Send long text messages

Understand the significance of multipart SMS in conveying detailed information, emergency notifications, financial transactions, and more. Explore the benefits of sending long text messages, ranging from enhanced communication to cost-effectiveness. By harnessing the power of multipart SMS, you elevate your communication strategy. Explore further insights into sending long text messages, optimizing communication channels, and staying ahead in the dynamic landscape of mobile messaging.

Multipart SMS with Ozeki NG SMS Gateway

The diagram shows how a long SMS message is handled in Ozeki NG SMS Gateway. First, you create your SMS message. The long message is then broken into smaller segments, each fitting within the character limit of a single SMS. These segments are formatted into a multipart message and sent through the Ozeki NG SMS Gateway. The gateway processes and forwards them to a GSM modem, which sends the segments to an SMSC tower. The tower transmits the segments to the recipient's phone, where they are reassembled into the complete message.

sending long sms messages
Figure 1 - Multipart SMS messages

Understanding Multipart SMS Messages

Multipart messages are used when the text of an SMS is too long for the standard limit of 160 characters. The message is divided into parts and sent as separate SMSs. The sender’s phone is responsible for the division, and the receiver’s phone joins the parts to show the full text when they are all received.

Handling Multipart Messages with Ozeki NG SMS Gateway

Ozeki NG SMS Gateway handles multipart messages properly. It does the segmentation when necessary for outgoing messages and it performs the reassembly for incoming multipart SMS.

This segmentation is crucial for the effective delivery of detailed information. On the receiving end, Ozeki NG SMS Gateway excels at performing the reassembly of incoming multipart SMS, reconstructing the original message from its segmented parts. This capability ensures that recipients receive the complete and coherent message without any disruptions. Overall, Ozeki NG SMS Gateway's adept handling of multipart messages contributes to a reliable and streamlined communication process.

3+1 reasons why to choose Ozeki NG SMS Gateway

  1. Performance: Enjoy a gateway that delivers high-speed and high-volume SMS messaging, handling thousands of messages per second with ease.
  2. Security: Trust a gateway that protects your data and privacy with robust encryption and authentication mechanisms, ensuring a safe and secure communication channel.
  3. Innovation: Explore a gateway that offers a wide range of integrations and applications, enabling you to connect with various platforms and devices via SMS.
  4. Satisfaction: Experience a gateway that meets your expectations and exceeds them, providing you with a reliable, efficient, and cutting-edge SMS solution.

When we need to send long text messages?

Long text messages, or multipart SMS, are needed when detailed information, such as emergency notifications, financial transactions, or legal documents, surpasses the standard SMS character limit. Essential in educational content, multilingual communication, and business updates, they also find application in surveys, technical support, and event notifications. Multipart SMS ensures recipients receive comprehensive details without the need for multiple messages.

The benefits of sending long text messages

  1. Enhanced Communication: Long messages allow for more detailed and comprehensive communication, avoiding the need for multiple short messages.
  2. Convenience: Users can convey complex information or ideas without the constraint of character limits, leading to clearer and more coherent communication.
  3. Cost-Effective: While multipart messages may incur additional costs, they can be more economical than sending multiple individual SMS messages to convey the same content.

What is GSM?

GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) is a standard developed to ensure compatibility and uniformity in mobile communication protocols. It is the technology used by mobile phones to transmit and receive voice and data.

Can I Send a Text Message Longer Than 160 Characters?

The standard SMS character limit is 160 characters. However, with multipart messages, users can send longer texts by breaking them into segments. This is particularly useful when conveying detailed information or messages that exceed the standard character limit.

Additional Resources

https://ozeki-sms-gateway.com/p_1173-how-to-set-the-sms-length.html
https://send-bulk-sms.com/p_1488-bulk-sms.html

What is Unicode? (NON-GSM Characters)

Unicode is a character encoding standard that includes a vast range of characters from various writing systems around the world. It allows for the representation of text in almost any language, including non-Latin scripts and special symbols. When it comes to SMS messages, Unicode is used to include characters that are not part of the GSM character set.

How does Unicode differ from GSM?

Characteristics GSM Unicode
Character Set Limited set of Latin alphabet, numerals, and basic symbols Vast range of characters from various writing systems globally, including non-Latin scripts and special symbols
Message Length Standard: 160 characters; Unicode (UCS-2 encoding): 70 characters Unicode: 70 characters per SMS (shorter due to the larger character set)
Compatibility Widely supported globally by mobile devices and networks May have limited support on some devices or networks, especially older ones

How to Send a Large SMS?

