Sprint has just introduced – for a limited time – text messaging to landline phones. Yes, that’s right. Sprint is now delivering SMS text messages to landlines, which are traditionally non-SMS capable.
How are they doing this? With the help of a company called Telemessage, which specializes in convergent technologies. It boils down to this: if someone sends a text message and Sprint determines that it’s not being sent to a cell phone, the message gets handed off to Telemessage. They then call the landline phone, wait for someone to answer, and then read the message to the person at the other end (or the answering machine, depending) using text to speech software. The receiving party can then record their own message and have it sent back as a voicemail.
Pretty neat huh? But you see… if the person you’re sending a message to is at a landline phone and are going to receive the text message as sound anyway, why not just, oh, CALL THE PERSON UP AND TELL THEM THE MESSAGE YOURSELF?!
Just a thought…