Edit (1/17/2010): Bummer. Service is shutdown due to ‘concerns of Google TOS violations’.
Those of you using Google Voice for your SMS needs might find a new free service called GVXMPP (Twitter: @GVXMPP) to be quite useful.
What does this service do? Well, it allows you to have your SMS sent to your Google Voice number to be delivered as an instant message to your XMPP-capable IM client (Pidgin, Adium, Trillian, MirandaIM, etc). This also means that you can reply to an SMS via an IM.
How does GVXMPP accomplish this? The service takes advantage of the Google Voice option to forward your SMS as emails. Then, a forwarding filter is setup to forward your SMS from your email address to your new XMPP address that you get when you sign up for the service. To summarize, your SMS travels the following way: Google Voice –> Your Email –> GVXMPP service –> your IM client. One of the great things about this service is that your SMS arrive nearly instantly and you can manage them easily without being near your phone and without cramped typing on a small keyboard. Guys at GVXMPP have created a very handy guide that makes setting this up a breeze.
One Comment
Since GVXmpp is no longer available, your readers may be interested in gvmax (www.gvmax.com) which provides a similar free service.