Chatbar.com is no ordinary website. On most websites, you have access to information and can click on links to many other websites. Chatbar.com is an interactive website: in fact, it is a messaging programme on the internet. You can use it without having to download anything. Once you have registered and logged in, you can send messages as emails, instant messages or as texts. And with your Chatbar account, you can send and receive texts, instant messages and emails from your cell phone. Seamlessly.

Just follow these few easy steps to start messaging from the Chatbar window:

• Set up your account on the Registration Form, filling in your name, user id (the name you want to appear on Chatbar) and password.
• Enter your cell phone number (optional ), email address (required) and Instant Messenger address (optional). Chatbar currently works with GoogleTalk, iChat (an instant messaging client made by Apple), and a few others (click here for a full list). It is scheduled to work with MSN, AIM, Skype and Yahoo by the end of 2008.
• Click on the Contacts tab and start creating contacts by adding their details to the form.
• Click on the Buy Chatbar Chips link to purchase Chatbar Chips to top up your account. (Minimum purchase: 500 Chips worth approx £5.00, €6.50, US$9.50). A message to almost any cell phone in the world (check for service) will generally cost only 5 Chatbar Chips (approx. £0.05, $0.06, €0.04)
• Click on the Send Message tab to start messaging your contacts. Choose the recipient from the drop down menu on the left of the screen.

See below for more detailed information on how it works.

Sending a text from PC to cell phone is not entirely new technology, but Chatbar has simplified the process and made chatting possibilities far more flexible.

Here’s how it works for you:

• Add a Contact to your Chatbar Contacts List (for specific help on the Contacts page please click here)
• If you have added an email address, cell phone number and Instant Messaging address for that contact you will now receive an email, a text and an Instant Message with the Contact’s Chatbar details.
  1. Save these so you can message them directly from your email, cell phone or Instant Messaging programme via Chatbar.
  2. Please note that this number is for text messages only and will only work from your own phone. Rates for texts sent on a Chatbar number to international contacts are exceptionally low (Click here for text prices by region)
  3. Reply directly to any of these messages from Chatbar (email, text or Instant Message) to communicate with your Contact.
• To send a message from Chatbar.com, either:
  1. Double click the little bubble next to the contact’s entry on the Contacts page; or
  2. click the Send Message tab, if you have entered more than 1 contact, select the contact you wish to send the message to from the drop down list, and start typing in the input screen.
  3. As you type your message the number of characters and the cost of sending it will be shown below the lower right hand side of the input screen.
  4. Click the ‘send’ button to send the text.
• To send a Chatbar message from your email, just use the email address for your contact sent to you by Chatbar and send the email in the normal way. Depending on what devices you have set up for your contact they will receive the message on email, Instant Messenger and by text. The device they use to answer your message will then be automatically selected to be used for that conversation. Note:
  1. If your email is more than 160 characters and it is directed to a cell phone, it will be split into several texts and charged accordingly.
  2. There is no charge for any messages which do not involve a phone.
• To send a Chatbar message from your Instant Messaging programme, simply select the contact from your contacts list and message them in the normal way.
• Chatbar's unique Unified Messaging technology allows you to send messages seamlessly between cell phone, Instant Messengers and email. When you log out of your Instant Messaging programme, the chat automatically continues on your cell phone (we call this "Follow Me" - click for more detail).
• You can now send a standard 160-character text message to almost any cell phone in the world (check for service) for just 5 Chatbar Chips (approx. £0.05, $0.09, €0.06).

Here’s how it works for your contact:

• You add a Contact to your Chatbar Contacts List
• If you have added and enabled their email and Instant Messaging addresses and cell phone number your contact immediately receives an email, Instant Message and a text from Chatbar informing them that you’ve done this. The message also gives them your Chatbar contact details to add to their address book. They can then contact you by:
  1. Saving the Chatbar details which you have sent them by email, Instant Message or text and using them in the normal way.
  2. Replying to the email, Instant Message or text message from Chatbar which contained your Chatbar contact details or,
  3. When you message them, they can simply ‘Reply’ from their email, Instant Messaging programme or cell phone as they do with any message they receive.
• In some countries (currently the UK, Hong Kong and South Africa - with more on the way) a text reply to a Chatbar message is sent via a local number. Your contact does not need to pay international rates to reply to you! This means they get really cheap international texts too!
• Chatbar will always do its best to find you:
  1. If your Contact replies to your message within 15 minutes of it being sent, it will only go to the source of the message i.e. email, Instant Messenger programme or text.
  2. If they reply after 15 minutes, the reply will go to all the sources (i.e. email, Instant Messenger and cell phone) to ensure that the message finds you.
  3. If you reply in 15 minutes the message will only go to the source which you contact used.
  4. If you reply after 15 minutes, Chatbar will try to find your Contact by sending the message to all their messaging tools, and so on...

