IMessage Blue text are being billed?
Blackbearfan
Newbie

Has anyone had the situation where IMessage text to another IOs5 phone is being billed as text?  I thought these where not billable and did not use minutes or text.  Must it be connected via wifi only for freebies or can we do it on 3G?

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Re: IMessage Blue text are being billed?
Tidbits
Legend

3G or wifi it doesn't matter which you are connected to.  If iMessanger is down for some reason or you can't connect to it, and you have the option of sending a text off it will give you a message "cannot deliver" or something in those regards.  You can try again later.

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Re: IMessage Blue text are being billed?
Tidbits
Legend

Blackbearfan wrote:

Has anyone had the situation where IMessage text to another IOs5 phone is being billed as text?  I thought these where not billable and did not use minutes or text.  Must it be connected via wifi only for freebies or can we do it on 3G?


Yes and no. 

 

They should be free almost ALL the time.  If for some reason you can't connect to the iMessages servers you will be charged text.  There is an option in Messages to turn that off(in settings menu). 

 

However if you send multiple imessages and one of them is NOT registered with imessanger then it will always fall on the lowest for all recipients.  That means everyone you sent to will be text messages.

 

This is a iOS issue which people have brought to the attention to Apple.

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Re: IMessage Blue text are being billed?
Blackbearfan
Newbie

Thank you Tidbits.  Quick followup...turned off Send as SMS...but can send over 3G just if the IMessage server doesn't connect then message won't go???  You don't necessarily have to be on WiFi?

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Re: IMessage Blue text are being billed?
Tidbits
Legend

3G or wifi it doesn't matter which you are connected to.  If iMessanger is down for some reason or you can't connect to it, and you have the option of sending a text off it will give you a message "cannot deliver" or something in those regards.  You can try again later.

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Re: IMessage Blue text are being billed?
Blaggr
Newbie

My iMessage are all being billed as SMS. I have contacted Verizon, but no response yet. I assume many others are experiencing this. Has anyone received a response from Verizon about this?

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Re: IMessage Blue text are being billed?
JoeNe
Contributor - Level 2

I have not communicated with VZW, but mine are not being billed as texts.  My text count is way, way down from where it was prior to iOS5.

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Re: IMessage Blue text are being billed?
mbkerk
Newbie

Do iMessages sent to an iOS5 device on a different carrier (AT&T) get billed as SMS? I am getting billed for them (or they are counting against my allotment) at this point.

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Re: IMessage Blue text are being billed?
Tidbits
Legend

Ok guys...  There's a FEW things Apple needs to fix...  It has NOTHING to do with Verizon...

   The person receiving the text MUST be registered with iMessages, and you BOTH need to be connected to the iMessage network.  If you receive a text, or send one while not on the network it will COUNT as SMS.  You can turn this option off in the settings for Messages.

  Some things you MOST people don't know...  Currently if you send bulk iMessages and one of them is NOT registered or connected then ALL of them will count towards SMS.  So if you are going to send bulk make sure they are ALL one type.

It doesn't matter what iPhone version or carrier you are with.  They ALL do it this way.

Re: IMessage Blue text are being billed?
kaebfly
Champion - Level 3

Maybe I paid attention to all of the info related to the use of iMessage but I was aware that any group message sent that included any non-iMessage enabled devices OR if the system was down when you attempted to send your message it would be sent as an sms message unless you turned the "send as sms" feature off. If you send a bulk message it is simple to tell if any of your receipients will affect your message from being sent as an iMessage. If even one of them shows as green then you will be sending them all as sms messages. Maybe Apple will find a way to get around this in the future, but even if they don't it's not much different than the messaging system that Apple seems to have gotten their inspiration from in some degree...the BlackBerry Messenger. Only difference is the iMessage system automatically detects if your message is going to another iOS 5 device with iMessage enabled  versus BBM, which requires that you have the BBM pin for your contacts in order to use the messaging system. Unless BBM haas changed recently, you can't start a message in the BBM app and have your messages  use sms if you wish to include non-BBM users (except to send a request to join BBM which was always a little odd since it allowed you to send a request to anyone...including people that don't have a BBM yet if they didn't have a BBM they couldn't join the system). It would be nice for those that have text limits if the iMessage system would at least warn you prior to sending the intended iMessage that the system is unable to complete the message as an iMessage and ask if you want to send it as an SMS or wait instead of the little notification after the message is sent (and the sent message bubble is green) that says "Sent as a Text Message", but at least there is the option to turn that feature off so it would just fail rather than switch to SMS. I have personally only had 2 messages switch to SMS and then whatever reason caused that was gone quickly and the remainder of the conversation remained in iMessage. So at least for me, the iMessage system hasn't had any real downtime.

So basically:

  1. pay attention to your group messages if you send them. Any green receipients show up then your entire message will be SMS.
  2. Turn off the "send as SMS" feature if you want to avoid any iMessage switching over to SMS unexpectedly.
  3. If any one you know for a fact has an iMessage capable device but still shows up on green when you start a message to them contact them and ask them to turn on the iMessage feature or update their iOS if they haven't already so you both can use the system.
  4. Send suggestions to Apple if you have any ideas that can improve the system. Despite the speed that Apple tends to take in showing that they listened if enough people request it there is a higher possibility that a future iOS update will include changes to the iMessage system (or anything else that is buggy for that matter).
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Re: IMessage Blue text are being billed?
BigMcGuire
Enthusiast - Level 3

Guys ... guys ... I too have had this problem. And I figured out that Verizon IS COUNTING iMessages as SMS. Here is how it works... iMessage uses your Verizon Number as a possible recipient for iMessage. You can also use your Apple ID as well. But by default it is configured to use your Verizon Number. And yes, each message is BLUE indicating it is an iMessage. But if you check your VerizonWireless.com usage - it will count as SMS.

My wife, I changed her Verizon iMessage settings to accept iMessages from her Apple ID as well as her Verizon cellphone number. I did the same for my phone. And to test this out - I started sending iMessages to her Apple ID instead of her Verizon cellphone and ....... VIOLA ... Verizon SMS usage count is not going up anymore.

And how do I know this? My wife is basically the only one I SMS. And we both have iPhone 4s'. Yes, we also have unlimited SMS but it was bothering me that Verizon was counting our iMessages. Now that we both use our Apple IDs to send iMessages --- the SMS Usage count has stayed the same.

I think this is kinda dirty on Verizon's part but whatever.....

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