Hi, Humans. How may we help you?

  1. Home page
  2. Return to search
  3. Zenvia Customer Cloud
  4. 08. FAQ
Rules for sending SMS messages
4 min
Created by Leonora Alves on 2/16/2024 7:26 PM
Updated by Leonora Alves on 3/8/2024 4:21 PM

The first step to send an SMS message in Zenvia Customer Cloud is to write the message. The standard text length for an SMS is 160 characters; however, this quantity can be larger through concatenated messages, meaning the delivery of several messages together in a single SMS to the recipient. The message will be fragmented into the necessary number of submissions to send the entire content.

For messages to be sent, there are rules regarding the character limit available for each type of SMS sending (in a single message or concatenated). This article explains how these rules work.

⚠️ Attention:

  • For sending concatenated messages, it is necessary to contact our customer service team and request that your account be enabled for this type of sending.
  • The message sending feature is available only for users with the Operator, Admin, or SysAdmin profiles.

Rules for sending in a single SMS

An SMS message can have up to 160 simple characters, i.e., without special characters. If exceeded, the message is not sent.

Special characters reduce the SMS character limit from 160 to 70. Characters that are considered special and can only be sent in accented messages are: çÇáéíóúýÁÉÍÓÚÝàèìòùÀÈÌÒÙãõñäëïöüÿÄËÏÖÜÃÕÑâêîôûÊÎÔÛºª°“NBSP”

Additionally, double spaces and paragraphs will always be replaced by a single space.

The use of variables in the message does not allow an exact count of the number of characters since they are processed in the broadcast Configuration step.

Rules for sending in two or more SMS (concatenated)

When exceeding the limit of 160 characters in messages without accents, they are divided and billed in two or more SMS. Each part of the message contains up to 152 characters because there is a reserve of eight characters to identify the parts that make up the message. This identification is necessary for devices to interpret it as a single message.

In accented messages, each part of the message can contain up to 66 characters because four of these will be reserved to identify the parts that make up the message.

As mentioned, the use of variables in the message does not allow an exact count of the number of characters. However, for concatenated messages, a warning about the uncertainty of the character limit is displayed, and it is also possible to send in two or more SMS.

💡 Tip: All submissions with variables must be made via file or using previously added contacts and groups.

There you go! Now you are familiar with the SMS channel message rules.