Text anywhere in the world from your PC
Messaging From Chatbar
Sending Texts from an Instant Messenger programme
Chatting with an Instant Messenger from your Cell Phone
Sending an email to a Cell Phone
Receiving emails on your Cell Phone
"Follow Me" IM
Where can I get help? (hint: http://support.chatbar.com)

Help for the Contact page
Help for the Send Message page
Help for the Settings page

How is Chatbar different from traditional IM?
What IM clients do you support?
I'm an MSN / Yahoo / AIM / Skype user. What do I do?
How do I set up an account?
Where can I use it?
Do I need to download anything?
How much does it cost?
How do I buy more chips?
How long do my chips last?
Do I have to buy a minimum amount of chips?
Does it cost the person receiving my SMS anything to receive my message?
Does it cost the person receiving my message to reply to me?
Can I have multiple Chats going at the same time?
How long can my message be?
Can Chatbar messages be sent to any phone?
Does Chatbar work on all computers and Internet Browsers?
How do I print out my Chats?
Do you guarantee that my messages will get through?
What countries can I send messages to?
Can I send icons to my friends?
Can I receive icons from my friends?
How long does it take for my messages to be received?
Why does it cost more to send messages to some countries than others?
Can Chatbar messages be sent to GSM, CDMA, 3G networks?
Can I inadvertently send a virus with my message?
How does someone respond to a Chatbar message they receive on their mobile phone?
How secure are my messages? Can anyone else other than the recipient see them?
What does it mean to "Receive Incoming Messages on: Cell Phone or Email?"

Network Coverage
Pricing
Terms & Conditions

There are a lot of applications which let you Text from your PC to a cell phone, but Chatbar is very different.

• When your contact receives a text from Chatbar they can reply in the normal way. That reply can be received on your Instant Messaging programme, on your phone of by email, or any combination of these (customise this on the Settings tab).
• When you add a contact to Chatbar they receive a text enabling them to add you to their phone contacts and use it when ever they want to send you a Text.
• In some countries (currently the UK and Hong Kong - with more on the way) a reply to a Text is sent via a local number - cheap international texts for your contacts too!
• When you add a contact to Chatbar you will receive a text on your registered phone giving you a Virtual local Text only number for them. This enables you to Text them from your phone at Internet Text prices. Add this number to your cell phone address book or just reply to the message to send them a Text (please note that this Virtual number is for Text messages only and will only work from your own phone).
• Chatbar's unique Unified Messaging technology allows you to send messages seamlessly between cell phone, Instant Messengers and email. Log out of your Instant Messaging programme and the chat automatically coninues on your cell phone ("Follow Me").

Send text messages to almost any cell phone in the world (check for service) for just 95 Chatbar Chips (approx. £0.05, $0.09, €0.06) or locally for 60 Chips (approx. £0.03, $0.06, €0.04)

Just 3 easy steps:

• Set up your account entering your cell phone number (optional), email address (required) and Instant Messenger address (optional)
• Add some contact cell phone numbers
• Purchase Chatbar Chips (minimum purchase 1000 Chips, approx $10.00, £5.05, €6.50)

And now you are ready to start messaging your buddies around the world.

The Chatbar website is the core of the Unified Messaging. Here you can set up dynamic links to your own email, compatible Instant Messaging programme and cell phone. You can add your Contacts and setup how you want to interact with them. Once you are set up start messaging from the Chatbar window.

To get started:

• Log in to your Chatbar account.
• If the contact you want to Text is not in your Contacts list, click the Contacts tab and add them.
• Click the Send Message tab and when you have finished, click Send. A standard 160 Character text will cost 95 Chips for International cell phones, and only 60 Chips for Local cellphones.
• When your contact replies to your text it will appear in the Chatbar message screen.

One of the unique benefits of Chatbar's Unified Messaging is that you can easily add your Chatbar's contact details to a standard compatible Instant Messaging programme (e.g. Google Talk). Once this is done, chat with them just as you normally would. Once they log off, the convesation can continue on their phone - and yours too if you also log off ("Follow Me").

• If you have not already linked an instant messenger account to Chatbar, click the Settings tab and add your instant messaging address.
• Please note that not all instant messenger programmes are currently supported. Click here for a list of supported instant messaging programmes.
• Open your supported instant messaging programme (e.g. Google Talk) and you will see that Chatbar has requested that you accept the contacts which you have added - accept them.
• You can now message your contacts' cell phones directly from your instant messaging programme even if Chatbar is closed.
• When they reply to your message it will appear on the screen of your instant messaging programme.
• Your conversations will also be recorded in the Chatbar Send Message tab.
• If you have logged off your instant messaging program the message will be routed to your registered cell phone ("Follow Me") as long as the 'Use email address for communications?' box on the Settings tab is ticked.

