Question for people who use cell-phone text messaging ...

[sholio]

Do cell phones save your old text messages so that you can retrieve and read them even if you don't have reception? Or do you need to be able to connect to your service provider to read a saved message? Actually, come to think of it, a voice message might work better in this instance, so are voice messages -- after you've retrieved and listened to them, of course -- saved locally or on some kind of server somewhere?

(It's for something I'm writing, of course. I don't have a cell and don't know enough about how they work!)

ETA: Question answered, thank you!

Comments

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Cellphones save text messages on the phone, so you don't need reception to read them. They usually save only a certain number of messages (I think how many probably depends on the phone; my Japanese cell used to save hundreds but my cell now only seems to have the last 15 or so?)

Voice mail depends on the phone - some phones save it on the phone (my Japanese cell did, at least; I'm not sure about US phones...); others save it on a server, so that you need a connection to call your voicemail box.

(Cell phones make life more convenient, but are so inconvenient for writers - I keep realizing this watching Buffy; there's multiple episodes with problems that would be easily solved with easy lines of communication...)

[roga.livejournal.com]

OMG you don't have a cellphone. Israel has the highest cellphone/person ratio in the world, so it's kind of mindblowing, although I envy you a little :-) In any case, voicemail isn't saved on the cellphone itself, you have to call the server and listen to the messages. Text messages, on the other hand, are saved on your memory card. My old phone could contain 100 messages in the inbox and sent box together. I got my new phone in May, and haven't erased any of the my messages yet, just because I'm curious to see what its full capacity is. So far I've got 1480 messages in my inbox and 1413 in my sent box O_O and it's not showing signs of filling up...

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Clarification - voicemail is server-side (which is useful because this means you can get voicemail even when your phone is off/out of range) but some phones can save voice messages on the phone itself. (This is how my old Japanese cell worked; I'm not sure if any US phones do. The advantage of voice messages is that you can listen to them anytime; the disadvantage is that they can only be received when the phone is on & in range.)

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

On my phone, I can access old text histories without reception, but not old voice messages - those I have to call in and listen to.

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

Since your question is already answered, I'm just going to pop in and direct envy at your cellpone-free-ness. I had to cave and get one a few years ago and I still hate them.

[sheafrotherdon.livejournal.com]

You can (to add to the answers you already have) call into the voicemail server from any phone, however - so you don't need it to be your cell phone / a cell phone (it can be a land line) to get them. You can just call your own number, and then interrupt your own greeting (usually by hitting the # key) and it will take you to your voicemail menu.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :) That's pretty much exactly what I was hoping for, so it works beautifully with the plot I'd had in mind. (Well, this one tiny bit of the plot, anyway.)

(Cell phones make life more convenient, but are so inconvenient for writers - I keep realizing this watching Buffy; there's multiple episodes with problems that would be easily solved with easy lines of communication...)

LOL, I know. It's been really interesting to see cell phones get integrated into so many shows over the last few years, from SPN to NCIS! And it's something I have to constantly keep in mind when I'm writing, especially since I grew up without cell phones and still don't have one myself, so I have to remind myself that most of the rest of the world does ...

In a way, though, it's a "six of one, half a dozen of the other" situation for a writer. On the one hand, there are a ton of old standby plots that no longer work in their classic form without taking cells into account. On the other hand, it means that we have to think more carefully about those old plots and write them in new, fresh ways -- and cell phones open up whole new avenues for complicating the plot in fresh and interesting ways, as well!

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

LOL, yeah, I feel like a total Luddite sometimes (and after the last time that I traveled, when I borrowed my husband's cell, it was SO MUCH MORE CONVENIENT that I may break down and buy a pre-paid one as well).

Anyway, thank you; from a plot standpoint, this is pretty much what I was hoping for, since it means I don't have to rewrite that scene. *g*

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Thanks! This works perfectly for my plot purposes. :)

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm still struggling along with my '90s lifestyle. *g* I still don't want one, but the last time I traveled (the Chicago/Midwest trip last fall) I borrowed one to take with me and it was SO CONVENIENT that it made me wonder if it might be worth buying a prepaid phone to take with me when I travel. I greatly enjoy the freedom, but oh, the convenience ... *sigh*

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you very much! :) It does make sense that you would have that option if the messages are kept on a server.

All these answers are making me kinda want to write something in which cell phones play a major role in the plot (as opposed to a brief, minor scene, as is the case here *g*).

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I didn't ever have one myself until I went to Japan (where we didn't have a landline, so a cell phone was fairly crucial.) ...though the Japanese cell phones are so much nicer than the American ones; I had a super-cheap prepay phone (came to about $15/month) and while it didn't have a lot of special features, it did things that the cell I have now doesn't (like in Japan, the text system is actually just email, so you can send & receive from any email address as well as any phone. Also you don't have to pay anything for receiving calls or texts, just sending...)

And yes, cells do make for new plots and new ways to construct action! ...when you're kidnapping/injuring/stranding a char, you always gotta figure out how to take care of the cell-phone! :P

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

when you're kidnapping/injuring/stranding a char, you always gotta figure out how to take care of the cell-phone! :P

Yeah, much the same situation as with the gates, radios and subcutaneous transmitters on SGA, where half of the plots seem to involve making them fail to work for some reason. *g* (Star Trek had a similar issue with transporters ... how many planets had mysterious radiation that interfered with their beaming technology and communicators, anyway? Hee!)

But going back to using the technology to create new plot possibilities, you can always have the cell phones still work while a convenient blizzard/hurricane/monsoon prevents the search & rescue teams from getting there, so you can do the whole "angsting over the radio" thing ... *g*

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

Some save texts only for a certain length of time, too. I never text much, yet when I went back one time to see a friend's phone number to try and text her, I noticed all my messages were gone (it had been several months).

[ticiathethief.livejournal.com]

>In any case, voicemail isn't saved on the cellphone itself, you have to call the server and listen to the messages.

Unless it's a phone like the iPhone, with visual voicemail. Best invention ever. It downloads the voicemail to the phone, you can choose which voicemail to listen to, rewind, fast forward, etc. serious love going on with that visual voicemail.

[roga.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that's cool. I hate voicemail in general and do my best to avoid both leaving and listening to it, but maybe if it were easier to handle I'd like it better.

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I had to get one when I spent a year without a homebase, and I won't deny that there are plenty of times it's come in handy. But I find them uncomfortable to talk on for long periods of time and hate them in general principle (no, I don't want to be always reachable - which is why people are always accusing me of never answering my phone) and mostly I hate how people abuse them. Sometimes, though, they really are highly useful.

[wildcat88.livejournal.com]

No cell? I don't even have a home phone any more. *hugs cell phone* I have a Blackberry (long story) and I keep updated on my email and Facebook (I caved). I can surf the web, take pictures, and all sorts of cool stuff that makes the communicators on ST:TOS look like walkie-talkies. Ha!

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Heh! I actually don't like talking on the phone at all, even to people I like, so making it easier for people to reach me is really the last thing I want to do. Although I guess if I did have a cell, I could conveniently forget to turn it on most of the time ... *g*