Common Text Messaging Problem

Text messaging or SMS is a common way for people to communicate. At first it seemed to be limited to the younger age group, now the older generation is fast falling in love with it. This post will focus on issues you might have with text messaging and ways to correct it without calling customer service.

A common issue I see is when a person can receive text messages but cannot send them. In order to send text, your phone has to have the correct "service center number" programed into it. This is the number that the phone "calls" when you send a text to engage the system. If this number is incorrect or missing, you will not be able to send messages.

The fix is quite simple. In most phones, the setting is located in the messages menu under settings or inbox settings. You can look online to find which is the correct number to enter. Just do a search for "Service Center Number AT&T (Or whomever your provider is)."

It is important that the + symbol is entered before the number as well.

Another common problem people have is getting the phone to type the words that you want it to. Most phones have an option called iTAP or Predictive Text. When active, the phone will attempt to guess what word you want and allow you to select it. Personally, I dislike this setting as it is very hard for me to use, but many people like it and it helps speed up the texting process. Each phone has a certain way to turn this feature on and off so I can't give you a step by step instruction. Look in your phone's manual under SMS or Text for the information or do a search on the net.

If you have a specific text problem, leave me a comment!