Instant Messaging communications from a phone is not that new. But normally you need an expensive smartphone, a data contract, a high speed data network and an Instant Messaging programme on your phone. Chatbar is different. Once a Contact is set up with an Instant Messaging address (on the Chatbar Contacts tab) you can chat with them on their compatible Instant Messaging programme directly from you phone.

• Set up a Contact on the Chatbar Contacts tab.
• Enter a compatible Instant Messenger address for them.
• Ensure the IM 'Is Enable?' box is ticked.
• You will receive a Text on your cell phone giving you the contact's Virtual number. Add that number to your address to book so you can IM them. You could also just reply to the Text to communicate with them.
• If they are logged in to their Instant Messaging programme and have their status set as 'available' you will be able to chat with them to and from their PC to your cell phone ("Follow Me").
• If they are off-line or 'not available' your messages will be automatically redirected to their cell phone ("Follow Me").

If you have a Contact who does not have access to the internet you can still send them an email using Chatbar.

• When you set up a Chatbar Contact (in the Contacts tab) you will be sent an email with a Chatbar email address for that Contact.
• Add that address to your address book and any emails you send to that address will be directed to their cell phone.
• If you have lost that email address you can look it up by clicking the Contact's name in the list on the left hand side of the Chatbar Contacts tab.
• By ticking the 'Is Enabled' box below the contact's cell phone, IM or Email details, you can choose where you want that email to go. If all destinations are entered and ticked, your email will go to the Contact's email. If they are on line and available on their Instant Messaging programme, it will also be directed there.
• Please note that a standard text is 160 characters. If your email is longer than that, it will take up to three messages worth of SMS (though in most phones, this will look like one long message). The last message will include a "more" suffix, followed by a number. To retrieve more of the message (up to 10 text messages worth), reply to the message with "more xxx", where xxx is the number sent at the end of the previous message. Alternatively, the recipient can find a computer with Internet access to read the rest of the email.

If you do not have easy access to the internet, you could set up a Chatbar account in an internet cafe, and get your emails directed to your phone. Or, if you are waiting for an important email while you are away from your computer, have it directed to your Chatbar email address and get it on your phone as soon as it arrives.

• All messages (email, IM or Text) sent to your Chatbar addresses (email, IM or cell phone virtual number) will be directed to your cell phone as long as you are not logged in to your Instant Messenger programme or if you have set it to indicate that you are not available.
• To disable this feature untick the 'Use cell phone for communications?' box on the Chatbar Setting tab.
• If you only wish to receive messages from your Chatbar Contacts, tick the 'Allow messages from people not in my contact list' box on the Chatbar Settings tab.

Chatbar's unique Follow-Me technology enhances the Instant Messaging experience by extending it to seamlessly include cell phones.

By default, when you log out of your registered Instant Messaging programme, all messages sent to your Chatbar IM or email address will be received on your cell phone. The same applies to the messages which you send to your Contacts.

Set up your Follow-Me preferences on the Chatbar Settings tab. Set up Follow-Me for your contacts on the Contacts tab.

Chatbar's online support forum can be found at http://support.chatbar.com.

The Contacts page is used to create and manage contacts. A contact consists of a name and, optionally, a phone number, an email address and / or an IM address. Once created, the selected name will appear in the list on the left of the Contacts page, as well as in Contact drop down list on the Send Message page.

Each address type can be "disabled" by unchecking the "Is Enabled" checkbox found just below each address field. A disabled address cannot be used by a contact to send messages to you, and account owners cannot send to the address. Simply re-check the "Is Enabled" checkbox to re-enable the address for receipt and delivery.

All messages sent to a contact are always copied to the email address, if it is specified and enabled.

If the IM address is left blank, the cell phone specified will always receive messages sent to the contact. If an IM address is specified, however, the "presence" status of the IM address affects routing.

If the specified IM address is logged on and "available" (in most IM clients, this is associated with a green "presence" icon), messages will not be routed or copied to the mobile phone. This enables the contact to receive all their messages at their PC when they are logged on to IM, and saves you (the account owner) the expense of sending SMS messages to the phone.

If, however, the contact is logged off from their IM account, or is away from their desk for an extended period of time (this is often associated with a yellow "presence" icon, and occurs when the system detects that an IM user is not active on their computer), messages are routed to the cell phone. In this way, cell phone messages can be made to "follow" a contact from their PC to their mobile phone.

If, however, a contact sets their status to "Do Not Disturb" (usually associated with a "red" presence icon), messages will not be routed to either IM or the cell phone. This can be useful when the contact is in a meeting, and does not want to receive messages.

