Trial of free SMS system

The University has signed up to a 6-week trial of a system that allows members of staff to send SMS 'text' messages to student-owned mobile phones without charge. The system is very easy to use: from your desktop computer you simply provide the message and the mobile number(s) you want to receive the message. There are a few simple options, e.g. if you have a file of mobile numbers in an Excel spreadsheet, then this may be uploaded to the system.

The text message length is restricted to 80 characters; the remaining 80 characters may be used by the company running this system to send a short student-related advert at the end of your message - this is what funds the service. During the trial there should be no adverts present.

Obviously, this system should be used with some care since students will not thank anyone for receiving junk text messages. But it would have its uses as a supplement to communication by e-mail if you needed to get in touch quickly and if it was agreed amongst a group of staff/students that this was an acceptable way of keeping in touch.

If you are interested in receiving a username and password to try out this system, please contact Malcolm Bain (e-mail mb, telephone 2760).