What is SMS?

SMS stands for “short message service,” and it’s the oldest, most reliable way of sending text messages from phone to phone.

SMS is kind of like a super-simple email for phones. Even the cheapest phones support SMS now, so it’s a truly universal way to communicate.

I started this site because it’s just too hard to find reliable information about SMS — especially in the U.S.

Try doing a search for “SMS” on any search engine. Good luck finding any instructions about how to use SMS with your American phone, whether your U.S.-based carrier supports SMS, or how much SMS really costs.

But SMS is not that hard! It’s not that expensive, and it’s not just something people in Europe or Asia use. In fact, more and more people in America are discovering how easy and how much fun SMS text messaging can be.

And while you might think that SMS is becoming obsolete now that so many people have smartphones with Facebook, Twitter, and other apps — well, SMS is still pretty useful and millions of people use it every day. It works with almost every type of phone out there, and doesn’t require a fancy smartphone.

And in some cases, SMS can be the fastest and most reliable way to communicate.

On this site, I show you how to use SMS to stay in touch with your friends and family, have fun, save money, get information, and maybe even communicate during an emergency. I cover SMS services for AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint/Nextel, and many other carriers. I’ll bring you news about great new SMS-based services you can access with your phone.

Want to get started? Read my article on Texting Basics.

Then check out the most popular page on this site: How to send email to any phone.

Got questions about SMS? Use the search form in the upper right to look for other articles on this site, or post a question using the form below.

Thanks for visiting. And happy texting!

4 Responses to What is SMS?

  1. mary says:

    How do I type a _ so that I can type in an email address on my phone? The instruction manual is not helpful at all.

  2. Suzie says:

    when sending email from a pc to a phone, is there a header or is the ip address able to be identified from the pc?

  3. Elsie says:

    I seem to learn something new every day. Thanks for the info as I cannot use my cell phone during working hours but I am in front of a computer all day long.

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