GMail/SMS Question

[Joe]

I have a GMail account I use for almost all my email. When I look at my account settings, it still has my old phone number to enable them to contact me in case something goes wrong with the account. There's a facility to edit that. I edit in the new phone number. It then has a button that says "Verify." I push that button and then it says it is going to send me a code that I have to enter before the edit can take effect, and it will be sending me this message by SMS.

I have only a very vague idea what SMS is, and have never used it. More importantly, I have no idea where to look for this message or how to retrieve it.

I am basically totally clueless.

Would someone please clue me in on what to do?

 

[Chryssie]

It is sending you a text message to that phone number that you listed. Just look in "messages" and put the code where it asks for it.

 

[Joe]

It is sending you a text message to that phone number that you listed. Just look in "messages" and put the code where it asks for it.

If "that phone number" means the old phone number, I don't think that is going to work. I lost the old phone. I think I lost it inside my house somewhere, and was hoping to find it, but I cannot retrieve messages from it. That's why I got the new phone and phone number. And that's why I was trying to change the number.

But thanks for explaining it to me. You really cleared up my confusion.

 

[Blobbenstein]

If "that phone number" means the old phone number, I don't think that is going to work. I lost the old phone. I think I lost it inside my house somewhere, and was hoping to find it, but I cannot retrieve messages from it. That's why I got the new phone and phone number. And that's why I was trying to change the number.

But thanks for explaining it to me. You really cleared up my confusion.

I think the texts would be sent to the new number you put in; that would be the whole point, to verify the new numbers validity.

 

[Andy_T]

It might be either ... if point is to avoid fraud by changing the number, so you would have to prove that you still have the old phone, it might send it to the old phone. On the other hand, if the point was to check whether the new number is correct, it would send it to the new number.

Anyway .... try it out. If it sends the SMS, this should show a notification on your phone that you can then open...

 

[Blobbenstein]

It's Gmail, not the Pentagon access system.....a lot of people will lose their old phone, so I would think that the text goes to the new phone. But I might be asstastically incorrect.

 

[Chryssie]

I am pretty sure it will go to the new phone number.

 

[Joe]

(I apologize to everyone in advance for the length of this post.)

Thanks to everyone who is trying to help me with this.

Gee, I hate to be Calamity Joe, but I am having problems with the "new" phone (also). The phone I'm using has two "master" buttons near the top, one on the left and one on the right. The one on the right works fine, but the one on the left is broken. Unfortunately, the one on the left controls the functions of (among many others) (1) receiving voicemail and (2) receiving text messages. I get special messages on the screen telling me I have a new voicemail, or a new text message, as the case may be. I would have to push the left button to retrieve either, but the left button does not work. Fortunately, in the case of voicemail, I can call my own number using an outside phone, and then punch in some codes, and hear my voicemail. Unfortunately, I cannot do anything similar to access my text messages.

By the way, I checked the Virgin Mobile website and it says I have neither sent nor received any text messages on or to either phone in the current period. (I have to assume this is in error.)

The solution to getting texts on the "new" phone account is to replace the phone. I have bought a new, replacement
phone but have yet to go through some procedure where I register some sort of number on the new (replacement) phone with Virgin Mobile and then ask them to transfer my info from the defective phone to the new (replacement) phone. When that process is complete (and I have no idea how long it might take) I will have a fully functioning phone on the new phone line, and should be able to receive and retrieve any text messages.

With respect to the old phone number with the lost phone, I believe I lost it someplace in my house, so will continue to look for it. If I should give up hope of finding it, then I will have to ask Virgin Mobile which model phones are compatible with that account, buy one of these, and then have the info transferred to the replacement phone for this line.

I suppose I should tell you that each of these phones I have purchased so far has cost $15 or less, so it is a matter of inconvenience rather than significant monetary loss.

Perhaps I should also tell you that I have lost four items in the last year. I assume all of these were lost inside my house someplace. But I have begun to wonder whether I am going insane, what with losing all these things.

