Short Message Service (SMS) is a quick and simple way to
communicate short messages via mobile phones, handheld devices,
and increasingly even landline telephones. Commonly known as
text messages, SMSes, or even texts the practice has spread
rapidly throughout the world, evident by the fact that 500
billion such messages were sent in the last year alone. The
practice has its popularity due in great part to its convenience
and cost effectiveness. For example, a typical text message
placed in the US at USD 0.05 per message is priced at just 10 to
20% that of a voice call. Such savings have made it the most
popular form of communication in many countries, and the
practice is quickly gaining in popularity in the United States
as well.
This quick rise in American’s usage of SMS is due in part to the
publicity the practice received through television shows like
The American Idol, where viewers ‘texted’ their votes in for
their favorite singer. This initial exposure gave many Americans
their first taste of the convenience and ease of use with SMS.
Texting involves using the keypad on a telephone or other device
to spell out letters and then words. Then when a message is
completed the writer sends the message, much like an instant
message or e-mail to the recipient. While some devices now have
actual qwerty keyboards the vast majority of SMS capable devices
and telephones simply use the 12 key numerical keypad (0-9 plus
* and #). By pressing a certain key in quick succession
different letters are made. For example, pressing the ‘1’ key
once produces the letter ‘a’. Pressing it twice gives the letter
‘b’, while three times gives ‘c’. The other numbers (2-9) work
the same way while the other keys (*, 0, and #) are usually
reserved for creating spaces and punctuation. While texting does
require a bit of initial practice, within a few minutes users
are able to quickly spell out and send short messages.
Most SMS services such as those transmitted to a telephone, have
a limit as to how many characters can be transmitted per
message. This number can vary from service to service, however
many allow for 140 or 160 characters. This limitation has caused
users to develop what has become known as Txt Speak. These are a
set of commonly used abbreviations and word substitutes that not
only reduce the number of characters necessary for conveying a
word or message, but also make SMSing or Text Messaging an even
faster and more convenient process. For example, the number ‘4’
is commonly used to replace the word ‘for’, and ‘gr8’ replaces
the word ‘great’. Some individuals also choose to omit spaces
between words by using capital letters instead, such as
‘TextingIsFun’ instead of ‘Texting is fun’. A relatively new
phenomenon that many texting devices are now incorporating is
Predictive text software. This gives your phone the technology
to anticipate what word you are going to write even before you
finish writing, drastically reducing the time it takes for you
to text messages. For example, you may type the letters ‘ste’
and the software, which is built into the device, will have
predicted the word ‘stereo’ for you.
SMS is a technology whose convenience and cost effectiveness
have already made it an integral part of communication in many
countries. In recent years, it has been more widely publicized
in the United States and as a consequence its popularity is
increasing quickly. This growth is not surprising, however, due
to the many benefits that Short Message Service (SMS) brings to
communication.
About Author :
Jim Sherman writes about interesting topics such as SMS
Call.
