SMS Basic Principles

This section will demonstrate how SMS works and explain its related basics so that you can make the best decisions, including:

• Character limit for SMS

• SMS status

• Sender ID

SMS Character Limit

Each SMS has a character limit of 160. Messages not using GSM-7 encoding are limited to 70 characters. Large messages (over 160 characters) will be split into multiple individual SMS messages, but most smartphones will recreate them as a single message.

SMS Encoding

GSM-7

GSM-7 is the standard encoding for GSM messages, being the 7-bit default alphabet. Since SMS messages transmit 140 octets of 8 bits at a time, GSM-7 encoded SMS messages can carry up to 160 characters. Large messages will be segmented into 153 characters each. For example, 163 characters will be sent as two messages. One with 153 characters and another with 10 characters. GSM-7 is a basic character set, which can be found here.

For the following characters, two characters will be used for encoding:

|€^{}[]~\

UCS-2

UCS-2 is a character encoding standard where characters are represented by a fixed-length 16-bit (2 bytes). The basic character set can be found here. UCS-2 encoded messages are limited to 70 characters each, and large messages will be segmented into 67 characters each. For example, 80 characters will be sent as two messages. One with 67 characters and another with 13 characters.

How does YCloud encode your messages?

When you use YCloud to send messages, we automatically send them in the most compact encoding. If your message contains any non-GSM-7 characters, we will automatically switch to UCS-2.

How to check my message encoding?

This page provides a tool that displays the encoding type and SMS count after you input your message.

SMS Status

First, let's clarify some confusion about SMS delivery reports and their meanings. SMS delivery reports are messages you receive from the SMSC (Short Message Service Center) informing you that an SMS message sent from your device has been delivered to the intended recipient. In other words, SMS delivery reports show the current status of the SMS you submitted to the carrier.

Delivered	Yes	The message has been sent, and the report from the carrier shows that the message has been delivered.
Undelivered	Yes	The message has been sent, but the report from the carrier shows that the message was not delivered. Reasons for undelivery include: 1. Device issues: turned off, no signal. 2. Your message content is inappropriate. 3. Your message sending time is not allowed. Each country has its own SMS rules, which you can view here
Sending	Yes	The message has been sent, and the report from the carrier has not yet returned. This status usually becomes delivered or undelivered.
Failed	No	The message was not sent by YCloud due to some reason.

Sender ID

The Sender ID shows who sent this message. With a Sender ID, you can send SMS from a custom sender (brand name or website name) instead of a random string of numbers.

If you have not registered a Sender ID, YCloud will randomly assign an ID for you to send messages. Therefore, you can send messages without registering.

The rules vary greatly from country to country, and not all countries offer Sender ID registration, and some countries charge for the ID, subject to the local carrier's policies. Therefore, please check the country restrictions or contact our customer service before submitting an ID.

Create My Sender ID

Step 1:

Although the registration of Sender ID is free, the service is for customers with an account balance of over $100. Therefore, you should at least recharge $100.

Step 2:

Go to Integration > SMS > Sender ID.

You need to provide the following information for registration:

1. Sender ID;

2. Target country;

3. Company website;

4. Typical template;

5. Industry;

Step 3:

After confirming everything is correct, submit the Sender ID and wait for registration and review. YCloud will communicate with you via email about the submitted Sender ID issues, so please pay attention to your email.