inReach messaging

I have recently acquired an InReach Mini to replace or supplement the PLB which I've been using for eight years. However, I'm having difficulty understanding the messaging and my web searches haven't provided the explanation I'm looking for, so I hope someone here can help.

The preset messages are no problem. I've edited all three and entered a combination of E-Mail addresses and telephone numbers, separated by commas, to determine the recipients. All test presets arrived at the intended destinations.

The problem arises with the Quick Text messaging. Deleting the default messages and creating my own was no problem, but the list of possible recipients must be created under the "Contacts" tab in the online account. Entering a contact name and providing only a telephone number is rewarded with the following failure message:

"Failed to create a contact. You have entered an invalid inReach address. The proper format is "[email protected]".

From this it would appear that Quick Text messages can only be sent to an E-Mail address and are therefore not text messages (SMS) but E-Mails. Have I understood this correctly, or can someone explain how a Quick Text can be sent to a telephone number as an SMS?

Almost every description of the device states that you can "send and receive text messages". Nowhere have I read that you can send preset messages to phone numbers and/or E-mail addresses, but Quick Text messages only to E-Mail addresses (or Facebook/Twitter). A clarification would be very welcome. Thanks in advance for taking the time to reply.

0 twolpert over 5 years ago

I just attempted to duplicate this - I cannot. I created a contact with only a phone number. Worked fine. Best guess is that maybe you accidentally put a character or two in the inReach address field? If you can duplicate this, first try logging out, clearing your browser cache, logging back in, and trying again. If the problem still occurs, contact support.

Worth clarifying something, though. You CAN use contacts with both quick text messages and custom messages (composed on the device or on a paired phone using the Earthmate app). But you NEED NOT do this. That is, it's not correct to say that "...the list of possible recipients MUST be created under the Contacts tab...".

When you send a quick text or custom message, you will be given the opportunity to choose recipients from the contacts on the device OR you can enter the addresses manually. There are significant advantages to using pre-defined contacts. Obviously, picking from a list is more efficient than remembering and "typing" complete phone numbers or addresses. Also, contact "addresses" are transmitted as short codes rather than as the full text of the addresses. This is a big advantage if you send the same message to several recipients. The aggregate length of all recipient addresses is subtracted from the available text length of a custom message. (For quick text, the message itself is also sent as a code, not as literal text. So message length is not affected for quick text.)

0 Lyskamm over 5 years ago

Thank you, Tom! I did exactly as you advised, except contact support, and.......it now works perfectly!!

I've no idea what could have caused the failures. I made several unsuccessful attempts, although each time I entered only First Name, Last Name, Telephone Number and Country Code - all other fields were left blank...... and the same failure message kept re-appearing.

Anyhow, problem solved, so thanks again. There are some other aspects of the device which still have me puzzled, but I'll not go off-topic by mentioning them on this thread.