{"id":591,"date":"2019-06-15T15:02:03","date_gmt":"2019-06-15T05:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developers.messagemedia.com\/?p=591"},"modified":"2019-06-15T15:02:03","modified_gmt":"2019-06-15T05:02:03","slug":"how-a-single-whitespace-can-triple-your-sms-cost","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/messagemedia.com\/au\/blog\/how-a-single-whitespace-can-triple-your-sms-cost\/","title":{"rendered":"How a single whitespace can triple your cost"},"content":{"rendered":"

With SMS messages, there\u2019s a lot more than what meets the eye. \u00a0Your message doesn\u2019t directly pass through the carrier as plain-text; it gets encoded prior to being sent into one of the many different standards.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The most popular standard of encoding is referred to as GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and contains all Latin characters, digits and several special characters<\/a>. An SMS sent using the GSM alphabet can contain up to 160 characters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the Unicode UCS-2 standard which allows you to go beyond the GSM character sets in order to support a wide range of languages and technical symbols. For instance, if you\u2019d like to send an emoji, you can do so, but it will be sent as a UCS-2 message. If you send an SMS message that contains even a single UCS-2 character, the length per message is reduced to 70 characters.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now, why am I telling you all of this? Take a look at this table:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
U+2018<\/td>\n\u2018<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+2019<\/td>\n\u2019<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+02BB<\/td>\n\u02bb<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+02C8<\/td>\n\u02c8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+02BC<\/td>\n\u02bc<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+02BD<\/td>\n\u02bd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+02B9<\/td>\n\u02b9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+201B<\/td>\n\u201b<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+FF07<\/td>\n\uff07<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+00B4<\/td>\n\u00b4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+02CA<\/td>\n\u02ca<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+0060<\/td>\n`<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+02CB<\/td>\n\u02cb<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+275B<\/td>\n\u275b<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+275C<\/td>\n\u275c<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+0313<\/td>\n\u0313<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+0314<\/td>\n\u0314<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

The table above illustrates the majority of the apostrophes in the UCS-2 character set. Wait, it gets better. The below table shows the different whitespaces that exist in the UCS-2 character set.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
U+2004<\/td>\nwhitespace: three-per-em space<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+2005<\/td>\nwhitespace: four-per-em space<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+2006<\/td>\nwhitespace: six-per-em space<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+2007<\/td>\nwhitespace: figure space<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+2008<\/td>\nwhitespace: punctuation space<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+2009<\/td>\nwhitespace: thin space<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+200A<\/td>\nwhitespace: hair space<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+202F<\/td>\nnarrow no-break space<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U+205F<\/td>\nmedium mathematical space<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Often these characters \u2013 an apostrophe (\u275b), or a Unicode whitespace \u2013 slip in and are hard to identify and eventually cause your message to split. Remember how a message which is encoded in UCS-2 has a maximum of 70 characters? Well if you were to send a message with 150 GSM-7 compatible characters and a single USC-2 character, then your message will be split into 3 messages leading to 3 outgoing messages against your account and thus tripling the cost.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Enter Character Converter. This feature re-interprets the \u2018unusual\u2019 characters as one that\u2019s supported via GSM-7 \u2013 the characters won\u2019t be exact but will more than communicate the original intent. Best part? It automatically detects and changes the characters for you once it\u2019s turned on and will ensure that the maximum number of characters are fit into your SMS.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be fooled by innocent-looking UCS-2 characters. Be wise and aware of where your money is being spent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":8915,"menu_order":177,"template":"page-blog-v2.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"popular":false,"coming_soon":false,"link":"","footnotes":""},"blog_category":[37],"class_list":["post-591","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","blog_category-developers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow a single whitespace can triple your cost - Sinch MessageMedia Australia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With SMS messages, there\u2019s a lot more than what meets the eye. Your message doesn\u2019t directly pass through the carrier as plain-text; it gets encoded prior to being sent into one of the many different standards. 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