Receive Text Messages

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eillib
Posts:7
Joined:Sun Jan 16, 2011 7:11 pm
Receive Text Messages

Post by eillib » Mon Jan 07, 2013 7:49 am

I do not text on my cell phone (have ability but no plan - costs me $0.10 text). Use maybe once or twice a month.

I would like the ability to receive text messages- perhaps in connection with the Premier plan. It would help keep me from receiving the occasional text message on my cell phone. I have noticed that there are becoming more and more things that require one to receive texts.

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southsound
Posts:3519
Joined:Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:31 am
Location:Harstine Island, WA

Re: Receive Text Messages

Post by southsound » Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:44 am

This has been requested before but has never made the short list of future features. I think part of it might be the requirement of a handset that could receive the text messages and the terrible hassle of trying to type a message using the current keypad.

So here is what I might recommend until that feature is available - set up a Google Voice account and get a separate Google Voice number. Free to set up and use. I would not integrate it with your ooma but use it "naked". You can forward the Google number to your cell phone and your ooma number. There is a place in GV settings to set whether or not you want to receive the text messages on your phone - since your messages cost $0.10 each I would set that to NOT send text to your cell. You can always change that in just a few strokes if you are expecting an important text and will be away from the house.

Give the new GV number to anyone who may be trying to reach you on your cell either for voice or text. Voice calls will ring on any phone you have set up - and the text messages will be sent to your GV account on your computer / tablet / etc. I use an iPad and an Android tablet in addition to my computer so I can even get text messages while in church, etc. All of this is free and very convenient as you have a real or virtual keyboard instead of just the 1-0. *. and # on a portable handset.
ooma customer since February 2009
VoIP hardware: 2 Telo w/3 handsets & Linx / ooma core
Total Lines: 8 / Numbers: 11 / Handsets: 20
Lifetime Premier Member
Friends don't remember what Landline Integration was or why we did it.

eillib
Posts:7
Joined:Sun Jan 16, 2011 7:11 pm

Re: Receive Text Messages

Post by eillib » Mon Jan 07, 2013 4:54 pm

Thanks for the suggestion.

I have all of my voice mails sent to my email account (a premier feature).

I was thinking that it would be great if text message were sent to my email account also. No need for a special handset to receive them!

snotbottom
Posts:1
Joined:Wed Jan 30, 2013 5:17 am

Re: Receive Text Messages

Post by snotbottom » Wed Jan 30, 2013 5:28 am

Receiving texts would be a nice addition, and can be done several different ways (forward to mobile or email, as mentioned). A competing VOIP offering converts the text to audio along with the sender's number and time received, and puts it your voicemail que, so you listen to the robo-voice recording just as you would any other message.

No provision for sending texts with this method, but I don't think I would want to, anyway, but receiving them would be nice. Unfortunately I have a couple of friends who occasionally send a mesaage to the home line and it would be nice to get those.

jleflar23
Posts:2
Joined:Tue Feb 05, 2013 8:08 pm

Re: Receive Text Messages

Post by jleflar23 » Tue Feb 05, 2013 8:18 pm

I have both personal and work cell phones, so I'd like to ditch the personal phone (save some $$$) and use my work phone exclusively. It would be really nice if I could port my personal mobile # to Ooma, then have any texts (SMS/MMS) forwarded to my work cell phone or email, etc. Google Voice would normally work for this, but for some inexplicable reason I can't port my personal cell phone number to GV.

Part of the issue is that everyone already knows my personal cell # for texting, and I'd like this to be as seamless a transition as possible. Having to give out my work cell number (which may not be around forever) is not ideal.

oomg
Posts:593
Joined:Fri Feb 20, 2009 3:59 am
Location:SoCal -- L.A.

