sign-up and verification at SMSOfficer's site, you'll get a new menu item in Outlook, New->Text Message, where you can type in a phone number or contact and send a message of less than 160 characters (write more and it's split into multiple texts), with replies heading to your phone. You get 10 free texts, and additional credits can be purchased via PayPal—$US20 will get you 250 texts, with bulk discounts at higher volumes. Anyone with email access can send a text message by knowing the right carrier email addresses, but SMSOfficer strips out header text and is obviously convenient for Outlook acolytes. SMSOfficer is a free sign-up and download for Windows and Outlook 2007.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
Tom
Posted April 11, 2008 7:38 AM
You can send email sms with Red Oxygen www.redoxygen.com
Amit Agarwal
Posted 12:00 AM 9/4/08
Kevin - Just a small correction, there's no download required for setting this up.
Amit Agarwal
sp00nix
Posted 12:39 AM 9/4/08
Why pay? Most carriers support sending/receiving text via e-mail. eg 16105551155@wireless.att.com or something along those lines.
sp00nix
x40sw0n
Posted 1:32 AM 9/4/08
@sp00nix: My thoughts exactly. Verizon is (example) 1015551234@vtext.com
The easy way to find out for sure is to text to your email and simple see the email suffix. then attach the number you want to message to the beginning.
x40sw0n
Xanderificus
Posted 2:23 AM 9/4/08
Oh, or for that matter, I could tell them to use the MSN account that's always running through Digsby and message me through that as well. Either/or.
Xanderificus
Xanderificus
Posted 2:22 AM 9/4/08
I've just told people that if they -really- need to send an email-to-SMS message to me, to send it to my ##cell##@txt.bell.ca with their entire message in the subject line. Rarely needed but sometimes handy.
Xanderificus
portezbie
Posted 2:17 AM 9/4/08
yeah this is obviously just something to take advantage of the old and computer illiterate. You can send free txts from your pc either through aim or through almost all wireless carriers. To do it in aim you simply type +1 and then the phone number.
portezbie
joelena
Posted 2:11 AM 9/4/08
@sp00nix: @x40sw0n: Kevin mentioned this in the article, and pointed out that this strips the email headers, making your text easier to read for your recipient. Perhaps that's worth $0.08 per message to some people.
However, on their "How It Works" page, they note that the capability is already built in to Outlook 2007, they just provide the service. A quick look in the Office 2007 help documentation pointed me to Microsoft's own free version of this service, though it only works with Nextel, Sprint, Verizon, and West Central:
[messaging.office.microsoft.com]
You need a Windows Live ID to sign up.
joelena
cavalierex
Posted 2:03 AM 9/4/08
Several IM clients also allow you to SMS for free, regardless of the recipient's carrier.
Would it be ideal to have an SMS add-in in Outlook? Absolutely. Should we have to pay to send messages that way? No way. It's bad enough that it costs so much to receive SMS messages on cell phones, especially those that are hooked-up to the web (e.g., iPhone).
cavalierex
Jenkinsm
Posted 1:55 AM 9/4/08
Plus Outlook 2007 can already send texts to people, though I forget how to do it.
Jenkinsm
kratos76
Posted 2:54 AM 9/4/08
This sounds Horrible!!!! You have to sign up, then you have to Pay $$ ?!! This is a bad post lifehacker.
kratos76
Michael Baird
Posted 2:47 AM 9/4/08
i prefer to use google's send to phone firefox plugin
[www.google.com]
Michael Baird
danielsan1701
Posted 2:39 AM 9/4/08
Teleflip is free, they just insert a small tagline.
Any ten digit US cell number @teleflip.com (#########@teleflip.com) will work.
danielsan1701
vinylkemist
Posted 4:25 AM 9/4/08
@Michael Baird: Yeah Michael, I second Google's send to phone FF plugin.
vinylkemist
Chip Kohrman
Posted 5:04 AM 9/4/08
I used to use Gotext: [www.stumbleinside.com]
Chip Kohrman
Oneshot417
Posted 11:08 AM 9/4/08
or call them
Oneshot417
asheemm
Posted 4:42 AM 10/4/08
This is a great extension for Outlook users. I regularly forget to check the next day's appointments and sometimes run late into early morning meetings.
Outlook allows you to schedule messages to your phone the previous night, with a summary of meetings between certain times the next day.
This way I get a reminder SMS the previous night if I need to get to work earlier than my usual time.
asheemm