More Cool Uses for Text Messages

I love all of the new and interesting ways individuals and companies are using sms (text) messages these days, and judging from the number of people I see texting and walking on Cumberland Avenue, it looks like I’m not alone. In a previous post, I mentioned a few of my favorite mobile productivity tools, several of which made use of text messaging. In this post we’ll talk about two additional services that allow you to use text messages in new, interesting ways.

Tatango

Now that school is in full swing, you probably find yourself juggling homework, your social life, your job, and probably even a number of school-related projects all at the same time. There’s a good chance that you use your mobile telephone to call teammates or friends to schedule things like study sessions and meetings, but what if you could send one text message to update an entire group of people?

Tatango helps make life easier by allowing you to create groups of contacts and easily send messages to all members through your mobile phone or a web interface. As Tatango describes on their website,

“Send one message directly from your computer or mobile phone to all of your group members, keeping them connected anytime, anywhere.”

Using the site is extremely easy. After you’ve activated your account, simply use the control panel to create a contact group. Although you can join several groups with the free plan, you’re only allowed to create and manage one group at a time without opting for the pro account. Once you’ve setup your account and created a group, update members by sending text messages to Tatango’s short code or login and use the web interface.

ReacTee

ReacTee helps you “promote your causes and express yourself with shirts that text back.” The site allows you to create and purchase interactive shirts that you can use to help spread the word about your organization or your interests. Each shirt features a keyword that anyone can text to 41411 for additional information. Within seconds, users receive a reply with a custom message you create just for your shirt. Changing the outgoing message is easily accomplished through a control panel on the company’s site.

Some examples mentioned on the ReacTee website include a New York DJ who uses her shirt to accept requests during parties and a sports fan who updates his response with his favorite team’s schedule.

Drop us a line if you’re using either of these tools or any other service you think we should know about. You can also text UTFCU to 25827 for important credit union news and promotions!