Text Message Segment Guide

What is a message segment?

All phone carriers internationally measure text messages in character batches called segments. Segments are typically 160 characters or 70 characters, depending on the encoding type. A common reason for encoding to change is when a user copies text from another system or word processor and pastes the text into a text message body. Often, unknown unicode characters are pasted into the text box and the encoding changes.

Generally, most messages use the standard of GSM-7 encoding and have up to 160 characters per segment.

How length influences your messaging cost*:

  • 0 – 160 characters – 1 segment and charged as a single message
  • 161 - 320 characters – 1 segment and charged as a single message
  • 361 - 480 characters – 1 segment and charged as a single message
  • 481 - 640 characters – 1 segment and charged as a single message
  • 641 - 800 characters – 1 segment and charged as a single message
  • 801 - 960 characters – 1 segment and charged as a single message
  • 961 - 1,120 characters – 1 segment and charged as a single message
  • 1,121 - 1.280 characters – 1 segment and charged as a single message
  • 1,281 - 1,440 characters – 1 segment and charged as a single message
  • 1,441 - 1,600 characters – 1 segment and charged as a single message

*Assume GSM-7 encoding

What are common UNICODE characters?

These are commonly-used characters that will change your message encoding type from GSM7 to Unicode, which will lower your segment character count from 160 to 70 characters per segment.

Emojis

😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😁 😂 😃 😄 😅 😆 😇 😈 😉 😐 😑 😒 😓 😔 😕 😖 😗 😘 😙 😠 😡 😢 😣 , etc.

Non-Emoji Unicode Characters

¢ ¦ ¨ © ª « ¬ ® ¯ ° ± ¹ ² ³ ´ µ ¶ · ¸ ¹ º » ¼ ½ ¾ À Á Â Ã È Ê Ë Ì Í Î Ï Ð Ò Ó Ô Õ × Ù Ú Û Ý Þ á â ã ç ê ë í î ï ð ó ô õ ÷ ú û ý þ ÿ

What does message encoding mean?

The SMS length calculator looks at each character in your message to identify it’s encoding type and the overall message length. Based on the encoding type and length, the total number of segments used is determined.

The two types of SMS encoding used by FixYourFunnel are:

  • GSM-7 Encoding – GSM7 is the encoding type most commonly used and supports more than 128 commonly letters and symbols. Each segment is limited to 160 characters maximum.
  • UCS-2 Encoding – UCS2 uses 16 bits to encode each character. Each segment is limited to 70 characters maximum.

How will my text message be encoded?

When you send SMS messages with Sakari, we will automatically use the most compact encoding possible. If you only use GSM-7 characters, your messages will be encoded at GSM-7. If any non GSM-7 characters are included, your entire message will be encoded at UCS-2, which limits each message segment to 70 characters each.

How are SMS messages billed?

  • The length of your message in segments
  • The destination country of the recipient
  • Your messaging plan