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At least in the US, most carriers have an email address that corresponds to your number for both SMS and MMS messages that you can just put in the field for email address that will mean they are recieved as a text. If you google "[carrier] email to text" you should get good info.

There are also some email apps that can alert the user when a certain kind of email arrives. No need for SMS in that case.

There is no option for geocaching.com to send you a text message. Notifications are done via email - click the link for more info. Some cell phone providers will give you an email address that will come through on your phone as an SMS, though the formatting usually leaves something to be desired. I did a quick forum search and couldn't easily find the thread, but I know it's been discussed here in the past.

Yes, but since the OP referred to "email-to-SMS" I just assumed it was standard SMS service that was used. Also I've seen in a description of one such service (probably from a US carrier) that it sent the first 160 characters of the email as an SMS.

I figured it out. Go to notifications and add email address, enter your phone number as an email address. To do this you do an online search for "email-to-SMS" and look for your carriers extension, ie; @ text.att.net , @ vtext.com etc. Hope this helps

I guess you can ask the seller to send you the code by email, sms, etc.

SPOT devices are hardly similar to Garmin inReach devices. SPOT devices offer the user a one-way outgoing emergency distress call option, that once initiated, the user can only hope and/or assume was received and help is on the way, and the emergency responders have no way ascertaining any information related to the nature of the distress call. Garmin inReach devices, which the Montana 700i and 750i are, offer bi-directional communication 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Garmin inReach devices allow the user to transmit pertinent information to the responding crew while receiving instructions that can help save lives while keeping everyone on the same page, in real time. Garmin inReach devices allow users to automatically send a bread-crumb trail of there location to the cloud where friends, family members and other authorized individuals can keep track of their location and progress, in real time, without requiring any other action on the users part. Garmin inReach devices allow users to communicate bi-directionally with the entire outside world via direct messaging, sms, and email. This means you can not only send regular detailed updates to family and friends to reassure them of your condition or any specific needs, or changes in schedule etc, but so can they send you the same types of information, available directly on your inReach device, anywhere in the world, 24/7/365. Garmin inReach devices can provide the user with highly detailed hour by hour weather forecasts for any location on Earth, from any location on Earth, at any time desired, 24/7/365, assisting the user in adapting their trip in such a way they can avoid inclement weather conditions that may otherwise leave someone stranded and/or worse. Garmin inReach devices also allow users to post timely updates about their trip to their Facebook and Twitter accounts, 24/7/365. Remember, with a SPOT, you just push a button, and then wait, hoping the signal went out and was received and someone is on the way. With a Garmin inReach device, you are always in contact with the entire world, from anywhere in the world, so you and your loved one never have to wonder or guess about your status.

I am trying to get my alerts and preferred email / SMS workin spent about 20 mins with ATT ...no blocking on their side i just now removed and re-added my sms and validated again...now emails come from “invalid@geocaching.com” with an odd html attached file any thoughts on how to get back to normal?

I can see many issues immediately! inReach sends SOS to proper authorities for your actual location, NOT where you registered the device! Seems to me this alone could be a life or death difference when response time is of the essence! Also, the inReach devices offer many additional features and capabilities that the PLB does not, including allowing others to track you progress in real time from anywhere on the planet, and allowing two way email and SMS communication between yourself and friends or family, as well as the Rescue Crew after an SOS is Triggered, which allows you to provide important information with them in real time, and that may make all the difference in a rescue attempt. inReach devices also allow the user to view detailed weather forecasts and conditions for any location on Earth, from any location on Earth, any time they desire. This feature may actually help the user prevent putting themselves into a situation that will require rescue. You know the saying... The easiest fights to win are the ones that never happen? According to multiple articles online (example 01, example 02), more than 98% of PLB distress signals are false alarms, and many agencies regard them as a nuisance, unlike inReach devices which require subscriptions to function. As always, YMMV.

Use the phone where there's service and you don't need to worry about pre-loading. Please read my posts before responding, don't just reply while ignoring my post. I don't like all the popups about no data unrelated to "preloaded phones", and the many surprises that occur when data service is weak or intermittent or failing. I can absolutely not pre-load Waze, Message Center, log sending, new cache info, email, SMS, and data on other online Apps. So I use a phone for phone things, and a GPS for GPS things. I will continue to do so. I've already asked you nicely to stop trolling about it. I'm asking again. Stop it.