The Send Message page is a web-based IM client through which to send messages to your contacts. Unlike traditional IM, however, these messages will be delivered to email, IM, and / or phone, depending on how the contact is configured.

A list of your contacts is displayed on this page next to the To: label. To switch between contacts, simply select a different one. The page will automatically refresh to show the history of communications with this contact.

To send a message, simply enter your message in the field on the left side of the screen, and press "Send". A count of characters will appear beneath the message field, along with a price estimate for the message (in Chatbar chips). Some messages may be free, as is the case with contacts that are only configured for email and IM communication.

To print your message history, press the "printer" icon to the left of the "Send" button.

To display a list of "emoticons" you can include in messages, click the yellow icon beside the printer icon. Note that these emoticons are simply text combinations which may or may not appear correctly on a destination mobile phone. If contacts send you an emoticon, however, the proper icon will be displayed in your message history.

Press the "Top Up" button to add chips to your account. Our payment gateway uses Moneybookers.

The Settings page is used to allow account owners to customize their Chatbar experience. In most cases, changes to these settings require that the user press the "Save" button before changes are made permanent.

The available settings are:

• Scheme: This controls the color of the Chatbar site. Click on a scheme name to change the color instantly. Save is not required for this
• Change Password: This turns ForgetMeNot Software executives into Penguins. Just kidding. This changes your password.
• Name: This name will be used to identify the account owner on email and in IM communication.
• Time Zone: This specifies the time zone used to interpret dates and times when messages are sent and received. This information is displayed on the Send Message page
• My Cell Phone: This is the phone number to which messages from contacts will be sent. You can disable SMS communications to this number by unchecking the "Use cell phone for communications" check box. It also defines what is considered your Local phone region (see Pricing for more information)
• My Email: This is the email address to which messages from contacts will be sent. As with cell phone numbers, you can prevent messages from being sent to this address by unchecking the "Use email address for communications" check box. This address is also the destination to which "Lost Password" reset messages will be sent. It is important that this email address be correct. If it is not, we will not be able to send unlock messages to you.
• My IM: This is the IM address to which messages from contacts will be sent. If specified, it influences whether messages are routed to the cell phone.
  • If the IM address status is "available" (usually associated with a green "presence" icon in most IM client software), messages are not sent to the account owners cell phone.
  • If the IM address status is "logged off" or is "away" (usually associated with a gray (logged off) or yellow (away) "presence" icon), then messages are sent to the account owners cell phone.
  • If the IM address status is "Do not disturb" (usually associated with a red "presence" icon), then messages are not sent to the account owner's cell phone.
• Allow messages from people not in my contact list: If checked, IM and email messages from addresses not associated with contacts in your contact list generate a new contact whose status is set to "Pending." A confirmation message is also sent to your mobile phone allowing you to accept or reject this new contact via SMS.
  
  If this checkbox is not checked, only messages from addresses associated with contacts in your contact list will be accepted. All others will be rejected.
• Public IM: This is your permanent IM address on the Chatbar system. You can give this address to other people, put it on business cards, etc. It is the address through which new contacts can contact you, so long as you have checked the "Allow messages from people not in my contact list" checkbox.
• Public Email: This is your permanent Email address on the Chatbar system. You can give this address to other people, put it on business cards, etc. It is the address through which new contacts can contact you, so long as you have checked the "Allow messages from people not in my contact list" checkbox.

Chatbar enhances the functionality of IM networks by extending its reach to every cell phone in existence. It allows PC to PC IM communications to "Follow" you to your mobile phone. It also enables your mobile phone to initiate conversations with IM destinations.

Chatbar is not an IM replacement. It is a complement to the IM experience.

Currently, Chatbar supports XMPP and Jabber-compatible IM networks. This includes:

• GoogleTalk (http://www.google.com/talk)
• iChat (from Apple)
• Any XMPP / Jabber compatible network (a partial Jabber network list)

This means that you can use any Jabber-compatible client software to receive messages. A good list of compatible clients can be found here.

More networks will be supported soon. Stay tuned.

Current, we can only deliver messages to XMPP / Jabber-compatible IM networks. The list of supported networks can be found here. You will need to create an account with one of those networks and install a client that is compatible with them.

One of the many benefits of the XMPP / Jabber approach to IM, however, is its support for communicating with other IM networks, such as Live / MSN, Yahoo, AIM, ICQ, Skype...and others.

Many XMPP / Jabber clients support the ability to communicate with multiple IM networks from one client. As recommendations, consider the following:

• Digsby: (http://www.digsby.com) Digsby is a multiprotocol IM client that lets you chat with all your friends on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, and Jabber with one simple to manage buddy list.
• Pidgin: (http://www.pidgin.im) Pidgin is a multi-protocol Instant Messaging client that allows you to use all of your IM accounts at once.

