How much does it cost to send/receive text messages?
All U.S. to U.S. traffic, inbound and outbound, standard number or short code, is $0.01 per message. All other traffic (inbound to a Canadian number, from a U.S. number to an English mobile, etc) is $0.02 per message. There is also a monthly $3 cost for a U.S. SMS enabled number or a monthly $10 cost for a Canadian SMS enabled number. If you elect to use a short code, there are additional costs; skip ahead here for more information.
Can I send/receive text messages from anywhere in the world?
You are able to send text messages to any valid phone number anywhere in the world, except for some reserved codes (like 911 in the U.S.) and to short codes (short codes only accept text messages from wireless carriers). However, you need a U.S. or Canadian SMS long code or short code attached to your application to do so, as they are the only SMS-enabled numbers available at this time. This also means while you are able to receive text messages from anywhere, locations outside of the U.S. and Canada may incur additional charges for international texting.
If you are unable to send a text message to a valid destination, please let us know and we’ll work with the carrier to resolve the problem.
What's the difference between long codes and short codes?
Long codes are standard phone numbers like 1 (407) 555-0100. Short codes are the much smaller, 5-6 digit numbers you typically see for promotions/marketing, like "Text A to 55444 to vote for Billy McSingerguy".
When should I use short codes or long codes?
Long codes are intended only for person-to-person interaction. This includes normal texting between two people, group SMS applications that join multiple users together, or a forwarding application (someone sends your app a message, it forwards the message to your phone). There are content restrictions as well - you cannot transmit information related to political marketing (news is acceptable), promotion or facilitation of crime, alcohol, tobacco, guns/weapons, illegal drugs, pornography/sex/prostitution, violence/death, hate, gambling, religion, or specifically mentions a wireless carrier (even for parody).
Short codes, on the other hand, are open to all types of applications, though the same content restrictions apply. They do have stricter requirements in terms of the user experience, however. Applications using shortcodes must be Opt-In and must confirm via text that the user has opted in; they also need to respond to specific keywords like STOP and CANCEL to unsubscribe (as well as HELP). In addition, you need to predefine what your application will say and never deviate from it.
If an application is utilizing a long code for any other function besides those listed above, especially large volume marketing or promotions, there is potential for the traffic to be deemed inappropriate for a long code and blocked at the carrier level. Small applications without commercial orientation, like a personal reminder app, are unlikely to generate enough traffic to be flagged by the carriers, but larger applications with significant traffic should definitely consider a short code or risk having their application blocked.
Note that low volume application testing is also likely to be ignored; if you wanted to verify your Tropo application functioned properly before acquiring a short code, you could test utilizing a long code, but again, only if the traffic volume is minimal.
Are there any long code vs short code output restrictions?
Long codes are restricted by the carriers to 1 messages per second (60 per minute) per originating phone number. This cannot be increased.
Short codes can send up to 40 messages per second (2400 per minute).
Duplicate messages sent within one minute will also be filtered, for both long codes and short codes. A "duplicate message" is defined as the same to, from and message/body.
Short codes can only send text messages to the same country they're from - that means a U.S. short code can only send to U.S. numbers, Canadian to Canadian. Long codes are not restricted in this way.
Are there any inbound messaging restrictions?
There are no rate limitations on inbound traffic for long codes or short codes. This also means if you have a strictly inbound application, one that does not need to reply back via SMS when a text message is received, then you are unlikely to encounter any carrier difficulties.
How much does it cost to get a short code and how long does it take?
SMS short codes are available in the U.S. and Canada, and require approximately 90 days to register with the SMS carrier networks; there's an application process that we'll help you through, which starts by filling out this form. Costs include a $3000 USD setup fee and $750/month (prepaid in 3 month increments). Our $0.01/$0.02 per message rate applies to short codes, same as it does for 10-digit numbers. The short code you receive will be randomly assigned by the carriers; if you have a specific short code in mind, the monthly cost would be a bit higher.
I heard about two different kinds of short codes, Dedicated Short Codes and Shared Short Codes. What’s the difference?
Dedicated Short Codes are yours and yours alone, while Shared Short Codes are utilized by many companies with traffic differentiated by keywords. Tropo currently only offers Dedicated Short Codes, as Shared Short Codes do not work with all carriers and come with the risk that one of the companies/developers utilizing the code may transmit unacceptable traffic (such as pornographic advertisements), causing the short code to be blocked by the carrier, effectively killing all other applications that relied on the number.
Can I use a non-U.S. short code with Tropo?
We do have Canadian short codes available now.
Can I send a text message from Tropo to a short code?
No, short codes only accept traffic from wireless carriers.
Can my Tropo apps accept text messages FROM a short code?
Same general situation as sending to a short code - short codes can only deliver messages to mobile phones, and Tropo apps are not considered actual mobile phones. This can affect products that utilize a short code to send text messages, such as Skype.
Can a toll free number send or receive a text message?
Toll free numbers are not connected to the SMS system in the U.S. or Canada, so there is no current way to enable a toll-free number for SMS. Carriers that received an SMS message destined for a toll free number would not deliver it, as they have no mechanism for routing such messages.
Is it possible to receive notification when an SMS is delivered?
Currently Tropo does not have any delivery notification in place, but it is in the works.
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