MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service. Sending MMS messages is almost as convenient as sending SMS messages (also known as text messages), but there are some notable differences.  MMS messages:

• Can include pictures, video, audio, and files attachments
• Can be sent to cellphone numbers, email addresses or both. 
• use a data connection to send messages, so if you plan to send many MMS messages, you'll want to subscribe to a data plan.  MMS messages may also be charged as text messages.  (I have an unlimited data plan and pay for a limited number of text messages, and I notice that MMS messages I send incur data usage AND are counted as text messages on my bills).

Most Windows Mobile phones are pre-installed with the ArcSoft MMS Composer application, which is integrated in the Email and/or Text Messaging application.

Configure your MMS Settings

To enable MMS on your Windows Phone, open up the Messaging application, then tap Menu > MMS Options.  You'll see four tabs (Preferences, Blacklist, Servers, About).  Choose the Servers tab.

MMS settings are different for every carrier, so you'll need to get these settings from your cellular provider or you may need to search around the internet to find the correct settings for your cellular provider (I have only used AT&T so I don't know any other carrier's MMS settings). 

If you are an AT&T customer like me, you can use the settings found in the screenshot on the right to set up MMS on your windows phone. 

Some Windows Phones include a Connection Setup utility that you can use to automatically configure all the connection settings of your cellular provider (including the MMS settings).  If your phone has a utility like this, you can probably find it  the settings > connections screen.

MMS relies on a data connection to send messages, so if you plan to send many MMS messages, you'll want to subscribe to a data plan.  MMS messages may also be charged as text messages.  (I have an unlimited data plan and pay for a limited number of text messages, and I notice that MMS messages I send incur data usage AND are counted as text messages on my bills).

Create a new MMS message

To create a new MMS message, open up the Text/MMS application, tap Menu > New > MMS and a blank message screen will appear.

Add a Picture or Video

To add a picture or a video clip to your message, tap the insert picture/video box.  This will open up a screen where you can choose any picture that is stored on the windows phone (even those that are stored on the storage card, if used).  You can also create a new picture or video for your MMS message by tapping the camera or video recorder icon on this screen.

Add Text, Emoticons, Favorites or Other Goodies

Tapping the "Insert text here" box opens up a screen where you can create a text message. The Menu option (found on the lower right hand side of the screen) allows you to

• change the text size, text color or text background color of your message
• insert Emoticons, Favorites, canned text phrases, Contact or Calendar information into your message, but you might prefer to use the icons that run along the bottom of the screen to add this data to the message.

Tapping the first icon (a smiley face) opens up a screen full of emoticons.  Tapping the second icon (a star) lets you choose from the list of Favorites that are saved on your phone to include as links with your message.

Tapping the third icon (a voice bubble) lets you choose from a list of previously saved canned text (words or phrases) to include with your message. You can also create a new canned text message by tapping Menu > New (or you can edit or delete any of the phrases here) 

Tapping the fourth icon (Contact icon) opens up the contacts on your device where you can select a contact you want to include with your MMS - you can even select the specific information you want to include with the contact information. 

Tapping the fifth icon (Calendar icon) opens up a tabbed screen where you can select Calendar items or a Task item to include with your message.  After you choose an item you can then select the specific information you want to include in the MMS message. 

Add an Audio Clip

You can add an audio clip to your message by tapping the "Insert audio" box.  You can choose any audio file that is stored on your device or create a new audio file by tapping the first icon (cassette tape icon) that runs along the bottom of the screen. You can listen to an audio clip by selecting the second icon (arrow icon)

NOTE:  You can create a multi-page MMS message (referred to later in this article as a slideshow) by tapping the blue arrow at the far lower right of the screen.

Add Attachment, vCard, vCalendar

You can add a file, vCard or vCalendar item to the message by tapping Menu > Attachment (to find the Attachment option, scroll down the menu items).  Then tap "Menu." 

Miscellaneous Options

Tapping Menu > Options if you want to:

• change the background color of your message,
• change the text layout of your message, and
• set some send options, including setting the date and time to send the message, expiration (from 1 to 72 hours), Priority (Low, Medium, High), Category (Personal, Advertisement, Informational, Auto) and whether you want to receive a delivery and/or read report (as return text messages).

Multi-page MMS Messages (also referred to as slideshows)

Your MMS message can consist of multiple slides (like a slideshow).  You can create and organize an MMS slideshow by tapping Menu > Slides and choosing Insert, Delete or Organize.  If you've created a multi-page MMS message (referred to in this article as a slideshow), tapping Organize Slides takes you to a screen where you can move the pages around either by dragging the stylus on the screen or by tapping Menu and selecting Move Forward or Move Backward.  You can also delete slides.

MMS Templates

You can save MMS messages or MMS slideshows as templates and use them later to send messages by tapping Menu > Template and choosing either "Save as Template" or "Select a Template."

Sending an MMS Message

After you've got the MMS message set up just the way you want it, you'll send the message by tapping the "Send" button located in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen.

You can send MMS messages to mobile phone numbers, email addresses, or both. The message will appear in the Outbox while it's being sent, and after it has been sent successfully, a copy of the message will be saved in the Sent folder. If there is a problem sending the message, the message will remain in the Outbox.

Working with MMS Messages

You can preview your own MMS messages or review received MMS messages by tapping the green playback arrow (found in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen) (see the screenshot on the right).  The Playback screen includes some control buttons that can be use during message playback (Forward, Backward, Full Screen, Play, Pause, Stop).

You can view a list of the content included in any MMS message by opening the message and tapping Contents.  You can select any item on the list and view its Properties (tap Properties).  Tap Menu > Show to view

• Attachments: displays a list of files that are included with the MMS
• Message Detail shows specific information about the message (subject, category, duration, etc.)
• Contact Details shows recipient phone number and you can save the contact information or add the contact to the MMS blacklist

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