SMS Messaging Guidelines for iClosed
Pricing:
The price for sending SMS messages varies between countries and regions, and in some cases, between carriers in the same country or region. These prices change regularly.
Carrier fees will vary based on the type of number sending the message.
You will be charged per SMS (depending on SMS parts, country region, and carriers) (default price in most cases)
Pricing table
| Country | SMS Cost per part |
|---|---|
United States | $0.011011 |
France | $0.090129 |
United Arab Emirates | $0.140517 |
Indonesia | $0.399997 |
Canada | $0.015353 |
Germany | $0.115024 |
United Kingdom | $0.050544 |
Japan | $0.096863 |
Australia | $0.04485 |
Russia | $0.522314 |
Sweden | $0.094328 |
Pakistan | $0.252278 |
How the message Length will be calculated:
An SMS message can hold up to 140 bytes of information. However, the actual number of characters you can use in a single SMS depends on the types of characters in your message.
Character Sets: If your message only uses characters from the GSM 03.38 character set (often referred to as the GSM 7-bit alphabet), you can have up to 150 characters in one message. However, if your message contains characters not in this set, you're limited to 70 characters per message.
Automatic Encoding: When you send an SMS through iClosed, it will automatically choose the most efficient encoding for your message.
Long Messages: When your message exceeds the maximum character limit, it gets split into multiple parts. Each part includes extra information about the previous part. The recipient's device uses this information to display the message parts in the correct order. Depending on the recipient's mobile service provider and device, these parts may appear as a single message or as separate ones. This splitting reduces the character limit to 153 for GSM characters and 67 for non-GSM characters.
Estimating Message Parts: To know how many parts your message will be split into before sending it, you can use SMS length calculator tools available online (https://thesmsworks.co.uk/sms-length-calculator).
Maximum Message Size: The largest size a message can be is 1600 characters if it contains only GSM characters or 630 characters if it has non-GSM characters. If your message exceeds these limits, it won't be sent, and iClosed will return an "Invalid Message Exception."Understanding these rules will help you make the most of your SMS messaging with iClosed.
Understanding SMS Message Examples
In this section, we'll walk through a few examples of SMS messages and explain how they work in terms of character limits and message parts.
Example 1: A Longer Message with Common Characters
Message: "Hello Carlos. Your Example Corp. bill of $100 is now available. Autopay is scheduled for next Thursday, April 9. To view the details of your bill, go to [link]."
Character Count: 180
Explanation: Since this message uses regular characters from the GSM 03.38 alphabet, it has to be divided into two parts, with each part containing up to 153 GSM characters. So, it's sent as two message parts.
Example 2: Messages with Non-GSM Characters
Message: "亚马逊公司是一家总部位于美国西雅图的跨国电子商务企业，业务起始于线上书店，不久之后商品走向多元化。杰夫·贝佐斯于1994年7月创建了这家公司。"
Character Count: 71
Explanation: This message includes mostly non-GSM Chinese characters, which means it's sent as two parts, with each part allowing up to 67 characters due to encoding limitations.
Example 3: Handling Non-GSM Characters
Message: "John: Your appointment with Dr. Salazar's office is scheduled for next Thursday at 4:30 pm. Reply YES to confirm, NO to reschedule."
Character Count: 130
Explanation: This message contains a single non-GSM character, the closing single quote ('’), which differs from a regular apostrophe ('), often automatically replaced by word processors like Microsoft Word. Due to the presence of this special character, the message is split into two parts. To send it as one part, replace the closing single quote with a regular apostrophe before sending.
These examples help you understand how SMS messages are split based on character types and limitations. Make sure to adjust your messages accordingly to ensure they're delivered as intended.
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