How is SMS and MMS charged?
Question
How is SMS/MMS usage charging determined?
Applies To
- 8x8 Work
- SMS / MMS Messaging
Answer
Mobile Carriers bill SMS and MMS based on the number of segments (groups of characters) contained in a message.
The way segments are broken down depends on the character coding that is used when a message is sent. This can be impacted depending on the content of the message. We’ve broken down below on a high level how SMS/MMS is broken down in segments below:
Most messages are categorized as either SMS (Short Message Service) or MMS (Multimedia Message Service) when sent/received on a one-to-one basis. Any message that is sent/received in a one-to-many scenario like Group SMS/MMS is considered a MMS.
SMS Segmentation
- SMS using standard GSM 7-bit is limited to 160 Characters for single segments and 153 for multiple segments.
- Emoji or special characters uses UCS-2 Encoding which are limited to 70 for single segments and 67 for multiple segments.
- Special characters also include letters with tilts like é
MMS Segmentation
- MMS is any message that contacts some form of media type like photos, video, or audio files.
- MMS limited to 1600 Character
- Group SMS/MMS are all considered MMS and follow MMS Segmentation
- 1MB MMS Size limit (total for actual attachments size allocation may vary)
Examples
|
Sample Message |
Message Type |
Encoding |
Segments Limits |
Billed Segments |
|
Hi,I’m following up on your inquiry. |
Alphanumeric SMS |
GSM-7 |
160 |
1 |
|
Thank you for calling ABC Inc, we have received your inquiry and are processing it now. This will take 5-7 business days. If you need additional assistance please respond with Help. Please respond STOP if you would like to stop receiving messages from ABC Inc. |
Alphanumeric SMS |
GSM-7 |
153 |
2, (total count is 262) |
|
👋, just following up on you inquiry. |
SMS with Emoji |
UCS-2 |
70 |
1 |
|
👋, just following up on you inquiry. If you need additional assistance please respond with Help. Please respond STOP if you would like to stop receiving messages from ABC Inc. |
SMS with Emoji |
UCS-2 |
67 |
3, (total count as 175) |
|
Hola, cómo estás? |
Unicode |
UCS-2 |
70 |
1 |
|
¿Hola, cómo estás? Por favor responda si desea información adicional sobre su consulta. |
Unicode |
UCS-2 |
67 |
2, (total as 87) |
Billing Segment Breakdown
|
Message Type |
Character Limit |
Billed Segment |
|
Alphanumeric SMS (GSM-7) |
1-160 |
1 |
|
Multi Segment Alphanumeric SMS (GSM-7) |
161-306 |
2 |
|
SMS with Emoji or special characters (UCS-2) |
1-70 |
1 |
|
Multiple SMS with Emoji or special characters (UCS-2) |
71-134 |
2 |
|
MMS with Attachment (image, audio/video, document files) |
1-1600 |
1 |
|
MMS with Attachment and Emojis or Special Characters (image, audio/video, document files) |
1-1600 |
1 |
|
Group SMS/MMS |
1-1600 |
1 (MMS Rate) per recipient |
|
Group SMS/MMS with Attachment and Emojis or Special Characters (image, audio/video, document files) |
1-1600 |
1 (MMS Rate) per recipient |