Cell phone users in text message overload

A new service that helps you keep your important text messages separate from your everyday text and spam text messages has been launched.

[ClickPress, Thu Feb 22 2007] A new service that helps you keep your important text messages separate from your everyday text and spam text messages has been launched.

With some people getting well over 400 texts a week, text overload is becoming a reality. This is why London based firm, Text a Shoutout, has introduced a service that gives you a second inbox for your mobile where you can store either important text messages or possible spam messages.

People around the world are keeping an ever increasing amount of important information on their phones, be it text messages, games or photos. For some people keeing it all organised and backing it up is as vital as backing up data on your PC.

"Some of the texts you have on your phone are really important to you, either because of what they are or who sent them. Being able to store them somewhere separately, makes sense," said Ron Rodney one of the firms foounders.

To set up the service you text the name you want to use for your new inbox to the compnay, they then ceate an inbox for you in that name. It's free to set up and store messages, apart from the standard network rate for sending a text.

You can then give that number for that inbox, to people instead of giving them your mobile number and when they want to contact you they can leave you a text.

You can access your new inbox via the mobile web or a PC and you can currently store as many texts as you like in it. Also when you access your inbox via a PC your messages will be in alphabetical order, making it easy to find them.

"Once you're set up you can tell friends to text important messages straight to your new inbox. Or you can use the inbox as a spam box and give that number out instead of your mobile," said Mr Rodney.

Last year Ferris research estimated that spammers would send over a billion text messages this year, up 38% on 2006. With more companies asking for your mobile number and the willingness of people to hand it over, this figure could easily rise.

The difficulty most of us have is that we only have one mobile. It's not like email where you can give a different address for buying things and have another address for friends. Text spammers know their message will be seen by a person and a text message will get your attention. It seems in the future we will all have to be a little bit more careful about who we give our mobile number to.

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