Program your UPS to send an SMS when Eskom power is shed (No additional hardware needed: email-to-SMS service)

When Eskom power is lost your UPS can sense this and can perform various operations. The obvious action in your UPS's notification script is to email the IT support team and then to perform a graceful shut-down when the battery power reaches a preset level.
Taking the email action one step further, why not send an SMS to the IT support staff as well? No additional hardware is needed (ie. no cell phone connected to your UPS or PC).... using an 'email-to-SMS' service this can easily be done.
We have successfully used the WinSMS service and we were satisfied with the low cost per SMS and the reliability of SMS delivery: WinSMS

To make use of the E-mail2SMS gateway: configure your UPS notification script to send emails to the cell phones using the format:
To field: 082xxxx@e-mail2sms.co.za, or 083xxxx@e-mail2sms.co.za, or 084xxxxx@e-mail2sms.co.za etc......
Subject field: #username,password#
Message body: Your SMS message (limited to 160 chars).....

The sender will receive a confirmation e-mail confirming that the message was accepted by the gateway.

Pricing here:
WinSMS Pricing
Cost is per SMS: from 38c+VAT (down to 25c+VAT for really high volumes)....

No subscription fees, no contract, no hidden costs, just the cost of the SMS.... online free registration includes 10 Free SMS credits
Pay by credit card, EFT, or debit order.
Register now: WinSMS

SMSs can also be sent [after registering] using the WebClient, or the Desktop Client software or the FTP gateway (for bulk SMSs).
SMSs can also be scheduled to send at some time in the future.
It's also much cheaper to send SMSs using these methods than sending from my cell phone.

Did you know that you can send FREE SMSs to Vodacom cell phones?

If you have a Vodacom SIM card then you can register on www.vodacom4me.co.za and then you can send up to 20 free SMSs per day to other Vodacom subscribers?
If you don't have a Vodacom SIM card, then go and buy one (for R1.99 at some supermarkets), then purchase and load R12 airtime…..and then register on on www.vodacom4me.co.za

{I think MTN has a similar feature called MTN-ice - so buy your MTN SIM card now and let me know}

There's also a cool feature to schedule the sending of SMSs.... eg: for your friend's birthday or Christmas
You can set up a contacts list and then pick from that list when sending SMSs

Also, there's a service called "email-to-SMS" where you can send a (free) SMS to a Vodacom subscriber by sending an email.
If your friend's cell phone number is 0824567890 then write a short email as follows:
To: 0824567890@voda.co.za
Subject: Type your SMS in the subject line [limited to about 145 characters]

Note: this email-to-SMS service is limited to 3 SMSs per day (per email account)

For other countries' free email-to-SMS services go here: (thanks orkut): http://orkuttricks.blogspot.com/2008/01/send-free-sms-from-mail.html
[Currently lists: AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, CANADA, GERMANY, ICELAND, INDIA, ITALY, JAPAN, NETHERLANDS, SINGAPORE, SPAIN, SWEDEN, UNITED KINGDOM]

Here are some more tips on saving money re: cell phones:

Did you know that it is cheaper to call cell‑to‑cell than to call cell‑to-Telkom?

Did you know that it’s sometimes cheaper to dial someone’s voice mail directly than it is to send an SMS (contract dependent)

Did you know that it’s cheaper to dial someone’s voice mail directly (sly voicemail)than to let it divert to voice mail?

Did you know that you can dial someone’s voice mail directly by dialling:

Vodacom: 082131+rest of the number;

MTN: 0831483+rest of the number;

CellC: ????? ;

This is useful when:
*) you think of something and don't really want to call someone at that time (early in the morning or late at night)
*) you don't really feel like typing an SMS (costs are more-or-less the same for SMS and direct-voicemail)

Update on 14July2009:

From http://richelectron.blogspot.com/2009/01/free-vodacom-sms.html:

Vodacom4me allows Vodacom subscribers to send 20 free sms's every day from the Vodacom portal website. BUT, this feature is only available from desktop computers and cell phone users are redirected to a mobile version of the Vodacom4me site :(

This means that the site cannot be used to send free sms's from a mobile phone :(

Free082SMS bridges this divide though :) by providing users with an interface to the Vodacom4me website or email to sms from their mobiles to send free messages on the go! The site is built around a simple text based structure for optimal performance on most web enabled phones. Check it out... click here for more (and screen shot)