I wasn't aware there was a way to have text notification sent for new caches - I only see email address listed, not phone number. Unless you are talking about an email address that actually sends a text message, like: Send SMS from E-Mail Alltel: phonenumber@message.alltel.com. AT&T: phonenumber@txt.att.net. T-Mobile: phonenumber@tmomail.net. Virgin Mobile: phonenumber@vmobl.com. Sprint: phonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com. Verizon: phonenumber@vtext.com. Nextel: phonenumber@messaging.nextel.com. US Cellular: phonenumber@mms.uscc.net. If not this, then can you explain a bit more about where you are trying to change the phone number?

1. I think this is the key for me. Initial messages? Respond. Repeated messages that enter the realm of 2 and 3? Then they might be getting an ignore. 2. On first contact (or maybe 2 or 3, my judgment) I'll still respond. Sometimes a friendly response goes a long way when facing an angry or annoying person. Maybe their assumption is that I'm one of those andgry/annoying people so they start off on the wrong foot. Yep, I'll always respond first, and judge further replies on how the convo goes. 3. Did you reply initially? (I assume so). Depending on the cache, if they're just having difficulty finding it, I'd give them suggestions - ask someone who's found it already for a tip, or I might give them a tip, or say go with at least 1 or 2 friends to team up and find it; or maybe I'll offer to meet them and go find it. Without context, your #3 implies you never responded due to the question; I'd have responded. If you did and they continued, I'd have attempted to steer the person away from that basic, simple question (give'em a tip - who cares, whether it's easy or hard; or else go help them) But yeah I'd never just tell them exactly where it is or how to find it. Same, I try to do that whether it's an SMS, a FB msg, twitter DM, or GC message. So many manners of immediate contact these days, to me geocaching messaging is just another one. But in the context of geocaching, that's the surefire way of getting a hole of a cache owner - especially since a GC message also goes by email. Knowing what it's like to send a message while on site, hoping for a quick reply, I do my best to respond to GC messages ASAP. If I get that, I tend to get to the point of "I can't say any more otherwise it's a giveaway". And if it's not my cache, I'll suggest they just ask the CO. That will certainly determine whether the CO would care if someone 'gives out answers'. For my own, I'd prefer to be the one to choose whether someone is 'given' the answer or not. Really bugs me when others do that behind the CO's back. Some COs will give out their own answers, others won't. It's more like a see-no-evil-hear-no-evil under the table exchange. They don't know if the CO would care because they never asked. I try to be up front on my caches - if you want a hint, just ask me, please don't go around getting answers from people; I'm open to chatting

By presenting faceplant as the example of how to make a communication system, the OP's whole premise is flawed. Many people don't even realize you have to dig for their "Messenger" service, and many who use it don't remember to check it. I have several standing messages there, a couple of them for years, with no reply, and no other way to contact the person. And friends who do use "Messenger" also interchange that and the phone SMS and email, so today they are I guess checking only one of the three, and I get no reply this week. It's a mess, and not worth emulating. And it's pretty much what we get at Geocaching.com already. I mean, it's OK as it goes, but it's not fast.

Following up -- 2 new cache alerts. For the first one, all three notifications -- Groundspeak email to Gmail, Gmail forward to Cell SMS, and Groundspeak "email" to cell SMS arrived immediately. On the second one, Groundspeak email to Gmail, Gmail forward to Cell SMS arrived immediately, but Groundspeak "email" to cell SMS lagged by 30 minutes.

Thanks barefootjeff, you nailed it. I did not see the tiny encoded text/plain section when I looked through the email, but sure enough, it is there. Since my cell provider seems to be the problem, it will be interesting to see if the email forwarded from my Gmail to my SMS address will be delayed the same as the email from Groundspeak to my SMS address... Still waiting for the next new cache alert.

No, it's not a different email. I just looked at the source for the notification email I got for my recent multi. It contains two parts, one with "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8" and the other "Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8", both encoded as base-64. The text/html part is what I see in my email client: whereas the text/plain section, when I put the base-64 content into an online decoder, contains this: That's the bit that's being forwarded to your SMS. It's the same email coming out of Groundspeak regardless of its destination, it's just the recipient that's deciding which bit of it to display. Your delays are happening within your email to SMS provider.

