Mobile phones and tablets are great. However, if you’re like most traders, entering text can be considerably more challenging than typing at your trading computer.
Particularly, when you are writing a text message on your phone or tablet, it’s easy to make mistakes. And auto-correct can sometimes backfire.
Your friends and family members might not mind a few typos. But your professional reputation can be on the line if you continually send text messages full of errors.
You’ll be delighted to know you can actually send text messages using your trading laptop or computer. And it’s not complicated!
When you send texts from your trading computer, you can run spelling and grammar checks before sending them out. (And auto-correct is less aggressive.) As a result, your messages will look more professional.
Here are three methods you can use to text from your trading desktop or laptop.
1. Send SMS via Email
Computers for traders are designed as communication hubs. Yet many traders end up communicating from the small screen of their mobile devices, texting clients and colleagues. Sometimes they might even have to send the same message to multiple people (but one at a time) and end up re-typing.
Instead of typing a message on a small cell phone screen, you can easily send a text message (SMS) from your trading computer by sending an email to an address of this format:
phone_number@carrier_texting_domain
Sending to an address in this format will deliver the text message to the intended mobile phone number.
For example, say you want to send a text message to your colleague at this mobile phone number: 213-555-0555. And say you know that said colleague uses AT&T as their mobile service provider. You should address your email to [email protected].
Here are some of the most popular carrier SMS domains:
- AT&T SMS domain: @txt.att.net
- Boost Mobile SMS domain: @sms.myboostmobile.com
- Sprint SMS domain: @messaging.sprintpcs.com
- T-mobile SMS domain: @tmomail.net
- U.S. Cellular SMS domain: @email.uscc.net
- Verizon SMS domain: @vtext.com
- Virgin Mobile SMS domain: @vtext.com
Note that the above domains will only work for text messages. Any message that has images, video, or audio will require an MMS domain.
Here are the popular MMS domains:
- AT&T MMS domain: @mms.att.net
- Boost Mobile MMS domain: @myboostmobile.com
- Sprint MMS domain: @pm.sprint.com
- T-Mobile MMS domain: @tmomail.net
- U.S. Cellular MMS domain: @mms.uscc.net
- Verizon MMS domain: @vzwpix.com
- Virgin Mobile MMS domain: @vmpix.com
If you don’t know your recipient’s service provider, there are websites (such as FreeCarrierLookup or CarrierLookup) that can provide carrier lookups from the phone number.
2. Send SMS from an Apple Platform
If both your trading computer or laptop and your mobile device are Apple products, then you can use iMessage to cross-connect the devices.
Here are the steps to set up iMessage on your mobile device to forward SMS messages to your trading computer:
- Make sure your Apple trading computer and your iPhone are signed on with the same iCloud account and are connected to the same WiFi.
- Go to your iPhone’s (or iPad’s) Settings > Messages > Turn on iMessage.
- Click on Text Message Forwarding > Select your trading computer.
- Your trading computer will pop up a code that you will have to enter on your mobile device.
Now your mobile device text messages should show up in your trading computer’s iMessage window. And you can use iMessage to send texts.
3. Send SMS from an Android Platform
Google has created a messages page for Android devices to let you text from your trading computer via the internet.
Here are the steps:
- Go to https://messages.android.com
- On your phone, open the Messages app and tap on the three dots icon to select “Messages for web”
- Scan the QR code shown on the web page to connect your trading computer and cell phone.
Now the web page should have the texts from your phone, and you can send messages directly from the web browser of your trading laptop or computer.
Conclusion
For many traders, texting on a small screen from a tiny touch keyboard is a frustrating, time-wasting experience. If this sounds like you, try one of these methods for texting from your trading computer. And have a less-stressful day!
There are more trading computer tips like this in our buyers guide. Check out our “How To Buy a Trading Computer” e-book.
We hope today’s Quick Tip helped you. If you found this helpful, you’ll want to check out the other computer How-To’s I’ve created on this page. You can always call us if you have questions: 800-387-5250.
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