Metering Messages

Message Segments

Each incoming and outgoing SMS record displays as a single record in Salesforce. However, carrier charges apply to each message segment delivered to the recipient. Your recipients’ mobile carriers have different thresholds for determining message segment size. 

In most cases, 1 - 160 characters constitutes a single segment. For example a 50-character message will consume 1 message segment, and a 170-character message will consume 2 message segments. *If Unicode is used, message segment size is reduced to just 70 characters (info below).

Read more about our Consumption Standards & Texting 101: Message Segments.

Plain Text Messages

Use our in-app character counter in Conversation View or Bulk SMS Lightning as a quick reference.

Special Characters & Unicode

Adding an emoji, copy/pasted characters from external sources, or other special characters will convert your entire message to Unicode. Unicode is an international character encoding standard which provides a unique value for each character, making most characters accessible across platforms and devices. Unicode characters take up more digital space than plain text and will limit your message segments to just 70 characters each. 

Is there a character limit per text message?

You may include up to 1,600 characters per message. A 1,600-character message will consume at least 10 message segments - more if converted to Unicode.

Why is message segmentation important?

Consumption and Costs:

Message segment consumption is billed and monitored by way of message segment volume, not SMS records in Salesforce alone. When you send a text message using Mogli, a single SMS record will be created and stored within Salesforce, no matter the length or character count of the message. A single SMS record does not necessarily represent 1 message segment (unless it is 160 characters or fewer).

Your Recipients’ Experience:

Keep your texts short and sweet out of consideration for your recipients.
We’ve observed that shorter texts lead to higher response rates!

How do I monitor my message segments?

Mogli’s in-app character counter:

When typing your message in Mogli, look for the character counter beneath the text field. This character counter does not distinguish between Unicode and 7-bit characters.

Check your work by using a message segment calculator:

Use an external message segment calculator to detect for Unicode, which Salesforce may not detect. Beware that copy/pasting messages from external sources may yield higher character counts.

Automated emails from the Mogli team:

We’ll send you email notifications and a layout of options when you achieve 80%, 90%, and 100% of your allowable consumption.