How SMSBump Calculates the SMS Count and Characters

Have you ever wondered how SMS messages are calculated? Do you know how the pricing is estimated based on the number of symbols and when a single message is charged as two or more?

In this short post, we will explain how SMSBump calculates the SMS parts and what makes up your price for a single message. Let’s check it out.
 

Adding Emojis to Your SMS Campaigns

You can use emojis to put a little spirit and color in your SMSBump text messages.

There are two main things you should know about emojis.
 

• Each emoji is counted as 2 characters
• Using emojis reduces your maximum character count in a single message to 70
   

Single message

To keep the messages short and clear, there is a limit count of 160 characters for a single message. If your message is sent with standard encoding, it will use 7 bit per character, making up the total of 160 characters per SMS.

In this case, the charging is for a single message.
 

Exceeding 160 characters

If your text exceeds 160 characters, the SMS will use some additional bits to tell the handset that it is a concatenated message, or a message that has been linked together.

When the character count exceeds 160 symbols, the first message length will be automatically reduced to 153 characters. 

Each following message count will be limited to 153 characters.
 

In this case, you will be charged for two messages.
 

Using Non-Latin Languages with Special Encoding

If you are using Unicode encoding, the messages are calculated with a 16-bit character encoding system. This means that one message can contain up to 70 characters.

For example, if you write a text using:

• Arabic
• Cyrillic
• Chinese
• Japanese
• Hebrew
• Hindi
• Georgian
• Greek

Each message will be shortened from 160 to 70 characters.

If you exceed 70 characters in a non-latin message, each following message will be reduced to 66 characters.
 

​

Using Special Characters in Text Messages

7 bit characters can be used in text messages without affecting the length or the way your SMS is counted.
 

7 bit characters are different from unicode characters and languages.

Some languages like German for instance require those symbols to spell words and sentences correctly.

These 7 bit characters can be used in your SMS campaigns without you having to worry that the way your messages will be counted.
 

Summary

You are now ready to start sending messages with the precise number of symbols you want. You know how they are calculated and the only thing that’s left is thinking of the messages you want to send. Give it a go!