Sending a large SMS, especially when the message exceeds the standard character limit, involves using multipart SMS techniques. Here's a general guide:

  1. Message Segmentation: Break the long message into smaller segments that fit within the character limit of a single SMS. This is often 160 characters for GSM encoding or 70 characters for Unicode encoding.
  2. Multipart Message Format: Format the message as a multipart SMS, including specific headers that indicate the total number of segments and the current segment number.
  3. Use SMS Gateways: Employ an SMS gateway service that supports multipart messages. Many SMS gateways automatically handle the segmentation and reassembly process for you.
  4. Character Encoding: Choose the appropriate character encoding based on the content of your message. Use GSM encoding for standard Latin characters and Unicode encoding for special characters or non-Latin scripts.
  5. Testing: Before sending large SMS campaigns, conduct testing to ensure proper segmentation.

How does the segmentation and reassembly process work in multipart SMS messages, and why is it necessary for long texts?

The segmentation and reassembly process is a technique that allows sending longer text messages than the standard limit of 160 characters for SMS. It works by dividing a long message into smaller parts, each of which is sent as a separate SMS, and then recombining them at the receiver's end to display the original message.

This process is necessary for long texts because SMS is a protocol that was designed to transmit short messages of up to 160 characters (or 70 characters for non-English languages) using the GSM network³. If a message exceeds this limit, it cannot be sent as a single SMS, and it may be truncated or rejected by the network. Therefore, the segmentation and reassembly process enable sending longer texts without losing any information or incurring extra charges.

What is the difference between multi part SMS and concatenated SMS?

Multipart SMS and Concatenated SMS refer to the same concept. Both terms describe the process of dividing a lengthy text message into multiple parts for transmission. The sender's phone segments the message, and the recipient's phone reassembles these parts to display the complete message. While both terms are used interchangeably, they essentially represent the same technique for transmitting longer text messages via SMS.

How long is a concatenated SMS?

For a single SMS, the character count is limited to 160 characters with GSM characters or 70 characters with Unicode characters. In the case of two concatenated SMS message parts, the limit extends to 306 characters for GSM messages and 134 for Unicode messages. It's important to note that the reserved bytes for connection information slightly reduce the available character count. Consequently, concatenated SMS allows for shorter messages compared to sending the same content in two separate SMS messages, ensuring proper connection and coherence in the received messages.

Are bulk SMS and multipart SMS the same?

Bulk SMS and multipart SMS are related concepts, but they refer to different aspects of sending SMS messages.

Bulk SMS:

  • Bulk SMS refers to the practice of sending a large volume of SMS messages to a predefined group of recipients simultaneously.
  • This can be used for various purposes, such as marketing campaigns, announcements, or notifications, where the same message is sent to multiple recipients.
  • Bulk SMS does not necessarily imply that the messages are lengthy; it simply involves sending a high quantity of messages in a single operation.

Multipart SMS:

  • Multipart SMS, on the other hand, specifically refers to the segmentation of a single, long message into multiple parts for transmission.
  • This is done because standard SMS has a character limit (often 160 characters), and when a message exceeds this limit, it is split into segments to be sent individually.
  • Multipart SMS is used to ensure that longer messages are successfully delivered, with the receiving device reassembling the segments to display the complete message.

FAQs

How can sending long text messages benefit my business communication strategy?

Sending long text messages enhances business communication by allowing for more detailed and comprehensive information delivery. Learn how this approach can elevate your communication strategy, offering clarity and convenience in conveying complex ideas.

What are the best practices for sending large SMS campaigns using multipart messages?

Discover essential tips and best practices for effectively sending large SMS campaigns using multipart messages. Learn about message segmentation, multipart message formatting, choosing the right character encoding, and conducting thorough testing to ensure successful delivery.

Can multipart SMS improve customer engagement and satisfaction?

Yes, multipart SMS can significantly improve customer engagement and satisfaction. By enabling businesses to convey detailed and comprehensive information in a single, seamless message, multipart SMS enhances the overall customer experience. Customers receive clear and coherent messages, avoiding the need for multiple fragmented texts. This approach not only demonstrates efficiency but also fosters positive interactions, leading to increased satisfaction.

