Send Free SMS Messages Through Gmail

Thursday, December 11th, 2008 | Beta, News, SMS, Software Update, google

Here’s a new (err..somewhat new) feature for Gmail that has just been released via Google Labs, Free SMS messaging to any phone in the United States through it’s integrated chat feature.

To send a SMS message to one of your friends (or enemies, whichever you feel like reaching out to), just enter a phone number in the search box at the top of the chat window found in the bottom left hand corner of your Gmail interface and select “Send SMS.” Once you’ve entered in a phone number for a contact name, it is automatically saved, meaning you’ll only have to update phone numbers once.

Currently it’s only being tested on US-based cell phone carriers, but hopefully this will be expanded as the ‘kinks’ are worked out of the system.

They’re not the first online chat service to offer this type of free messaging, but hey, one more feature for those of us who use Gmail/Gchat regularly is always an added bonus!

Once you’ve added the SMS number, chats through the service appear in the same interface anyone familiar with the current Gmail chat service will recognize: