Verizon BB Messenger - SMS Charges?
 

Hi All,

My lady just got hit with a $30 overage for SMS text messages from Verizon due to us pinging back and forth via BBIM. She has the $30 BIS planDoes Verizon really count BBIM as text messaging? I thought it was preposterous. I thought that Blackberry Messenger uses the BIS or BES server and does not go through the SMS channel w/ carrier and that anything going through BIS server was Data and not SMS.

Also, what about the IM apps on mobile.blackberry.com such as gtalk and AIM? Do they use SMS as well?

Any clarification would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in Advance.

Regards,

Glenn

Not possible. BBM doesn't use SMS messaging at all.
The overage charges might be a billing error, or due to some other SMS usage. It wasn't from BBM.

No, they don't. That wouldn't be possible.

Some IM apps use SMS, some don't.
JiveTalk (BeeJive IM) does not use SMS... it uses data.
I have no experience with other IM clients.

Make sure you don't use the verizon im app, it does use text. I would use the ones from mobile.blackberry.com or Bee Jive as Penguin has stated above.

Thank you. I almost learned this the hard way.

Is the one that comes as a standard on verizon curve there software that charges you extra? I have gotten hit from verizon hard for AIM.

Wirelessly posted

Thanks for the responses. Yea what we are using is Blackberry Messenger, where have to add by pin. It came on her phone from vzw, but it is a Blackberry App. Its the same as mines on Sprint and AT&T. So I think we should be fine as stated by penguin. And for Zerog, yes this app is available at mobile.blackberry.com.


Does anyone have a definitive answer on the gtalk app we downloaded from mobile.blackberry.com?

Thanks so much

The you are good as long as you don't use the text based on from VZW.

Yes, use the BB app, not the VZW app.

You can use the Gtalk application from BB for free on your phone!

No Charge for sending BB Messenger Messages on Verizon or T-Mobile
 

I have T-Mobile and know they do not charge for sending BBM's. However my buddy claimed he was charged a ton for them. I just got off the phone with Verizon's Blackberry Tech Support and she verified that there is no extra charge for sending and receiving BB Messenger instant messages as they are sent over the data network (Pin-to-Pin) as others have mentioned, not the voice network (SMS). So, as long as you have the Blackberry Unlimited data plan on either BIS or BES, you will not be charged anything extra.

can anyone please clairfy if AIM uses the SMS texting program or is this a charge free application? I am on the VZW network btw i don't know how other carriers work

I used AIM before I started using Jivetalk. AIM does use SMS when sending an IM.

Unless you download the version from mobile.blackberry.com, which uses data.

I know this is completely off subject. But I think you can also get unlimited txt messaging from VZW for like $5/month. Just in case you find yourself starting to text more to friends and others who are not on BBs...For some reason almost all my BB friends still prefer to SMS/MMS than use BBMessenger - drives me crazy heh

Chris

I don't think so. What I see on the VZW website is 250 messages for $5.00 per month.

Unlimited messaging on a family plan is $30/mo, I think.

Verizon's charge for the BB Data Plan is ~$30... Is that the charge?

No the BlackBerry data plan is a separate thing from the text/SMS charge.

See the screenshot where I was going through the steps like I was going to buy a new device and individual plan. You can see the options there.

when I got my BB last summer. The plan I got was 59.99 with 450 minutes, unlimited text, pics, nights and weekends. And 29.99 for the unlimited data BB plan