I Left My Cell Phone Home and Lived to Tell the Tale!

I wasn't running late, but time was tight. When I parked the car at the train station and reached for my bag I was struck by the vision of my cell phone, in my living room, still charging on the end table.

Think quick...is there enough time to drive home and back and still make the train?

No.

Okay, deep breath! What will happen if I don't have my phone today?

Interesting question. Here's a better one.

What tasks actually require me to use my phone?

I carry my laptop and a small hot spot device just about every where I go, so getting my email is not a problem. Phone calls can be made when I reach my destination from an office phone. Social media can be done from my laptop along with all the other stuff I do in the course of my day, mostly on Office 365 apps.

The only issue was text messaging. Both my personal and professional communications happen through texts. I could email most of the people who text me and let them know I left my phone home. Not a great solution since it would take time; time to send all those emails and time to respond to their replies about leaving my phone at home!

More than one way to skin a cat, or send a text message.

Is it possible to send text messages from my laptop? Luckily, yes.

I didn't know that before, but I know it now. My first thought was a website that sends text messages. I wound up trying to install a Google voice app, but I needed my phone to do that since it sent a text message with the confirmation code. Obviously, not the right solution for me at the moment.

My next option was my cell phone service carrier. I logged into my Verizon Wireless account and after looking all over the website, I couldn't find a "text" option. Back to Google to search if Verizon had that feature. Seconds later the search results included directions to the "Text Online" selection on the pull down menu that I typically only use to log out of my Verizon account. (Easy to find now that I know where it is.)

Voila! All my texts messages were available and I could easy send new messages, no need for anyone to know I was not using my phone. (Except my husband, who was home and looking at my phone, charging on the end table, when he received my text message.)

Stay calm and do the research.

Solving problems is what we do every day for our clients at Orion Global Solutions. We listen, and spend the necessary time to talk through the details so we understand exactly what they need. Using a combination of experience and research, we arrive at multiple solutions until we find the best one. Then we help them through the implementation to a successful conclusion.

Interested in talking with us about how we can help solve your business and technology problems? Visit our website or send me an email!