Re: Receive Text Messages

Post by oomg » Thu Feb 14, 2013 9:23 am

jleflar23 wrote:I have both personal and work cell phones, so I'd like to ditch the personal phone (save some $$$) and use my work phone exclusively. It would be really nice if I could port my personal mobile # to Ooma, then have any texts (SMS/MMS) forwarded to my work cell phone or email, etc. Google Voice would normally work for this, but for some inexplicable reason I can't port my personal cell phone number to GV.

Part of the issue is that everyone already knows my personal cell # for texting, and I'd like this to be as seamless a transition as possible. Having to give out my work cell number (which may not be around forever) is not ideal.
Look at Line2. App is free; service is $10 per month (including all taxes and fees) or $100 if paid a year in advance which equals $8.33 per month on average for unlimited use and texting. Uses your data plan on your smart phone, so it may actually save you some money to the extent that you could reduce the minutes in your cell plan. You can port your existing number without a fee. Oh yeah... unlike Ooma Mobile, you can receive calls as well as make calls. Works very well. Give it a try... they offer a free seven day trial.
oomg -- Voice Over Internet Person

I've learned a lot here... two months ago I didn't even know how to spell VOIP and now I are one.

oomantx
Posts:2
Joined:Thu Apr 04, 2013 6:59 am

Re: Receive Text Messages

Post by oomantx » Thu Apr 04, 2013 7:15 am

I really, REALLY want this feature as well. I have already setup my Ooma to employ the Multi-Ring feature so I can pick up Ooma voice-calls on my cell phone. It would be ideal if people could text (SMS or MMS) my Ooma number and have those forwarded to my cell phone. The additional benefit that comes with that would be the ability to apply the Ooma blacklist screening to stop annoying spam-texts!

Of course, the ideal, complete solution would enable Ooma users to reply/respond to those text messages such that the recipient would see the Ooma number as the originator instead of the cell number. I can envision the complexities of implementing this via texting from the cell phone, but I would think it could be made easier if the customer perhaps had the ability to originate or reply to texts via Ooma's app or web-site which, in theory, would be able to issue the text message from your Ooma phone number.

kjg
Posts:4
Joined:Thu Dec 29, 2011 10:59 am

Re: Receive Text Messages

Post by kjg » Wed Apr 24, 2013 8:19 pm

I'd like to add my voice to this request. When people send text messages to my Ooma number (which is what they use in lieu of my cell for voice calls since I have the multi-ring option), they simply disappear without any indication on the sender's end that the message will not be received. This is a HUGE problem for me, and I'd love to see SMS forwarding make it to the short list of desperately needed features. Google Voice is, unfortunately, not an option for me, so I'm relying on Ooma to help me out here.

Please, please, please consider adding this feature in the near future.

EX Bell
Posts:401
Joined:Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:42 pm
Location:Toronto, Ontario

Re: Receive Text Messages

Post by EX Bell » Wed Apr 24, 2013 8:28 pm

kjg wrote:I'd like to add my voice to this request. When people send text messages to my Ooma number (which is what they use in lieu of my cell for voice calls since I have the multi-ring option), they simply disappear without any indication on the sender's end that the message will not be received. This is a HUGE problem for me, and I'd love to see SMS forwarding make it to the short list of desperately needed features. Google Voice is, unfortunately, not an option for me, so I'm relying on Ooma to help me out here.

Please, please, please consider adding this feature in the near future.
Why do you say Google Voice is not an option for you?
Customer Since: 1/17/12
Service: Premier 1/30/2012
BELL Canada Port: 1/30/12 - 2/13/12
TekSavvy via BELL FTTN: 25 Mbps/10 Mbps
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Handsets: Panasonic KX-TG6655S DECT 6.0

dsinternet
Posts:852
Joined:Fri Nov 20, 2009 8:32 pm
Location:Minnesota

Re: Receive Text Messages

Post by dsinternet » Thu Apr 25, 2013 3:45 am

I have friends send me text messages using my Ooma number. So I would also like to see this added to Ooma. Or at least something that tells the sender that I did not get their text message.

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