Gerard,

If you use an email address like "3031234115@phonecompany.net" the email will go to the phone... most carriers have some kind of text messaging functionality. If your cell phones don't then you won't be able to send the message through email. I suppose your only hope then is to have a mail system which reads the message to them through text-voice conversion...

Hey- don't laugh! We are looking at one right this minute from Centrinity. (www.Centrinity.com). Incomming emails are translated to voice and vice-versa. Very cool.

Re. adding the SQL7 layer, you are correct- this adds some complexity. BUT the advantages are:
1. Data is protected much better than in native VFP files
2. Client server is SO MUCH EASIER because you don't have to deal with indexing while the file is open, sharing, buffering, etc. SQL7 does it all for you.
3. The scheduler and tool set within SQL7 lets you do email, management, database cleanup, etc. etc. at night or on the weekend according to its own internal timer- this is priceless. For example, you can keep the database small by transfering old calls from the "right now" database to the "archive" database at the end of each week.
4. SQL7 builds views of data on the fly- for example instead of writing a report which sweeps through all records and does the math, you can set up dynamic views of the data like: this weeks calls, last weeks calls, last month's calls, yearly calls to date. Then you run a VFP report against the data "view" and POW- it prints.

Take Care!

-B

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