So far I have found two of them. One was my wristwatch. It appears that one of the pins that holds the wrist band to the crown of the watch broke, and the watch fell on the floor (without my noticing that it had dropped from my wrist), obscured by some papers. But it took me weeks to find. The second was my wallet. I was tired and lay down on my bed fully dressed (included having my wallet in my back pocket) and just fell into a deep sleep. When I woke up, I noticed that my wallet was no longer in my pocket. I thought that maybe it was too lumpy to sleep on, so I had removed it from my pocket when still half-asleep and put it on my mattress. This led me to think maybe it had fallen off my mattress onto the floor by my bed, but I looked there and could not find it. I spent several weeks trying to look for it, with no success. Last night I half woke up, and thought I'd read a little and then get back to sleep. I could not find my book, and somehow thought it might have slipped into the crack between the head of my mattress and my headboard.
I stuck my hand in there, felt something, and managed to pull it out. It wasn't my book; it was my wallet.

So perhaps I'll still find the old phone somewhere, sometime.

Thanks again for your responses. I think I know now what I must do.

 

[shyvas]

(I apologize to everyone in advance for the length of this post.)

Thanks to everyone who is trying to help me with this.


The solution to getting texts on the "new" phone account is to replace the phone. I have bought a new, replacement
phone but have yet to go through some procedure where I register some sort of number on the new (replacement) phone with Virgin Mobile and then ask them to transfer my info from the defective phone to the new (replacement) phone. When that process is complete (and I have no idea how long it might take) I will have a fully functioning phone on the new phone line, and should be able to receive and retrieve any text messages.

With respect to the old phone number with the lost phone, I believe I lost it someplace in my house, so will continue to look for it. If I should give up hope of finding it, then I will have to ask Virgin Mobile which model phones are compatible with that account, buy one of these, and then have the info transferred to the replacement phone for this line.

I suppose I should tell you that each of these phones I have purchased so far has cost $15 or less, so it is a matter of inconvenience rather than significant monetary loss.

Perhaps I should also tell you that I have lost four items in the last year. I assume all of these were lost inside my house someplace. But I have begun to wonder whether I am going insane, what with losing all these things.

So far I have found two of them. One was my wristwatch. It appears that one of the pins that holds the wrist band to the crown of the watch broke, and the watch fell on the floor (without my noticing that it had dropped from my wrist), obscured by some papers. But it took me weeks to find. The second was my wallet. I was tired and lay down on my bed fully dressed (included having my wallet in my back pocket) and just fell into a deep sleep. When I woke up, I noticed that my wallet was no longer in my pocket. I thought that maybe it was too lumpy to sleep on, so I had removed it from my pocket when still half-asleep and put it on my mattress. This led me to think maybe it had fallen off my mattress onto the floor by my bed, but I looked there and could not find it. I spent several weeks trying to look for it, with no success. Last night I half woke up, and thought I'd read a little and then get back to sleep. I could not find my book, and somehow thought it might have slipped into the crack between the head of my mattress and my headboard.
I stuck my hand in there, felt something, and managed to pull it out. It wasn't my book; it was my wallet.

So perhaps I'll still find the old phone somewhere, sometime.

Thanks again for your responses. I think I know now what I must do.

I know that it is too late but did you know that you can keep your phone number when you change providers ? It makes life so much easier.

I have the same number despite having changed providers (I'm with Virgin mobile) since the last 18 years.

Keeping your mobile number | How to transfer mobile numbers

 

[Calliegirl]

Have you thought about getting a Google phone number? You can get and send text messages and you can give out the number to people/companies who you don't want to have your real number, and then have it forward those calls to your phone. You could use it as a 'stable' number, so when you lose your phone, or it isn't working, you can still send and receive texts. You can have the text messages forwarded to an email account too.

It also has a voice mail feature, so people can leave messages if they can't get a hold of you when your phone isn't working.

Gmail has a phone feature where you can call out using your computer's microphone and speakers. I've used it when my phone wasn't working, or in the past when I had limited minutes.

Oh, it's all free. As far as I know, Google offers it free because they use your calls (a computer listens in?) to train and improve their voice recognition software. You can opt for your voice mail messages to be transcribed into an email message and then rate how accurate it was. Sometimes it can be pretty entertaining what they come up with.

Google Voice