This article explains some of the basic rules that will help you understand how many SMS you're sending in Parent Hub. If after reading you find yourself fascinated to learn more about SMS, Wikipedia will tell you all you might wish to know!
Rule 1: 160 characters = 1 SMS.
This is not a Parent Hub setting but instead a 'feature' of the SMS service.
Rule 2: You can send one message across multiple SMS
You can write messages that are longer than 160 characters but when this happens, your message is sent as multiple SMS.
Luckily most modern handsets handle this nicely, stitching the parts of the message back together so it feels as though you're receiving just one long message.
Rule 3: Attachments use up 70 characters
In Parent Hub you can still send attachments (letters and pictures etc.) to parents who are receiving SMS. When this happens we add a secure web link and a unique code to the end of the SMS, which parents click to view your attachments.
The combination of the web link, code and a brief description totals 70 characters and so you'll see the character count go up by 70 when you add your first attachment. Any additional attachments you add don't affect the character count.
Rule 4: The maximum number of characters you can send by SMS is 960
The SMS protocol only permits up to 960 characters (6 SMS) for a single message, but Parent Hub still enables you to create messages longer than this. If your message is longer than 960 characters, we include a secure web link at the end of the SMS that allows parents to read the remainder of the message online.
Rule 5: Some characters and keystrokes count for double
Alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9) count for 1 character each but there are a few characters and keystrokes that actually consume 2 characters in an SMS. These are:
- Hitting enter to add a line break into your message.
- Most non-Roman symbols (e.g. Arabic or Chinese).
- The Euro symbol (€).
- Other "non-GSM" characters like curly brackets { }.
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