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. (Chatbar is currently compatible with Windows Live Messenger (MSN), GoogleTalk and iChat instant messaging programmes [plus a few others – click here for a full list]. We will support programmes like MSN, Live Messenger, AIM, Skype and Yahoo in the near future.) Once the contacts are transferred, you can chat with them from your Instant Messaging programme and the messages will go either to their IM programme if they are logged on, or to their cell phone if they are not. Whenever either one of you logs in or out, the conversation can simply continue on your computers or phones – wherever you happen to be ("Follow Me").

Here’s how to make it work:

• Make sure you have added your own Instant Messaging address on your account details. (Click the Settings tab to do this).
• On the Contacts page make sure you’ve entered your Contact’s Instant Messaging address.
• Open your instant messaging programme 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 programme the message will be routed to your registered cell phone ("Follow Me") as long as the 'Use cell phone address for communications?' box on the Settings tab is ticked.

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 email address book and any emails you send to that address will be directed to their cell phone.
• Note:
  1. 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. Then click on Virtual Addresses (Advanced), and click on the email address. A reminder of their Chatbar email address will then be emailed to you.
  2. 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 simultaneously to the Contact's email and to their Instant Messaging programme if they are online and available. If they are not, only then will it be directed to their cell phone. This saves you paying for message delivery to a cell phone when it is not necessary. The message will go straight to your contact’s cell phone if the other addresses are not ticked.
  3. 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.

Instant Messaging (IM) communication 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 makes things much easier. 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 your phone.

• Set up a Contact on the Chatbar Contacts tab.
• Enter a compatible Instant Messenger address for them. If you don’t have an Instant Messenger already, try Google Talk.
• Ensure the IM "Is Enabled?" box is ticked.
• You will receive a Text on your cell phone giving you a Chatbar number for the Contact. Add that number to your address 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 automatically be redirected to their cell phone ("Follow Me").

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 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.
  1. To disable this feature untick the 'Use cell phone for communications?' box on the Chatbar Setting tab.
  2. If you only wish to receive messages from your Chatbar Contacts, untick 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.

If you travel with your phone a great way to cut the cost of roaming is to buy a ‘SIM free’ phone and buy SIM cards for the countries which you regularly visit.

Chatbar helps you manage these phones. Add your other SIM card numbers on the Settings tab by adding the new number, with the country code to the Cell Phone field and clicking the Add button. When you travel to a country for which you have a SIM card, tick the box next to that number and any messages sent to your Chatbar.com numbers (no new numbers need to be generated) will be directed to that number.

When you return home untick the foreign SIM card number and retick your home cell phone number.

If you forget to untick your home number and tick your foreign number before you travel you can do this directly from your phone by ...

Alternatively, keep all the numbers ticked. Any SMS will be sent to all the numbers until you reply. Then that phone will be used for communications for the next 15 minutes.

You can also add several cell phone numbers for your Contacts too in the same way on the Contacts tab.

See our Help pages or 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 Instant Messaging (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 un-ticking the "Is Enabled" checkbox found just below each address field. A disabled address type cannot be used by a contact to send Chatbar messages to you, and account owners cannot send Chatbar messages to that address. Simply re-tick the "Is Enabled" checkbox to re-enable the address for receipt and delivery of Chatbar messages.

You can add several cell phone numbers and manage them here too. For more information click here.

All messages sent to a contact’s cell phone or IM address are 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 cell 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 the hub of your Chat Bar. It’s where you go to send messages to your contacts. However, these messages can be delivered to email, IM programmes, and / or cell phone, depending on how your contact is set up.

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 set to receive email and IM communication.

To print your message history, press the "printer" icon beneath 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 (depending on the configuration of that phone). If contacts send you an emoticon, however, the proper icon will be displayed in your message history.

Press the "Buy Chips" link to add chips to your account.

The Settings page allows you as an account owner to customize or edit your Chatbar communications. In most cases, you need to click the "Save" button before changes are made permanent.

