Google has launched its free SMS service for Gmail users in India which lets users send SMS to mobile numbers and get replies as chat messages on Gtalk .
Users get credit of 50 SMS initially and each outgoing SMS costs 1 credit . When reply is received , users get 5 credits , up to a maximum of 50 credits . Mobile phone users are charged at regular local SMS rates for replies . After credits are exhausted , Google will add one credit after 24 hours .
However, "Users can always send an SMS to their own phone, and then reply to that message multiple times. Every time you send a reply message, your SMS credit is increased by five. Effectively, you're buying more messages by paying your phone company for these outgoing messages," stated the Google help portal.
Currently the service is available on 8 operators - Aircel, Idea, Loop Mobile, MTS, Reliance, Tata DoCoMo, Tata indicom and Vodafone (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal & Andaman and Nicobar, Assam, North East).
To send SMS -
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Users get credit of 50 SMS initially and each outgoing SMS costs 1 credit . When reply is received , users get 5 credits , up to a maximum of 50 credits . Mobile phone users are charged at regular local SMS rates for replies . After credits are exhausted , Google will add one credit after 24 hours .
However, "Users can always send an SMS to their own phone, and then reply to that message multiple times. Every time you send a reply message, your SMS credit is increased by five. Effectively, you're buying more messages by paying your phone company for these outgoing messages," stated the Google help portal.
Currently the service is available on 8 operators - Aircel, Idea, Loop Mobile, MTS, Reliance, Tata DoCoMo, Tata indicom and Vodafone (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal & Andaman and Nicobar, Assam, North East).
To send SMS -
- Enter your contact’s name in the ‘Search or invite friends’ box in Chat, and 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.
- In the dialog box, enter a phone number in the ‘Send SMS messages to this number’ field. This feature is only launched in selected countries. Click here for the list of supported countries and operators. If you are not located in one of these countries you can still use it, but you won't see the SMS option in Chat until you enable it manually in the Chat settings page.
- Click Save.
- A Chat window appears. Just type your message as you would normally. When you hit Enter, the message will be sent to the phone number you entered.
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