Is it possible to send a single message to multiple recipients?

In the SMS standard, there are two main types of messages: Point-to-Point and Point-to-Multipoint (cell broadcast).
For regular users, access is typically limited to Point-to-Point messages, which involve direct communication between two mobile devices. Regardless of whether the same text is sent to different recipients, each SMS is treated as a separate message. Point-to-Multipoint messages, however, are utilized by mobile network operators to broadcast network-related information to multiple recipients simultaneously, such as time and location updates. This feature is not accessible to standard users, and only operators can initiate such broadcasts. In the Ozeki NG SMS Gateway, users can specify multiple phone numbers when composing a message in the Ozeki SMS Client. Even when specifying multiple phone numbers, the messages will still be sent separately to the mobile service provider. This functionality allows users to send a message to several recipients at once, similar to using “cc” (carbon copy) for additional senders in the message. It's worth noting that this capability is specific to the Ozeki NG SMS Gateway and may not be available in other SMS platforms or standard SMS protocols.

How can I send longer text? What are concatenated SMS messages?

When it comes to sending longer text via SMS, the standard SMS message has a strict limit of 140 bytes (which translates to 160 characters if using 7-bit character encoding for English alphabets). However, there’s a clever solution called concatenated SMS (also known as long SMS or multipart SMS technology) that allows you to overcome this limitation. In summary, concatenated SMS ensures that your extended messages reach their destination intact, even when they exceed the standard SMS size. Ozeki NG SMS Gateway can send messages longer than the standard limit by breaking them into smaller parts and putting them back together seamlessly. This automatic SMS segmentation and reassembly ensures your messages reach recipients even if they exceed the character limit.

What kind of SMS messages can you send?

SMS messages come in a few flavours, depending on what you want to send:

  • Standard Text Message: This is the classic SMS, limited to 160 characters and uses basic alphabet characters.
  • Long Text (Multipart SMS): Need more than 160 characters? This message gets split into parts and sent as multiple SMS messages.
  • International Characters (Unicode SMS): Sending messages with characters beyond the basic alphabet (like accents or emojis)? Use Unicode SMS, which allows up to 70 characters. Similar to long text messages, longer Unicode messages will be split into multiple parts.

Special Features: Standard SMS can also have some features:

  • FLASH SMS: Makes the message appear right away on the recipient's phone, even if it's locked.
  • Icon Display: Triggers icons on the recipient's phone, like a voicemail notification.
  • Binary SMS: This type goes beyond text and can carry things like ringtones, wallpapers, or even mobile browser settings.
  • For a complete list: Check out the "SMS Message Type" page (if available).

What are long (multipart) SMS messages, and how are they handled?

Standard SMS messages are limited to a maximum of 160 characters, utilizing the 7-bit GSM alphabet. This character limitation may be insufficient for conveying more complex messages. In such scenarios, Multipart Messaging provides a solution.

Functionality of Multipart Messaging:

  • Segmentation: When a message exceeds the 160-character limit, the sending device intelligently segments the text into smaller sections that adhere to the standard SMS length.
  • Transmission: Each segment is then transmitted as a separate SMS message through the mobile network.
  • Reassembly: Upon receipt, the recipient's device performs message reassembly. It combines the individual segments based on pre-defined sequencing information within the messages themselves, presenting the complete message to the user.

It's important to note that each segment of a multipart message is considered a distinct SMS. Consequently, the overall cost of sending a multipart message is typically higher than that of a standard SMS.

The Ozeki NG SMS Gateway simplifies the process of sending and receiving multipart messages. It seamlessly handles:

  • Segmentation of outgoing messages exceeding the character limit
  • Reassembly of incoming multipart messages for proper display
This ensures the reliable transmission and presentation of even lengthy messages within the SMS framework.

Summary

In the realm of mobile messaging, the significance of multipart SMS becomes evident when aiming to convey detailed information, emergency notifications, and financial transactions. The benefits extend beyond conventional communication, embracing enhanced clarity, convenience in sharing complex ideas, and a cost-effective approach. Ozeki NG SMS Gateway plays a pivotal role by adeptly handling multipart messages, ensuring seamless segmentation for outgoing messages and efficient reassembly for incoming multipart SMS. From unlocking the potential of GSM and Unicode to providing practical insights on sending large SMS, this comprehensive guide equips users with the tools to navigate the complexities of mobile messaging.

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