Hi,

Having just switched my calls back to BT from another carrier,
apparently I qualify for 100 free SMS text messages per month, sent
from my landline to any other landline or mobile phone.  So I'm
thinking I might as well make use of these, even though I don't yet
have a phone which is SMS compatible.  Although I believe incoming SMS
only requires a phone with caller ID activated(I may be wrong!), which
I already have.

Now the thing is, when I asked BT customer services how to set up this
service, I was told I have to tell them(BT) which phone I've got in
order to register it and make all the necessary settings(I'm thinking,
sms centre numbers etc., as with GSM mobile).  The woman I spoke to
had a strong Asian accent, and spoke so fast that I couldn't make out
half what she was trying to tell me, other than to look at the bt web
site, but that was no help either.

So having seen the level of technical expertise here, I'm hoping I can
learn what settings are required, what the registration process is,
and as a long shot, whether I can use any of my existing gadgetry -
Psion series 5mx with IR travel modem, laptop PC etc., to send SMS
messages.  I already use the Psion for fax, mobile SMS(using
PhonemanPro) via IR to phone, and internet access, and so would think
there may be a way to use that.  If I know what settings are required
I can experiment, as I'm getting 100 free per month which I shall ever
use completely!

I would be most appreciative of any guidance/pointers in this
direction.

Cheers,

Neil

(Reply via NG please)

On 20 Jun, 19:48, Neil  wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Having just switched my calls back to BT from another carrier,
> apparently I qualify for 100 free SMS text messages per month, sent
> from my landline to any other landline or mobile phone.

Interesting....

>  So I'm thinking I might as well make use of these, even though I don't yet
> have a phone which is SMS compatible.  Although I believe incoming SMS
> only requires a phone with caller ID activated(I may be wrong!), which
> I already have.

No, I'm afraid you need a special landline SMS enabled phone. They're
readily available these days

> Now the thing is, when I asked BT customer services how to set up this
> service, I was told I have to tell them(BT) which phone I've got in
> order to register it and make all the necessary settings(I'm thinking,
> sms centre numbers etc., as with GSM mobile).  The woman I spoke to
> had a strong Asian accent, and spoke so fast that I couldn't make out
> half what she was trying to tell me, other than to look at the bt web
> site, but that was no help either.

Yes, they need to disable the regular text-to-speech on your line so
that the messages can be delivered as data rather than voice.

> So having seen the level of technical expertise here, I'm hoping I can
> learn what settings are required, what the registration process is,
> and as a long shot, whether I can use any of my existing gadgetry -
> Psion series 5mx with IR travel modem, laptop PC etc., to send SMS
> messages.  I already use the Psion for fax, mobile SMS(using
> PhonemanPro) via IR to phone, and internet access, and so would think
> there may be a way to use that.  If I know what settings are required
> I can experiment, as I'm getting 100 free per month which I shall ever
> use completely!

You won't be able to use your Psion as far as I'm aware, other than
via IR to your mobile as you already have done, but this won't enable
you to access your 100 free SMS.

> I would be most appreciative of any guidance/pointers in this
> direction.

Well, if you really want to send SMS from a computer, you may consider
a service like aql.com (disclaimer: i work for them) which allows you
to send SMS from a web page, by email, and other methods too. There's
more functionality than you'd get on an SMS enabled handset, such as
distribution lists, receiving replies by email etc. This doesn't help
you use your free 100 messages though.

Also, if you want landline SMS but don't want to use an SMS enabled
fixed line phone, you can get an SMS enabled "virtual" geographic
number from aql quite cheaply, and you can use it for voice or fax
too.

Cheers,

James

> Cheers,
>
> Neil
>
> (Reply via NG please)

The message 
from jaholden@gmail.com contains these words:


> Yes, they need to disable the regular text-to-speech on your line so
> that the messages can be delivered as data rather than voice.


I thought that the act of sending a text message was used to select to
send text to you, I had a few problems when I first set mine up and it
reverted to text-to-voice.  I do not remember speaking to anyone to
register the line for text.



From the BT website


All you need to get texting

You can send a message from your home phone right now if you have a text
enabled phone. As soon as you send your first text message, you'll be
registered for BT Text, so you don't need to call us to get set up.


MB

I qualified for the 100 free SMS texts per month and treated myself to
the cheapest SMS capable phone from the BT shop (Relate SMS approx £20 +
nearly £6 delivery).

You do have to register the phone in order to receive text messages as
otherwise you receive them as voice calls.
The Relate SMS phone's memory will only store shortish phone numbers,
making it unable to store those preceded by (eg) 18185.

-- 
Helen D. Vecht: helenvecht@zetnet.co.uk
Edgware.

