Short and Sweet SMS makes communication a piece of cake.

Want to connect with colleagues quickly and save money while doing it? Mountain View, California, Handspring employee Brian Jaquet relies on SMS messages from his wireless Treo 270 PDA--especially when trying to reach co-workers in Europe.

Although Treo also sports a cell phone and e-mail, an SMS burst is quicker, says Jaquet, and it avoids per-minute voice charges--international or otherwise.

While carrier incompatibility has slowed U.S. adoption, AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Verizon and VoiceStream subscribers can now message each other. Sprint PCS and Nextel subscribers are limited to their own networks.