What is SMS?
SMS stands for Short Message Service, and refers to the sending of short text messages from one device to another; in most cases from one mobile phone to another. The size of an SMS text message is restricted to 160 characters.
What is a Multipart / Concatenated SMS?
A standard text message is 160 characters long. If your message exceeds the limit, an alert is shown on the screen allowing to continue typing the message beyond the character limit. This message will count for 2 or more SMS Credits (depending on the length of your message) and you will be charged correspondingly. Special such as ~, ^, {, }, [, ], |, will constitute two characters.
Messenger allows you to send longer SMS of upto 918 characters which are split into smaller SMS and later joined at the receiving end which is a mobile. In this scenario, SMS length is calculated for 153 characters as 7 characters are used to concatenate the message when it is delivered to the handset.
What is an SMS gateway?
An SMS gateway is the means through which a computer can send or receive SMS messages. Often allowing for the conversion and sending of other forms of media or message (such as email), SMS gateways will generally utilise the same mobile phone networks as the messages sent from mobile phones.
Are there any contracts or commitments with Messenger?
There are no contracts involved in running a Messenger account – it all works on a pay as you go basis, so you can send text messages with no hassle. If you purchase any inbound systems they have a minimum term of one month which is renewable.
Who can use our bulk SMS services?
Any Indian business, society or community group can use our company to reach out to customers, staff or friends with SMS, instantly connecting to people where ever they are. With different levels of service, there's something to suit an organisation regardless of size. Our company offers unbeatable prices, there's also excellent support with passionate experts here to help.
How long does the service take to set up?
Your SMS marketing campaigns can be up and running within minutes.
Do I need a mobile phone?
You do not need a mobile phone to use messenger; messages are sent and received from Messenger. It is all web based so you do not need to download anything. All you need is an internet enabled PC, Mac or Tablet.
How can I send SMS online?
It's essentially the same process that you would go through when sending an SMS on your phone, in this case it's just that you'd do it on your computer. With Our Messenger, it's as simple as typing in your message, Enter the numbers you wish to send to, and pressing send. Job done.
How can I receive SMS online?
You will need to have a short code or a long code or a keyword to be able to receive SMS online. These are also called Virtual Mobile Numbers (VMNs). You can find more information on various options for receiving SMS here. All the messages sent to these short/long codes will be received in separate inboxes which can be accessed in your account.
How much does it cost to send a message?
The cost depends on how many credits you want to buy; one credit equals one SMS message (i.e., 160 characters) and the credits last indefinitely. The cost of our credit bundles you can contact your account manager.
How many characters can I send in a message?
You can send up to 1000 characters in a message. Here, we refer to standard Latin symbols (ASCII) and not special or Unicode characters. Messenger displays clearly when composing your message as to how many characters you have used and how many credits your text will use up so you can edit the message accordingly.
What is length of an SMS and what is the relation between message length and credits?
The standard length of SMS is 160 characters in Latin symbols (ASCII). It also varies depending on the message type, especially if it is a Unicode message or if the message uses any special characters.
A message with up to 160 characters uses up one SMS credit. If the message is more than 160 characters, one credit is used up for 153 characters as the remaining 7 characters are used to concatenate the message when it is delivered to the handset. So, one SMS credit is used up for a maximum of 160 characters, 2 credits are used up for 161-306 characters (=153*2) and so on. You can send messages up to 1000 characters and this long message.
How long does it take for our team to convert my account to Transactional?
Once you upload all the required documents duly signed, our support team will convert your account to transactional within 12 business hours. As soon as your account is converted, you will receive a notification over email from our support team.
Can I have more than one sender ID approved for my transactional account? Are there any additional charges?
You can have multiple sender IDs approved in your transactional account and there is no additional charge for this. We only need a DLT Process for any type of sender ID Approval.
I have received a confirmation from our support team that my account has been converted to transactional. What should I do next?
Once your account has been converted to transactional – the first thing you need to do is create your SMS templates. Once you add your template, our support team will check the content and approve the template. Remember transactional route is template restricted, hence you will only be allowed to send messages which match your approved templates.
Can I send bulk SMS in regional languages?
