title: Receive SMS messages in a web application in the US on a hosted server
body: <p>I'm trying to build a simple web application that will allow people to send SMS messages FROM their mobile phone TO my application.</p>
  
  <p>I've seen this question asked before:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/526046/receive-sms-messages-by-web-application">Receive SMS messages by web application</a><br>
  <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/388657/receiving-a-sms-message-in-a-net-application">Receiving a SMS message in a .NET application</a></p>
  
  <p>... but I have a few unique (I think) circumstances.</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>I'm expecting a very small number of messages (&lt;1,000/month)</li>
  <li>My users are all in the U.S.</li>
  <li>I don't need to SEND SMS messages - I just want to allow users to be able to send messages TO the application</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>I'm aware of major SMS "providers" like Clickatell. However, their services seem like HUGE overkill.</p>
  
  <p>Ideally, I'd like users to be able to send an SMS message to an EMAIL account I have set up. However, based on a (superficial) investigation, it looks like that's not possible. (E.g., I tried it on my iPhone, and the message isn't received).</p>
  
  <p>So, I guess the next best alternative is that my users send SMS messages to a dedicated phone number, and have those messages forwarded to an email account on my server. That would work, I guess. But I'm not sure how to do the forwarding part, or if it's even possible.</p>
  
  <p>Clickatell offers a service like that, but they charge a few hundred bucks to set up a number, a few hundred bucks to RENT the number each month, and a few pennies for each message. And, they only offer non-US phone numbers. (In the US, you apparently need to have a "short-code", that's INCREDIBLY expensive). Seems like there should be a MUCH simpler approach.</p>
  
  <p>I've read that people buy cheap phones and connect them to their server, but I don't have my own server (I'm using a cheap hosted server at MediaTemple).</p>