When sending AI files with text, it is received outlined

It would depend on whether there have been effects applied to the text and whatnot.

Even when the other person has a lower version of Illustrator, text will be spread over multiple text objects, but not necessarily outlined.

Please give us the details: which versions ,which systems, which kind of file formats and how was the text formatted.

Without any info about the specific fonts used, save settings and so on we can't really tell you much. simply sounds like you are using different versions, where this would be expected since the text engine evolves and changes continually and in particular saving from a newer version to an older one could not support certain features.

Mylenium