SMS 411

What if you need to send a message to someone and you can’t just talk to them on the phone — perhaps because you’re in the library or in class? And what if they don’t have an SMS-capable cell phone?

If you’ve got a Sprint phone, no worries — you can use the “Text to Landline” service to send text messages to people, even if they don’t have SMS text messaging.

All you need to do is compose a text message in the normal way, and enter the 10-digit phone number of the person you want to send it to. After you send it off, Sprint will turn your text message into a voice message, using text-to-speech technology. Your computerized voice message will play whenever the person on the other end picks up their phone.

Sprint even offers the option for the recipient to reply (via voice) and their response will be sent to you as a voice message.

Pretty slick, huh? And it costs exactly the same amount as it does to send an ordinary text message. (check Sprint SMS pricing info)

For more details, check out the Text to Landline FAQ for Sprint subscribers. If you’re on Nextel, read the FAQ on Text to Landline for Nextel customers.