Cell Phones Can Do More Than You Think

The days of expensive bulky mobile phones are long gone. Reception signal and customization were some major problems with the early cell phones. The uniqueness of an original mobile phone for making and taking calls has been far surpassed by even today’s most simple mobile devices. Today, most cell phone users have upgraded to a newer generation of cell phones multiple times. It’s nearly impossible to be in public without hearing someone’s favorite song set as their personal ringtone. Many cell phones come with an extraordinary amount of features and applications that could only be dreamed of with the original models. Phones now include text messaging, built in cameras, video recorders and music players. Additionally, smartphones provide wireless access to email, documents, calendars, internet access and even GPS location. Even if you are stuck in one of those 2 year contracts and can’t upgrade your phone or service plan until that ends, there is still a way for you to get the information you need from your cell phone. Also, if you want to avoid high monthly costs for data plans, what you may not know is that Google has provided a way to for you to get most of the same the information on your cell phone on demand for no additional charges.

Google SMS (Text)

The way Google provides this information is through text messaging. Google Text works very similar to the Google search on you desktop or laptop. Send a text message with your query to “GOOGLE” (466453) and within seconds Google will respond with the closest match. Here are some of the most common searches and examples. I have found using Google SMS very simple and the best part is how quick the responses are received.

• Directions: To get driving directions, enter your start address then 'to' followed by your destination address (ex: 94040 to 94043, pasadena ca to los angeles).
• Weather: To get weather information, enter 'weather' (or 'w') followed by a city and state, or zip (ex: weather 10013, w New York, NY).
• Local Business Listings: To get business listings, enter what you want to find and include a city and state, or zip (ex: pizza 10013).
• Movie Times: To get movie show times, enter the name of a CURRENT movie and include a city and state, or zip (ex: moviename 10013, moviename Boston, MA).
• Glossary: To find definitions on the Web, enter 'define' (or 'd') followed by the word or phrase (ex: define ubiquitous, d network).
• Sports Scores: For NBA/NHL/MLB/NFL/NCAA scores/schedules, enter a team name (ex: Lakers, Sharks, Mets, Jets, Duke). Available only for sports in season.
• Stock Prices: To get stock quotes, enter a SINGLE stock ticker symbol or the word 'stock' followed by a less obvious ticker name (ex: GOOG, stock DUCK).
• Product Prices: To get product prices, enter 'price' followed by the product name (ex: price dvd player, price camera), or enter the UPC/ISBN code directly.
• Airlines/Flights: To get flight information, enter the flight number to get gate times or the airline to get the phone number (ex: ua 14, united airlines).
• Translations: To get translations, enter 'translate' (or 't') followed by the expression, 'to' and a destination language (ex: translate dog to french, t new to german).

Listed above are some of the more popular searches Google offers through Google SMS. There are even more listed on their website. They even give you a chance to get a feel for how this works on the website before using your cell phone.

Google 411 (1 800 GOOG-441 or 1 800 466-4411)

For those that aren’t very familiar with text messaging or just prefer to speak with someone, Google offers a voice activated system of the same information, free of charge. There is no longer a need to pay additional fees for 411 information per call. Google’s 411 services let you search for businesses by name or category, anytime or anywhere. An added bonus, Google will connect you to the desired number or location free of charge. To save time, enter the Google 411 number into your cell phone as a contact.

SMS/Text Messaging at Your Answering Service

Have you thought about how you can use your cell phone to interact with your answering service? Imagine getting your messages sent to your mobile device via text message within seconds of us receiving the call. There would be no need to scramble around looking for a pen to jot the message down on paper. All the needed information would be sent directly to your cell phone. Also, receiving your messages via text messaging allows you easy access to your messages for future reference. Text messaging is a cheap and reliable source of receiving messages. Unlike pagers if you are out of a coverage area, the text message will appear immediately once you return to a coverage zone.

Better yet, you can even communicate with our agents through two-way text messaging. If you need to respond to a message, update your On Call status or just have a question, you can initiate a conversation by sending us a text message. This would allow you the quick, quiet and convenient way to interact with our CSRs. For more information on how using text messaging will work with your account, please give us a call today.

For those that are not clients of ours, check and see if your current answering service offers these features. If not, please give us a call or visit our website to see how we can better suit your needs.