Hrmrmrh... If it is greylisting, really nothing I can do. I am relying on gmail address (android phone already forces me to the have app and account) to get alerts when they actually happen. I have since setup forwarding from gmail to my sms address, we'll see what happens there... The reason I believe Groundspeak is altering the body of the message sent directly to sms is because of the language used: "Subject: New Multi-cache: cache title (GCxxxxx) x.xxmi E (xx.xxkm E) Go find GCxxxxx: http://coord.info/GCxxxxx" The link seems to be a shortcut to the cache page. In the Gmail email, the exact same subject is used. The body appears to be completely different. No where does it use the text "Go find GCxxxxx: http://coord.info/GCxxxxx" not even in the "original message" unless it's encoded in to the base64 part. The text "Go find CGxxxxx:" is coming from Groundspeak, not a 3rd party stripping things out. Can they encode the same message such that if it's going to SMS one part is sent/visible, and if it's going to email, a different part is sent/visible? Anyway, the point is to figure out why the alerts sent directly to SMS are so delayed. If Cricket is greylisting Groundspeak (why?) that's that I'll not pursue further. If the delay is something Groundspeak can fix, or pressure Cricket to fix, that'd be great! Thanks for everyone's input.

As in getting a notification from the geocaching app, or as in getting an SMS? The former would be a new feature solution. The latter has been discussed in many a thread - search for email AND SMS.

I do not believe Groundspeak sends different emails depending on your particular email client. Rather, I believe the issue could be that Groundspeak emails are all in HTML, not plain text, and your phone carrier is stripping out HTML content to reduce those emails to an SMS. That potentially accounts for both the delay and for the less than optimal content you receive. My money is on this, and not on any greylisting. If you're using a smart phone, a better solution might be to use an email app to your phone to check the address to which Groundspeak sends your notification emails. If you prefer the SMS option, this thread discusses a script that strips down Groundspeak emails, which could help. I can't speak to its utility, as I don't use it - I only recall seeing the discussion. Other discussions on SMS and email are available by searching through old forum threads. Here's the search I used. Hope this helps.

Note that you have to have your email set up just the way Groundspeak wants it for this to work. If you have a geocaching-specific address that forwards to your real address, then this won't work, because your replies will come from your real address, not from your geocaching-specific address. I had to change my email settings on geocaching.com to make this work. Here you go: The MC is fine for the same kind of communication that SMS texting is good for: short messages that won't be important a week from now. For more substantial communication, I prefer a real email system.

I currently have notifications set to send Newly Published alerts via email to my cellphone's SMS email address. (For Cricket users its your cell phone number + @mms.cricketwireless.net). The problem is that the new cache notifications rarely arrive in a timely manner -- usually 30-60 minutes later than ones sent to an actual (Gmail) address. It appears that the body of the outgoing message is altered for the SMS recipient as compared to the email recipient. Pretty sure this has to be happening before it leaves Groundspeak, since it isn't just the same information, but truncated. It has much less information, just a link to the cache page. Annoying, but tolerable. As a test I sent myself an email from my computer to my cellphone's SMS address. It arrived almost instantly. It seems likely the delay is with Groundspeak, not my wireless provider, and reformatting the message is probably part of it. Is Groundspeak the bottleneck? What can be done to get these "emails" to SMS out faster? 30-60 minutes of delay is way too much in a FTF situation. Thanks...

I currently have notifications set to send Newly Published alerts to my home email. However, by the time I check it its often too late to try to go for FTF's. I tried creating a SMS email address from my cell phone number that would change my phone number into an email address (For Verizon users its your cell phone number + @vtext.com). I added it into my notification settings and I got a text message "email" from geocaching right away. The problem is that it wants to verify this email address? I don't know how to verify it since its not a real email address. When I try to click on the link in my text, it just sends me to the geocaching website. I thought it might work without it being verified but it doesn't seem to. Any suggestions?? Thanks for any help and ideas!!

Thanks. I've tested both numberATtxt.att.net and numberATmms.att.net. I get the initial message from GS when setting up the email, and I'm able to validate it (apparently I can only have 2 email addresses active (others in the area have at least 3), so I've toggled between the 2 addresses a few time with similar results). However, I don't receive notifications after the address is associated with one of my notifications. Compared results to the emails I receive under a separate notification, and GS and I have both posted notes and disabled caches to test the notification, without success. I also consistently receive SMS and txt messages at both of the addresses from many other services (schools, kids sports, work, I sent from my email addresses, etc..). GS seems to be the only system where I know I have a problem. I had ATT check on their end, much more responsive to my request than I expected. They researched and couldn't not find a cause. I would activate email push notifications, but I receive thousands of emails per day between work and personal, many with attachments, so that would run up my data limit since I can't restrict which account is set to push; and I would ignore most notifications due to volume. I'll be patient, and hope GS (and/or ATT) can resolve. I'm anxious to submit a few that I've recently hidden, but I'd like to know the messages go out consistently to the locals.

