There is a new feature on
Gmail and it’s Free SMS.
This feature allows you to
send free SMS or text
message to your contact’s
mobile number without
extra charge to you. This is
totally free but the downside
is that your recipient must be
in your contact list. Aside
this, the feature is powerful
and it works in Nigeria too.
At the moment, Gmail will
give you 50 SMS Credit. 1
Credit represent 1 sent SMS.
You can only send SMS
messages to your contacts’
mobile phones using Gmail
Chat. So in order to use this
feature you have to enable
the SMS (text messaging) in
Chat lab. But most times, if
you are among the selected
countries, this feature must
have been activated
automatically for you.
How to Enable SMS in Chat
Lab
1. After logging into your
Gmail account from a PC, by
the left you will see Chat.
2. Point your pointer to it
and it will bring up a small
arrow (Options), click on this
arrow.
3. You will see a list of
option, select Chat settings.
4. On the following page,
click the Labs tab.
5. Under the Enabled Labs
settings, tick Enable.
You must do the above
settings before you can use
the free SMS features. This
will allows you to send and
receive text messages (SMS)
in Gmail Chat.
How to Send Free Text
Message from Gmail
1. Enter your contact’s name
in the ‘Search or invite
friends’ box in Chat
2. Select Send SMS from the
box of options that appears
to the right of your contact’s
name. Or, if you already
have a Chat window open for
this contact, just click
Options, and select Send
SMS.
3. In the dialog box, enter a
phone number in the ‘Send
SMS messages to this
number’ field.
4. Click Save
5. Then a Chat window will
appear. Just type your
message as you would
normally. When you hit
Enter, the message will be
sent to the phone number
you entered. You can change
the contact’s phone number
anything you wish from the
chat box.
If your contact replies, the
text message response will
appear as a reply in Chat.
These conversations are
stored in your Chat history
just like regular chats.
Below is a screenshot from
my phone after I have sent
the above message to my
number. It takes about 4
seconds for the message to
get delivered to my phone.
Before you go on to use this
free SMS feature from Gmail,
you should check if your
country is eligible to use this
service. I know this is
available to Nigeria but not
all networks. The Nigerian
networks that support free
Gmail SMS are; Glo, MTN,
Airtel, Starcomms and
Visafone.
If you are not from Nigeria,
you can check the list of
supported countries here.
Posts
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