Text messaging is the most widely used mobile data service, with 35% of all cell phone users worldwide and well over five million Short Message Service (SMS) users. Most digital cell phones and some personal digital assistants and pagers with on-board wireless telecommunications have texting capability. Texting service providers use an SMS gateway to allow texting by emailing to a standard email address. There is also software available that acts as a pager messaging gateway between a company's intranet and the Internet.

It's interesting to note that Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium and Queensland University in Australia did studies concluding that the addictiveness of texting was on the order of that of cigarette smoking. If you're considering a pager texting service for your business, use the following as a guide:

1. Install computer software designed to do cell phone text messaging or text messaging to pagers.

2. Subscribe to a text message service.

3. Utilize an online messaging website designed for text messaging pagers.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get PC software that sends text messages to pagers

If you are at a computer and need to send a message to text pagers, it is more convenient and cheaper to send it from software installed on the computer than from a cell phone. Also, a software solution is essential if you need to send text messages to many pagers.

I recommend: NotePage has a series of programs for sending text to pagers that have group messaging capabilities, handle a variety of messaging protocols and have a number of powerful features. Their website gives an informative introduction to the software and what it's capable of. Systemetrics has a software system called PageMate Classic that enables a computer to send text messages to pagers. Their website provides an overview of the features and benefits of the software and explains how it works.

Sign up for service to begin beeper text messaging or SMS mobile text messaging

There are pager services available that enable text messages to be received from phone sources or from email sources. Client email programs like Outlook, Outlook Express and Windows Mail can be used for conveniently preparing and sending text messages to pagers. Select regular text and not HTML. The email address to send to is usually the pager phone number followed by the paging company's address.

I recommend: MySecretary offers an alphanumeric texting service, starting at $10 per month, that provides you with an alphanumeric pager and allows you to send and receive text messages via email or locally via phone service, together with free news, weather and sports updates. UCOM provides wireless text messaging service to pagers. Text messages can originate by self-dispatch, from paging software, websites, email or personal 800 services. C3 Interactive describes the differences between short coded messaging and text messaging gateways and how they each work.

Text your recipient through an online messaging website

One of the easiest ways to send text message data to pagers anywhere in the world is to use an online website that enables you to type your message, making changes to it as you go, and then send it by clicking 'Ok.'

I recommend: All Page provides a web page from which you can just enter the phone number of the pager, type your message into a box and hit send. It costs you nothing and only your recipient pays to receive your text message. TextYourBuddy has a free SMS website from which you can send a text to a cell phone from any of more than 100 different providers. The providers are mostly in the United States, but many are in eastern Europe.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  A complete explanation of text messaging to pagers basics should mention that you can archive your text messages online for safekeeping. This is great protection in case you lose your data.

Cell phone text messaging allows you to keep in touch with clients with ease and convenience. Don't want to bother them with another annoying sales call? Text them your latest prices, discounts and deals via a text messaging service.

Consider a text messaging service for internal use as well to facilitate rapid communication to your employees. If you need to send out scheduled communications to your staff, text pagers can be programmed to send out these updates. Texting pagers are also still the best bet for on-call employees. Although some businesses rely solely on cell phone text messaging, text messaging to pagers still has some advantages:

1. Pagers can work inside office buildings, unlike some cell phone text message service options.
2. A pager text messaging service gives clients a sense that they can always reach you without the worries of a missed phone call.
3. You can send a text message to employees when you need to know their whereabouts and reach them in an emergency.
4. A pager's battery ensures more reliability for urgent text messages. It has a longer life than that of a cell phone, so you don't have to charge it every night.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Pick a pager to save money on wireless text messaging

Pagers generally can save you more money over a cell phone plan for your business. If you don't need all the capabilities of a cell phone, a pager can generally allow you to keep in touch at a cheaper rate.

I recommend: For competitive rates and a large coverage network, check out All Page. For a variety of text page options, check out INTERPAGE.

Buy software to manage text messaging to pagers from your desktop

Use software on your desktop to send text message to business contacts. You can manage your contact lists, schedule and organize pages from your PC. Also, select software that fits the size of your business.

I recommend: NotePage, Inc., has a software that allows you to manage your text messages from your company's intranet or Internet. BlueChillies.com lists a variety of software for text messaging pagers.

Consider 2-way text pagers

If you need to communicate sales reports to employees or deals to clients, consider a 2-way pager service that allows them to respond. This service comes at a minor cost in comparison to PDA's or smartphones. It allows you to receive e-mails even when your computer is off or you are away from the office.

I recommend: Directpage offers 2-way text message between cell phones and pagers.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you need 24-hour service, use an operator who can field your pages with beeper text messaging. It's a cost-efficient way to always be reachable without the cost of hiring more staff.
• •  Be sure to check the coverage maps of any paging service, especially if you are using a 2-way text messaging service.

Text messaging to pagers for beginners entails knowing what kinds of pagers are available, what sorts of messages can be sent with each, and knowing the jargon to use to send your text message. The two main types of pagers are one-way and two-way pagers, and both can be texted. Obviously, one-way cannot return a message by text.

Choose numeric or alphanumeric pagers for texting. With numeric, you are limited to numbers only, but with alphanumeric you can send any message using all numbers and letters. Be advised, though, that pagers limit the number of characters used in a message and that if you run over, your message is cut off. Learn the following about text messaging to pagers for beginners:

1. Choose alphanumeric text pagers for maximum texting capabilities.

2. Decide whether one-way or two-way texting pagers are right for your business.

3. Learn text messaging service jargon so you ca text like a professional.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Select alphanumeric pagers instead of cell phone text messaging

The difference between an alphanumeric pager and a numeric pager is that with a numeric pager the text message service can only send numbers. This is fine if you want your party to call you back, but often the other party may not be able to respond in a timely manner. With alphanumeric, you can type your message in a condensed version, and the person can respond when convenient.

I recommend: Street Directory provides an interesting article with more information about alphanumeric pagers. Wise Geek offers an informative article about one-way pagers, both numeric and alphanumeric.

Pick two-way text messaging pagers for better communication

Two-way pagers allow a conversation to happen using SMS, or short message service. SMS sends short messages, usually 160 characters or less, back and forth between two parties using these pagers.

I recommend: IT Management offers interesting reading about two-way pagers and how to use them instead of cell phones. Hearing Loss Web provides information to hearing-impaired people, showing them how to take advantage of two-way pagers when they usually cannot take advantage of devices such as cell phones.

Send text messages from your pager using texting language

Since pager or beeper text messaging restricts the length of the message, a new language or jargon has sprung up to allow more conversation to take place within a shorter amount of characters. It is a good idea to learn the basic jargon so you can send more information and also so you will understand the messages sent back to you.

I recommend: Suite 101 offers an article with basic jargon. Learn these abbreviations if you are going to do one- or two-way pager messaging. Blifaloo offers more jargon to add to your text messages.