Cell phones allows you to send short messages known as text messages to other cell phones and through some landline services. You type short messages in using the key pad and receive messages through another cell phone as written words, which are often abbreviated. Often this is a silent process and therefore covert and ultra-convenient at times when talking is not allowed. For landline delivery, the person on the landline end receives a voice message asking if they wish to recieve a text. Once they agree, voice recognition software delivers the text sent from a cell phone to their landline.