SMS Multi-part Messages

When your SMS message includes Unicode characters, it's essential to note that each message is limited to 70 characters. If your message contains 690 characters, for instance, each customer will receive 10 separate messages. Consequently, the TPS (transactions per second) requirement for this deployment would need to be 10 times higher to accommodate the increased message volume. Failing to allocate the necessary TPS can directly impact message delivery.

Above is a comparison screenshot showing how an SMS message with simple Text and Unicode text calculates the message parts. The Simple Text message is showing 2 parts and Unicode is showing 4 parts.

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Please note that Unicode" messages consume extra characters, potentially resulting in more message parts, which could increase the cost of the SMS deployment. It's worth noting that different telecom operators may treat certain Unicode characters differently. For example, some operators may treat the pound symbol as normal text, while others may categorize it as Unicode.

In cases where the target group is extensive and the schedule is relatively short, there's a risk that the deployment may not be able to deliver messages to all recipients within the designated timeframe. The deployment might stop once the scheduled duration has elapsed.

In case the messages cannot be delivered within the scheduled end time then the remaining messages will be marked as abandoned in reports with a status as calendar timeout.

If a recipient receives only 5 out of 10 part messages (partial delivery) then the recipient will be able to read partial SMS content. The remaining parts will be marked as undelivered in reports.

How to calculate the required TPS for a deployment?

To calculate the required TPS for a deployment you can use the below formula.

Required TPS = TPS Setting x 60 x 60

For example, if your router's TPS is set at 10 and the Target Group size is 100,000 then the calculation would be 10 x 60 x 60, which equals 3600 messages per hour. To push 100,00 contacts:

Expected schedule to complete the deployment = Target Group size / Required TPS

You would need approximately 28 hours to push the 100,000 Target Group. In the case of multi-part SMS messages, the required TPS should be calculated by multiplying the Required TPS result by the number of message parts being sent.

You can input the calculated required TPS when creating the deployment. If the entered TPS exceeds the router's TPS limit, a warning message will be displayed during the deployment creation process. In such cases, it's advisable to reach out to L2 for guidance on how to proceed further.

For example, in the below screen, a user has calculated the expected TPS as 100 and entered the value. However, the router's TPS limit is set to 80. Hence a warning message is displayed.