On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:02:40 +0100, Helen Deborah Vecht
 wrote:

>I qualified for the 100 free SMS texts per month and treated myself to
>the cheapest SMS capable phone from the BT shop (Relate SMS approx £20 +
>nearly £6 delivery).
>
>You do have to register the phone in order to receive text messages as
>otherwise you receive them as voice calls.
>The Relate SMS phone's memory will only store shortish phone numbers,
>making it unable to store those preceded by (eg) 18185.

Thanks to all who have replied so far.

I wanted to avoid buying yet another phone when my household already
has more than enough.  Additionally, I hate using a numeric keypad for
entering text - much preferring a proper keyboard - hence the good old
Psion.

The question still remains though, how does the phone send an SMS via
a landline. I don't actually know how it works via GSM mobile, except
that the data goes to an SMS messaging centre via a specific number
according to network(and type of contract in some cases) with the
message, the destination number, what else I don't know.  I'd like to
understand the workings in more depth.

Thanks again

Neil

(Reply via NG please)

wrote:
>Yes, they need to disable the regular text-to-speech on 
>your line so that the messages can be delivered as data 
>rather than voice.

We've just acquired the rather cool Siemens S670. It is 
SMS-enabled. And it's pre-programmed with BT's send service 
number as "service centre 1", and the "receive" number as 
"service centre 2". I've successfully sent several texts. 
But BT's engine won't suss that we can receive them, and 
continues to convert them to voice.

The 'receive' number is 0800587529*. The *, I think, is 
something to do with the option of having several 
PIN-accessible mail boxes on the one phone. And I presume 
the number is the CLI that texts appear to come from, though 
I don't understand why the phone necessarily needs to know 
this, or what it does with it.

If I text 'reset' to 00000, which was all that the BT 
helpline could suggest, I get a (voice!) response "Thank you 
for registering your line, you can send texts but not 
receive them." The Siemens helpline chap was very 
apologetic, but claimed that BT is unusual in having 
separate send and receive numbers, and they had hoped that 
including both as separate service centres would work.

Please, anyone got any ideas about what exactly is confusing 
the BT engine? Or how to sort it out?

Nicholas

"Nicholas Lawrence"  writes:

 > We've just acquired the rather cool Siemens S670. It is 
 > SMS-enabled. And it's pre-programmed with BT's send service 
 > number as "service centre 1", and the "receive" number as 
 > "service centre 2". I've successfully sent several texts. 
 > But BT's engine won't suss that we can receive them, and 
 > continues to convert them to voice.

I think that perhaps the send and receive should be on the same
service centre.  For example, my Philips Onis 300 Vox had service
centre 3 set for Eircom in Ireland.

The incoming and outgoing numbers for my service centre 2 were set by
me to 0800587529 and 1470P17094009.  I sent a text to 00000 containing
the single word register and received a confirmation SMS from BT Text.

I found this thread useful:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=331729

-- 
Pete Forman                -./\.-  Disclaimer: This post is originated
WesternGeco                  -./\.-   by myself and does not represent
pete.forman@westerngeco.com    -./\.-   the opinion of Schlumberger or
http://petef.22web.net           -./\.-   WesternGeco.

On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:38:29 +0100, "Nicholas Lawrence"
 wrote:

>We've just acquired the rather cool Siemens S670. It is 
>SMS-enabled. And it's pre-programmed with BT's send service 
>number as "service centre 1", and the "receive" number as 
>"service centre 2". I've successfully sent several texts. 
>But BT's engine won't suss that we can receive them, and 
>continues to convert them to voice.

Do you have Caller Display enabled on your telephone line?
-- 
Roger

"Roger"  wrote:
> Do you have Caller Display enabled on your telephone line?
Yes, and it is definitely working fine.
Peter Forman wrote:
> I think that perhaps the send and receive should be on the 
> same service centre.
Yes, I fear this may be the issue. The Siemens S675, 
apparently can't do that. Sending reset, and then 
immediately switching to the service centre programmed with 
the receive number, doesn't work either.
Do you guys (or anyone else) know how BT's engine checks 
that the apparatus it is sending to can process text?
Alas, the digital spy forums are currently not accessible 
(to me, at least).
Nicholas

Silly me, my problem turned out to be that an Orchid dialler 
was stopping the phone from recognising the incoming SMS (as 
Dave Saville reported in a thread here back in January 
2008).

Thanks again to all who contributed.  It seems the use of anything
other than an SMS compatible phone is a no-no, never mind - perhaps if
I wait long enough some company will bring out a phone with an
alphabetic keyboard, or a phone that will accept input from another
device - maybe!

Neil

(Reply via NG please)