Getting started with Chatbar is simple and quick. Just go to our login page, click on "new user" and follow the instructions.

Chatbar can be used on any pc connected to the Internet. You simply log-on to your account and get going within seconds.

It can also be used from your mobile phone, email software and IM client.

All functionality is available through the Chatbar web site. Further, no extra features are required on mobile phones beyond the ability to send and receive SMS.

If you wish to have your messages routed to IM and email, however, you must have IM or email software installed on your system.

See our pricing page here.

Simply logon to your account and click the "Top Up" along the top of a the message history window for an existing Contact. This takes you through to our secure purchasing page where you can buy chips.

We currently only accept credit cards. In the near future, however, we will enable billing against debit or check cards, as well as payment through your mobile phone.

There is no expiry date for your chips so they last as long as you keep your account.

The smallest block we offer is 500 chips

We do not charge the person receiving the SMS anything to receive messages from Chatbar and in most instances, the person’s Carrier will not charge. There are exceptions where the Carrier may charge a fee if the person is in another country and "Roaming" charges may be applied.

The recipient will incur standard SMS charges when replying. We do not charge anything extra, however.

Yes you can. Though the web interface shows only one chat at a time, you can switch between chats by clicking on them in the History section, or else opening multiple browser instances dedicated to a single chat.

Each message you send can be up to 465 characters long – that’s the equivalent of 3 SMS from your mobile phone! There is no limit to how many messages you can send as long as you have sufficient chips. Note that messages are charged according to SMS equivalents required to deliver the message. For example, you will use twice the chips for a message to a cell phone that is 300 characters long.

Chatbar messages can be sent to almost any phone Worldwide that is Text Message enabled.

Chatbar was designed to work across all commonly used Browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Mozilla and Opera and across most computer platforms including Windows, Mac and Linux.

To print out any Chats, select the contact whose chat history you wish to print on the Send Message tab. Next, click on the small printer icon underneath the message entry field. This will cause a special window to pop open over your existing conversation. Click the "Print" button to print it.

We guarantee that we will do everything we can to ensure your SMS gets sent through our system. However, we cannot guarantee that the message will be delivered by the end Carrier. You can see a record of the exact date and time (down to the second) when your message was sent from Chatbar. This record can be saved for future reference.

We currently service over 150 countries. Take a look at our Coverage page for a full list of supported networks.

Yes you can – just click on the icon you wish to send and it will be inserted into your Chat. Note, however, that not every mobile phone supports icons. In such cases, icons will appear as a standard email "emoticon", such as :) or :(.

Yes you can. All they need to do is insert a short code that is read by our system as equivalent to an icon. For instance ":-)" will generate a smiley face (), whereas ":-(" will generate an unhappy face (). A full list of the icons we support can be viewed by clicking the smily icon () below the message entry field in the existing chat window.

Usually your message from Chatbar will be delivered within a few seconds however due to variables beyond our control, such as network congestion, your message may take longer to be delivered.

While most Carriers do not charge any special fee to receive an SMS, a few Carriers do charge a fee to receive a SMS message, especially if it sent from outside the country.

Chatbar was designed to be Carrier neutral so that you can use Chatbar across different networks and technologies.

Text messaging is a very simple protocol which services phones with a wide variety of hardware characteristics. This makes mobile phones an unlikely target for viruses. Though SMS messages can carry binary content, there is no known example of such a virus.

When someone receives a Chatbar originated message, all they need to do is treat it exactly the same as any other SMS message. Simply click on "reply", type the message and press "send".

Text messages are very secure. To maximize security, however, access the site through https (e.g. https://www.chatbar.com).

You have the right to cancel a Chatbar recharge within 7 days of payment. The amount refunded will not include the cost of any messages sent within the system during the 7 day period, and a 10% fee will be deducted from the total refunded. To cancel, please send an email request to support@fmnsoft.com. Be sure to include your userid and name in this email. We will respond to you using the email address and/or phone number you registered with the account.

Chatbar is an application which enables you to control how messages reach you. Contacts can communicate with you via email, IM (Instant Message) and SMS / Text Message. They do this through addresses controlled by Chatbar that allows you to store and access online your message history, as well as control where (or if) your contacts messages reach you.

When you opt to "Receive Incoming Messages on: Cell Phone or Email," it means that Chatbar will send messages from your contacts to the email address and / or phone number you specify in your Settings page. This address can change over time, allowing your contacts' messages to follow you to your new phone number or email address.