Segment Details
The telco industry (carriers and providers), count text messages in "segments." Segments come from the SMS standard that was implemented in the 1990s, and is still in use today.
1 segment is 160 characters (using only a specific range of characters). When writing or receiving longer text messages, they are combined to appear as single messages, even if they contain several segments (up to 10 segments/1600 characters).
An example of a 1 segment message:
An example of a 2 segment message:
⚠️ Please note: Using emojis, some accented letters, or copying and pasting from a text editor may impact the character count or reduce how many total characters are allowed per segment. In these cases, character count may be reduced as low as 70 characters per segment.
Additionally, when sending messages that contain multiple segments, some of the character count will go towards combining the segments into one message. This means that a message on the border of 5 segments and 6 segments may end up being counted as 6 due to combining.
How can I find out how many segments I'm sending?
To verify how many segments are in your messages, you can easily find segment calculators online.
Users with access to the Dashboard can also get insights on how many segments are being sent/received, per Aircall Number, using the Overview Dashboard. Please note that only segments sent/received after January 22, 2024 (the date this metric was introduced) will be counted.