How long does the phone# associated with inreach last?

Hello,

I was wondering if anybody knows how long does the association between the IMEI of the inreach and phone number last? What I mean is -- when I send a message to a us phone# -- it comes from XXX-XXX-XXXX -- when they reply via that number I get a message on the inreach.. anybody knows how long does the relationship last?

Thanks!

0 twolpert over 7 years ago

There is no established time-frame. Best guess is that the average is somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 to 3 weeks. As you noticed, the relationship is established at the time a message is sent to phone. The Garmin servers temporarily remember the association among the phone number to which the message was sent, the dynamically assigned phone number from which the message was sent (the number you refer to as the number associated with the inReach), and the IMEI. The ability to do this varies with the SMS provider. Garmin uses a lot of different SMS providers depending mostly on the location of the target cell number (for the initial inReach to cell message).

Most of us make sure to "prime the pump" by sending text messages to our regular cell phone contacts at the start of each trip. This ensures that the ability to reply is re-established. Of course, depending on your plan, this may cost you something.

0 evergreek over 7 years ago

Excellent - thanks for the reply!

0 Former Member over 2 years ago

Curious if there is any way to get a permanent US # to be associated with an inReach account? So that that number could be messaged at any time and have it sent to an inReach device, without the inReach device having to first initiate the conversation. Thanks

0 Like2Hike over 2 years ago in reply to Former Member

My understanding is that is not possible. If you use Mapshare, your Mapshare recipient can initiate the conversation by sending you a message through the shared map.

0 twolpert over 2 years ago in reply to Former Member

No.

The iR ecosystem is intentionally designed to prohibit unsolicited messages to an iR device. This is essentially an anti-spam measure. You pay for every message received by your device.