TMO Quick Tip - iChatting a Cell Phone || The Mac Observer

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iChatting a Cell Phone

TMO Quick Tip - iChatting a Cell Phone

by , 7:30 AM EDT, August 21st, 2006

Cell phone text messaging is a convenient way to communicate with someone when speaking on the phone isn't appropriate. The process of entering a message on a cell phone's number pad, however, is less than convenient. If your Mac is handy, you can use iChat instead to send messages to your friend's cell phones. Here's how:

Start by entering the cell phone number that you want to send a message to into the AIM field in Address Book. You'll need to add +1 to the beginning of the number, and don't forget to include the area code.

Add the cell number you want to chat into the AIM field.

Now drag the Address Book contact card into your Buddy list in iChat.

Add a cell phone to your buddy list (left), and it shows up just like any other AIM contact (right).

Chatting with a friend's cell phone works just like chatting with someone else on iChat. Their phone even shows up as online whenever it is turned on. Just be sure to keep your messages short because some phones will clip the length to a specific number of characters.

if you have ideas for Mac related tips that you think other TMO readers might find helpful.

Observer Comments

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Close Name:artpease Posts: 7 Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Mon Aug 21, 2006 11:17 am Subject: Error

Ok, what am I doing wrong. I get error "...Name is not valid".

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Close Name:Jeff Gamet - TMO Staff Posts: 102 Joined: 15 Mar 2006
Mon Aug 21, 2006 12:15 pm Subject: Re: Error

Quote
artpease wrote:
Ok, what am I doing wrong. I get error "...Name is not valid".

Check to make sure you don't have any extra punctuation in the phone number, and be sure that it is entered in the AIM field instead of one of Address Book's phone number fields.

Also, the "+1" at the beginning of the phone number indicates a cell phone in the United States. The cell phone chat feature may not work in some countries, but I'm currently stuck squarely in the center of the U.S., so I can't test that out myself.

Jeff

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Close Name:Bosco Posts: 1002 Joined: 03 Jun 2002
Mon Aug 21, 2006 1:52 pm Subject: Thank you Jeff!!

I had misplaced my mobile phone this morning, but with your tip, I sent a couple messages, and found it buried under a pile of laundry that really needs to get done. Jeff, you are the man!

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Close Name:Guest
Thu Aug 24, 2006 5:07 pm Subject: AOL

I need to be a aol customer to activate this feature?

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Close Name:Guest
Thu Aug 24, 2006 5:10 pm Subject: I need to be AOL customer to activate this feature?

I need to be AOL customer to activate this feature?

I m using iChat with gmail jabber but does not accept the new buddy with AIL phone number

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Close Name:Guest
Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:14 pm Subject: rb

Works like a charm!

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Close Name:Guest
Tue Nov 07, 2006 6:08 pm Subject: Messages sending but...

Your article says: "Their phone even shows up as online whenever it is turned on."

When I tested it with my phone, the phone still showed up as online even when I turned my phone off. Are you sure about that feature? (it would be cool!)

SD

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Close Name:Guest
Sat Feb 17, 2007 12:56 am Subject: Unnecessary?

By control-clicking on the contacts in your buddy list, you have the option of "Send SMS Message", which does the same thing provided you put the phone number into your contact's card in Address Book. However, it won't show if their phone is on or not.

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Close Name:Guest
Mon Sep 03, 2007 12:22 am Subject: aim

can i use microsoft messenger instead?

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