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Free SMS alerts from Google Calendar in Israel - urig - Tidbits from a .net life

Free SMS alerts from Google Calendar in Israel

Published 13 March 07 02:02 PM | urig

Woot! I've just received an SMS from Google Calendar reminding me of an event due in an hour. The greatest part? I'm in Israel. Who would have thought Google would support this feature for a market as small as Israel?

Here's a list of carriers supported by Google Calendar: "Which mobile providers does Google Calendar support?".

Currently 2 of Israel's cellular carriers are supported: Orange and Cellcom. Who's missing from the list? Pelephone of course. That company always ends up last in the race to adopt new technologies. I really should cancel my old subscription with them.

How to setup event notifications by SMS on Google Calendar then? Here's the step by step:

  1. Log into Google Calendar. Click 'Settings' then click 'Notifications'.
  2. The bottom section of the page is titled 'Notify me on my cell phone:'. There you choose your country and enter your phone number (no need for the international prefix).
  3. Now click the 'Send Verification Code' button. An SMS will be sent to the phone number you've entered, containing a verification code.
  4. Enter the verification code and click the 'Finish Setup' button. You're almost done.
  5. Now you can return to the top of the page where it says 'Choose how you would like to be notified:' and check the SMS checkbox next to where it says 'Event Reminders'

Enjoy!

תגים:

Comments

# DrorEngel said on March 13, 2007 03:28 PM:

what so bad in Outlook 2007?

# Adi said on March 13, 2007 06:00 PM:

I thought having someone send you SMS would require some kind of payment plan, since sending SMS costs money. Could it be those cell-phone companies provide some kind of an API allowing SMS for free, or is it a special treatment reserved for companies like Google?

# urig said on March 13, 2007 06:46 PM:

To Dror:

My Outlook 2007 beta is about to expire and the real thing costs lots of money. Google Calendar is for free :).

Besides, how can I send SMS messages from Outlook 2007 for free? Is there an "Outlook Mobile Service" provider that users can use for free?

# urig said on March 13, 2007 06:49 PM:

To Adi:

I honestly can't imagine Israeli cellular companies giving anything substantial for free - not even to big names like Google. :)

I expect Google is paying for each and every one of those SMSs sent out from Google Calendar. And I'm pretty sure once the service gains popularity, the cost will be transferred on to the end users (which is fine by me).

But if you do hear of a some kind of open API enabling free SMS messages to be sent out, please do share! :D

# Taz said on September 17, 2007 12:49 PM:

boo hoo..

# Shoshana said on October 7, 2007 08:38 AM:

I can't believe this! In Israel SMS alert, for free...

Thanks a lot!

I was actually looking for something else, to receive an SMS any time new email arrives. I noticed there are tons of countries where Mobile carriers provide SMS gateway for this, but Israel seems to be not in the picture.. Do you possibly know of any solution for this? Even paid, anything that works

Thanks

# Amir Golan said on December 28, 2007 07:36 PM:

Hi,

Regarding the Outlook 2007 SMS feature - you can use www.smsofficer.com which lets you send SMS using the built-in SMS feature.

You receive 20 credits for free when you sign up.

Amir