I use IOS and ATT, as of Friday Nov 3, I stopped receiving alerts/notifications. I receive email notifications, but not TXT or SMS. HQ is working, but curious if others are experiencing the same. I'm aware of a few others impacted, locally, wondering if issue is wider spread. I haven't been able to locate a thread here.

Ok guys, I've been using Garmin 750 for a month now and I think I can share some thoughts in a short review. I switched from Oregon 650 lured with the live geocaching and online features. Enough said those were a bit disappointing but I'm not that sorry about the purchase (as long as I don't look at the my credit card histiry). Online features I'll start from the key new feature. The overall execution of the concept is rather rubbish. It would be OK for a very casueal geocacher who just focuses on traditional caches and refreshes them on the go. The problem is such a person wouldn't be buing a dedicated device for caching (especially with Oregon 7xx price tag). You'd see such a cacher with a smartphone and an app which gives much more features than Garmin in that scenario. What about a more advanced user? We still have the non-existent waypoint support for the multicaches. You have them if you upload a full pocket query, but as in 6xx series you have to look for them using their codes in one combined list (that is why I'm calling it non-existent). If you have a solved puzzle it will be downloaded with the original coordinates. The same goes for caches with custom coordinates included in PQs and lists downloaded directly to the device (using the lists feature). You get the starting coordinates. Besides that, the PQ/List download itself is extremely slow. The unit first downloads an index of caches and then the rest of the details. Even if you don't have a PC nearby, downloading the PQ files to a mobile phone and then transfering them to the unit via USB Host will be much faster and you'll have the custom coordinates for your puzzles, letterboxex or multis you have collected all the data but didn't have the opportunity to pick up. And the last but not least: you can send the logs (e.g. found it) directly to the server but there is no setting to send them as field notes (drafts). This made me turn off this feature completely. The only real life scenarios I used the online feature were: - I loaded a PQ with all the caches in the area excluding puzzles and another PQ with solved mysteries. I do it to be sure that every question mark I can see on the map is a cache I have the right coordinates for. The strategy is great untill you go for a series with a bonus cache (which is a mystery of course). In such a situation I can download such a cache to have all visits in one place/file. - I made a PQ which excluded disabled caches. While caching in that area I learned that there were some caches which were either enabled or the disabled ones were actually available. Refreshing the map let me look for said caches. - I wen't to an event. I had a PQ of the area prepared the day before, but when I arrived I learned that new caches have been published (what a surprise ). Few clicks and there are on my device. I think that the 3 above examples show what the online feature can be used for: EMERGENCIES. Wireless features. When I bought the unit I stille had a Windows Mobile 10 phone. The only thing that really worhed was WiFi tethering. I was able to connect the unit via BT but that didn't do anything apart showing that the unit is connected. I switched to an Android phone last week, and now it works nicely. The notifications show on the device, you can read SMS and email (havent tested all the scenarios with the later). It's a shame there is no possibility to reply to text messages from the init but it's a very low prio wish. The coolest thing is tethering via bluetooth without setting the phone in BT hotspot mode (so the unit is just connected via BT and is able to use the Internet connection from the phone). I'm sure it saves alot of battery on both devices. Precision Haven't done any real comparison tests as this almost can't be done by a non-expert. What I noticed though is they seem to have minimized that annoying effect known from Oregon 650 where if you are walking towards the cache, the unit somehow compensates for your movement. The effect almost always was that near the cache I had to stop, wait for few seconds for my position to update, and then go few steps back to allign with my new position and the cache location. For now I can't see this effect on the 750. What I did notice is that in some areas the electronic compass tends to go crazy and I'm not able to calibrate it. In one place in Prague it was almost spinning like a fan. I'll observe this a little more and compare with my friends' garmin when we go caching together. If their's will be fine and mine not (in the same spot), I can see a warranty claim coming. It came out a little longer than I planned but I hope it helps at least one person who was able to not get pored and read till the end .