Yes, our supports Unicode messages which will enable you to send SMS in Indian languages. Our transliteration tool will help you easily and quickly draft texts in local languages. On messenger we support most of the popular languages in India which include: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu.
What is a Unicode message and why is it used?
Standard SMS sent using the GSM 3.38 character set allows the sending of 160 characters for a single message, and multiples of 153 for longer messages. The character set only allows those characters to be sent, and anything outside of it is changed – for instance í (that's i-acute) gets changed to an i.
Unicode allows the support of a much wider character set, and actually includes pretty much every character in the world, including Indian languages, some of the stranger European characters (like í), all the Cyrillic alphabets (e.g. Arabic, Russia, Punjabi and Greek), all the Asian ones (Chinese, Japanese etc), and also some of the emoticons out there! Basically, every single character you can think of.
An example Hindi Unicode message is: अब आप अपनी भाषा में आसानी से सन्देश भेज सकते हैं!
What are the differences between Unicode and GSM?
Firstly, the standard length of a Unicode message is 70 characters (compared to 160 for GSM). Long messages are supported for Unicode messages as well, and they are in multiples of 64 (compared to 153 for GSM). So a double length Unicode message can be up to 134 characters, triple 198, quadruple 262, etc.
Messages are priced the same way i.e., 1 credit is used up for 1 message (up to 70 Unicode characters), 2 credits are used up for double-length Unicode message (up to 134 characters) and so on.
Why are my messages using up two credits?
A message will use over one credit if you do either of the following :
- You are using over 160 characters per message.
- You are using over 70 characters in a Unicode message.
- You have merged data into your message which is increasing the characters.
How do I check if the message has been delivered?
- Delivered : Message is delivered.
- Expired : Out of coverage area, Switched off, Insufficient Memory, Tower station Failure, No routing info available from HLR
- Undelivered : Absent Subscriber, Memory Capacity Exceeded, Mobile Equipment Error, Network Error, Barring, NDNC Failed
How secure is my data?
Your data is completely safe. our company does not share or pass on any of your data, including the mobile numbers you upload. Your data will only be used for your SMS marketing.
Can I import data into my Messenger?
You can import mobile numbers from an excel sheet or a CSV file. You can upload your mobile numbers along with five fields of information with just a few clicks of a button. You can also enter your numbers individually or by copying and pasting if you have smaller volumes.
Can I merge data into my messages? (Or) Can I personalize my message?
Yes, you can easily merge custom data and personalize your message by having custom fields for each contact. You can input these custom fields manually or you can include these custom fields against each number in an excel spreadsheet and upload it.
What is an API key?
API Hash key is the encrypted form of your password. This is unique for every user in our company. You will need to pass the correct api key to integrate your application with our API.
Can I schedule messages to be sent at a later date?
Yes, it's easy to schedule your messages for delivery at a later date & time. Choose to schedule them to be sent only after specific times and dates. You can also set an end date for your message to expire, to prevent it from being sent out after a specified date. Staggering messages is also possible; to allow time to handle responses instead of being overwhelmed by many all in one go. If you need to change the time and date of the scheduled SMS, you can do so via the reports section of Messenger.
Does the size of my business affect the success of SMS?
No, smaller campaigns work as well as the larger campaigns, as long as you have an opt-in database of your contacts and you send relevant messaging to them.
How can local businesses get greater benefits from SMS marketing?
Local businesses can benefit from being able to instantly communicate to hundreds or thousands of people about your latest offers & promotions. Messages are instantly delivered typically within 5 seconds and read by 95% of those customers within the first 5 seconds. That's guaranteed communication within 10 seconds of sending a message!
What is DND?
DND is a national 'Do Not Disturb' registry put into effect by TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) to effectively regulate unsolicited commercial calls and messages. Telecom subscribers who do not wish to receive any promotional messages or calls can register to DND. The registration will be effective within 7 days of placing the request with the service provider.
Note: Transactional messages can be sent even if the subscriber is registered to DND. These messages are solicited by the end user and do not contain any promotion, advertising or marketing information.
What is an SMS API?
An SMS API allows the automatic sending of text messages e.g. bike insurance renewal reminder texts. Our API is shared for free of cost which can be integrated with your system to send real time text messages to your customers. Messages can be triggered event based, time based and can be user initiated.