At last, Google has launched (actually extended) its free SMS from Google Chat (GChat) for its Gmail subscribers from India. One more reason to switch over from other email IDs to the Gmail ID.
There is still no word on how many users jumped in since the service was unveiled yesterday, but I just gave it a whirl.
For starters, every user is credited with 50 SMS credits, with every SMS sent costing one credit.
Every reply received adds 5 credits, but at no time can the total credit exceed 50. That is, a user cannot build up 500 credits to unleash his/her SMS campaign on others.
:-D
Also if you use up all your 50 credits (and no one replies), your zero credit will be marked up with 1 credit the next day (after 24 hours). You can then use that 1 credit to send SMS to your own mobile, reply, and build up to 50 credits.
There are other conditions too. If a user sends too many SMS without replies, the user will be blocked by Google from sending SMS. So no spamming - in theory at least.
I don’t know what would stop people from opening a new Gmail ID every day and sending 50 SMS a day for a few days before he/she is shut down!
I mean, if my business model is to send unsolicited SMS, isn’t this a God given (or Google given) freebie?
>:->
And I don’t want to even speculate about a prankster sending threat SMS to a politician!
Tips:
Even within them, there are some bounces. For e.g., my SMS attempt from GChat to Aircel numbers in Chennai bounced. And without roping in BSNL/MTNL and the biggest of them all - AirTel, it might become a passing fad.
So here it is:
There is still no word on how many users jumped in since the service was unveiled yesterday, but I just gave it a whirl.
For starters, every user is credited with 50 SMS credits, with every SMS sent costing one credit.
Every reply received adds 5 credits, but at no time can the total credit exceed 50. That is, a user cannot build up 500 credits to unleash his/her SMS campaign on others.
:-D
Also if you use up all your 50 credits (and no one replies), your zero credit will be marked up with 1 credit the next day (after 24 hours). You can then use that 1 credit to send SMS to your own mobile, reply, and build up to 50 credits.
There are other conditions too. If a user sends too many SMS without replies, the user will be blocked by Google from sending SMS. So no spamming - in theory at least.
I don’t know what would stop people from opening a new Gmail ID every day and sending 50 SMS a day for a few days before he/she is shut down!
I mean, if my business model is to send unsolicited SMS, isn’t this a God given (or Google given) freebie?
>:->
And I don’t want to even speculate about a prankster sending threat SMS to a politician!
Tips:
- The service (as of this post) is available only for GChat on desktops (& Laptops) and not for business or GTalk users on smartphones.
- To block SMS (future SMS) from a particular contact, you can reply with ‘BLOCK’, and if you change your mind, send a message with ‘UNBLOCK’ to release the block.
- To completely block SMS from GChat, send ‘STOP’ to +918082801060. To remove the block send ‘START’ to +918082801060.
- Though Google claims in its support page that all mobile operators are supported, only 8 reportedly do so as of now [http://support.google.com/chat//bin/answer.py?hl=en-GB&answer=164876&rd=1]. Aircel, Idea, Loop Mobile, MTS, Reliance, Tata DoCoMo, Tata indicom and Vodafone.
Even within them, there are some bounces. For e.g., my SMS attempt from GChat to Aircel numbers in Chennai bounced. And without roping in BSNL/MTNL and the biggest of them all - AirTel, it might become a passing fad.
So here it is:
- The announcement from Google.
- Enter a mobile number in the chat box, click ‘Send SMS’ and add ‘Contact Name’ dialogue pops up. Save it and you’re into the chat window.
- Type the message and hit enter - either it is delivered or it bounces and your credit is intact.
Thanks for sharing the post on free SMS service for Gmail in India. It is one of the informative blog. The tips are so helpful. But, if you are facing the technical problem get Google chrome technical support number to resolve the issues related to the chrome.
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