How 2...Get e-mail as text messages on your cell phone

Etan Horowitz | Sentinel Staff Writer

January 19, 2008

With flipMail from Teleflip, your e-mails are converted to text messages and sent to your phone. Standard text messaging rates from your carrier apply.

1. Go to teleflip.com, enter your e-mail address and cell-phone number, and check the box accepting the terms of services and click "go."

2. Wait for the verification text message to arrive, and enter the three-digit code that appears in the blank field on the Teleflip Web site and click "next." Enter the password for your e-mail account and click "next."

3. To prevent spam messages from coming to your phone, you will only get e-mails from senders that you add to your contacts list on the Teleflip Web site. You can either import your address book from your e-mail provider or manually enter the e-mail addresses. If you import your address book, the default setting is to accept messages from all of your contacts. If you don't want to receive e-mails from certain people, click on the green "on" button next to that contact's name.

4. Click on "one last step." Here you have the option to send a message to all of your contacts telling them about flipMail. If you don't want to do this, click "none" and then click "done."

5. You should now be able to receive e-mails as text messages on your cell phone. Teleflip gives all of your contacts a nickname that is displayed when you receive a flipMail message. To reply, hit "Reply," type in the sender's nickname, type your message and click send. The sender will receive your message as an e-mail.

Once your account is set up, log in to your account on the Teleflip Web site to add or remove contacts, set times when you want to receive messages and to set the number of text messages you receive per e-mail. Each flipMail message can only display about 120 characters so a single e-mail may be broken up into several text messages.