The SMS is more than thirty years old and has barely changed. It's precisely this restraint that makes it, even today, a reliable and universal channel — so much so that a browser is all it takes to send one for free, without installing a single app.
1992: three words from a computer
The very first SMS, "Merry Christmas", was sent in December 1992 from a computer to a phone on the Vodafone network in the United Kingdom. From the very start, the message therefore goes out from the machine side: it's software, not a handset, that composes it. Thirty years later, sending an SMS from a computer remains just as natural.
A constraint turned signature
Short on room in the network signalling, the engineers limited the message to 160 characters via the GSM-7 alphabet. This constraint forged a style: short, direct, no frills. A format so simple that it works identically on any phone, from the oldest to the newest.
Universal where apps fragment
Where RCS and messaging apps seek to enrich the conversation, the SMS remains a lowest common denominator: it arrives on every French mobile, without an account or app to download. Our comparison SMS vs RCS shows what you gain — and what you lose — by moving from one to the other.
Still alive, and still free to try
Billions of SMS still circulate every day. Curious about the volume passing through our gateway? The real-time counter gives an idea of the scale. An old format, but an effectiveness that hasn't aged a day: with Envoyer SMS Gratuit, you can send a message to a French mobile in a few seconds, without sign-up, without advertising, and without limits.