Settings include:

• Color 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 is used to identify you, the account owner, on email and in Instant Message (IM) communication.
• Time Zone: This specifies the time zone used to interpret dates and times when messages are sent and received. (These times are displayed on the Send Message page)
• My Cell Phone: This is the phone number to which messages from your contacts will be sent. You can disable SMS (text) communications to this number by unticking the "Use cell phone for communications" tick box. It also defines what is considered your Local phone region (see Coverage & Pricing for more information)
  
  You can add several numbers and manage them here too. For more information click here.
• My Email: This is the email address to which messages from your contacts will be sent. As with cell phone numbers, you can prevent messages from being sent to this address by unticking the "Use email address for communications" tick box. This address is also the destination to which "Lost Password" reset messages will be sent. It is also important that it is correct for security reasons: if we have to lock your Chatbar account because of an excessive number of failed log-ins (could be someone trying to guess your password) this is where we will send an email to help you unlock your account again.
• My IM: This is the Instant Messaging address to which messages from your contacts will be sent. If this is unticked, messages will be routed to your cell phone. Also:
  
  
  1. If you are at your computer and your IM status is set to "available" (usually associated with a green "presence" icon in IM software), messages are not sent to the account owners cell phone.
  2. 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.
  3. 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 this is ticked, when IM and email messages from addresses not in your contact list arrive, a new contact will be generated in your contacts list. The status of this new contact will be set to "Pending" until you change it to “Active” by clicking the Status drop down list. A confirmation message will also be sent to your mobile phone allowing you to accept or reject this new contact via text (SMS).
  
  If this box is not ticked, 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 ticked the "Allow messages from people not in my contact list" box.
• 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 ticked the "Allow messages from people not in my contact list" box.

Chatbar uses new technology to let you do a whole lot more with Instant Messaging (IM). Instant messages from PCs (as well as emails) can now be received and easily responded to by any cell phone in the world. It also enables your cell phone to initiate conversations with contacts currently online on IM programmes. This means that people without computers can communicate with you instantly and cheaply. In addition, it allows instant messaging conversations on your PC to "Follow" you to your mobile phone when you log off. Chatbar means complete flexibility and convenience between PC and cell phone. It is not an IM replacement. It is a complement to the IM experience.

Chatbar is currently compatible with:

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

You can use any Jabber-compatible IM programme to receive messages. A good list of compatible IM programmes can be found here.

We will soon be supporting other networks like MSN / Live Messenger, Yahoo, AIM and Skype. Stay tuned.

Currently, we can only deliver messages to XMPP / Jabber-compatible IM programmes. Don’t worry if that means nothing to you – all you have to do is look at the link below for an IM programme that you can sign up to and use with Chatbar!. You will need to create an account with one of them.

However, if you are interested, it’s worth noting that the XMPP / Jabber Instant Messaging programmes have the advantage of being able to communicate with other IM programmes, such as Yahoo, AIM, ICQ, Skype...and others. We recommend:

• Digsby: (http://www.digsby.com) Digsby 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 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. Have a look at the Getting Started section in Help if you get stuck.

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 Instant Messaging programme.

No. Everything is available through the Chatbar web site. Further, no extra features are required on mobile phones beyond the ability to send and receive text messages.

If you wish to have your messages routed to your Instant Messaging (IM) programme and email, however, you must have IM or email software installed on your computer

See our pricing page here.

Simply log on to your account and click the "Buy Chips" along the top of the message history on the Send Message page. This takes you through to our secure purchasing page where you can buy chips. Alternatively, you can click the Chips counter on the Settings page.

We currently accept credit cards, debit cards, and payment through Paypal.

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 (£5).

We do not charge the person receiving the SMS anything to receive messages from Chatbar and, in most instances, the person’s cell phone company (service provider) will not charge. There are exceptions where the cell phone company may charge a fee if the person is visiting another country. Then "Roaming" charges may be applied.

The recipient will incur standard SMS charges when replying. We do not charge anything extra, however. In some countries (currently the UK, Hong Kong and South Africa- with more on the way) a text reply to a Chatbar message is sent via a local number! This means these international text replies are cheap for them.

Yes you can. Although the Send Message web page shows only one chat at a time, you can switch between chats by clicking on them in the History section. You could also open several copies of Chatbar at the same time, chatting to different people in each copy.

Each message you send can be up to 465 characters long – that’s the equivalent of 3 SMS texts 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 the SMS equivalents required to deliver the message.

Chatbar messages can be sent to almost any phone worldwide that can receive text messages.

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 cell phone service provider that your contact uses. 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 can receive/display 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 cell phone service providers do not charge any special fee to receive an SMS, a few do charge a fee to receive a SMS message, especially if it has been sent from outside the country.

Chatbar was designed to be used across different networks and technologies.

Text messaging uses very simple technology which can be used by phones with a wide variety of hardware characteristics. This makes mobile phones an unlikely target for viruses.

When someone receives a Chatbar message, they can treat it exactly the same as any other SMS text message. Simply click on "reply", type the message and press "send".

Text messages are very secure. To maximize security, however, access the Chatbar 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 enables you to control where messages reach you. Contacts can communicate with you via email, IM (Instant Message) and SMS / Text Message and you can select where their messages are routed.

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.