How to Instant Message Someone's Phone

If you want to communicate with a cell phone user via a text message but don't have a phone that can support the feature, as long as you have an Internet connection it can still be done. You can send their phone an "Instant Message," which is the act of sending a text message from a computer to a cell phone.

Instructions

1. Download and install an instant messaging program. If you don't already have one, download a program like AIM or Pidgin. These are programs designed to send text messages from computer user to computer user, but they can also be used to send a text to a cell phone.

2. Open your instant messaging program.

3. Select the option in your instant messaging program to send a new message. This will open a box allowing you to type in a recipient's screen name and a message.

4. Type a "+" into the "recipient" box, and then proceed to type the person's phone number. Be sure to include a "1" and an area code before the actual number. The finished number should look something like this:

   [phone]

5. Type the message you want the recipient to receive and hit "Send." This will send this text based instant message to their cell phone. They can reply to you and it will appear in the IM box.

References

• AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)
• Pidgin