When drafting a message to your customers, you use characters to write it out. A character contains a letter in the alphabet, a number, or special symbols like "@" or "!". The system divides your message into 160-character segments. If your message exceeds 160 characters, it will be split into multiple segments. Each segment counts as one message from your plan.
For example:
-
A message with 50 characters contains less than 160 characters. You will only be charged for one text message.
-
A message with 190 characters contains more than 160 characters. This system will split this message into two segments.
-
A message with 500 characters is well above the 160-character limit. The system will split this message into four segments.
Even though you sent three messages to your customers, these messages are quite long and were split into seven segments. The system will charge you for seven messages, not three.
Important
This logic applies to basic characters and several Western European languages, including English, Spanish, and French. However, if you use emojis or unsupported languages like Chinese, Korean, or Japanese, the system reduces the character limit to 70 per segment. This results in more text segments being used than anticipated.
Even a single unsupported character will change the segmentation of your entire message, potentially leading to higher text plan usage. To avoid sending extra texts when using emojis or unsupported languages, ensure your message is shorter.
This page contains an interactive tool to see how many segments your message requires.
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.