You can use SmartMoving's SMS templates to draft and send quotes, notifications, and documents to your customers or staff via text message. Billing for SMS messages is usage-based, so costs are determined by the number of segments you use.
Segments
Each text message that you send and receive consists of segments, and each segment is approximately 160 characters long. That means if you have a 300-character message, it will be 2 segments long.
Each month, SmartMoving gives you 1,000 free SMS segments. But once you exceed your available segments, you'll be charged $29 per 1,000 overage segments you use. Any additional segments that are purchased that go unused will be rolled over to the next month. If the additional segments are not used in the next month, they will continue to roll over until they have been used.
For example, if in one month you use 1,500 segments. The first 1000 segments are free and the next 1000 segments will cost you $29 on your next bill. However, the 500 unused segments will then roll over to the next month and are available for use.
View SMS Usage
To see your text message usage, go to Settings > Company Settings > Text Message Usage.
Current Month
When viewing the current month, you'll see the Current Usage on the left and the forecast for your projected usage on the right.
Current usage: This shows the number of inbound, outbound, and total SMS segments that have been sent and received so far this month.
Forecast: Shows the total number of segments your company is estimated to send by the end of the month. This forecast is based on your month-to-date usage and may vary from your final usage.
Previous months
When viewing past months, you'll see the Actual Usage that breaks down the actual number of segments that were used that month.
The Breakdown
Below the SMS Usage Panel, you will find a breakdown of your usage. You are able to use this information to view how many segments you have rolled over from the previous month and the number of additional segment add-ons your company has used.
Current Month
Projected Segments: The total number of segments that your company is forecasted to use this month.
Free Segments: The number of segments that are included in your SmartMoving subscription.
Previous Month Segment Rollover: The number of segments that have rolled over from the previous months and are available for use.
Additional 1,000 Segment Add-on: The number of segments that have been added to your SmartMoving subscription, so far this month.
Price Per Segment Add-on: The amount that each additional segment costs.
Projected Cost: The forecasted cost for SMS usage for your company this month.
Previous Month
Segments Used: The total number of segments that your company used that month.
Free Segments: The number of segments that were included in your SmartMoving subscription that month.
Previous Month Segment Rollover: The number of segments that had rolled over from previous months and were available for use that month.
Additional 1,000 Segment Add-ons: The number of additional segments purchased that month.
Price Per Segment Add-on: The cost per additional segment that was purchased.
Cost: The total cost for SMS usage for your company that month.
How to Lower SMS Usage
You can check and modify how many estimated segments each of your text message templates requires. The number of segments required is determined by the length of the message as well as the number and size of tokens used in the message. The use of emojis or other special characters will also increase the number of segments in an SMS message. Removing emojis or lowering the number of characters will decrease the number of segments used each time that template is sent. You also are able to modify notifications to be sent via email instead of SMS, to conserve your segments.
Modify Your SMS Message Templates.
Step 1: On the Text Message Usage page, click View Template Segments in the Current Usage box.
A window will populate showing a list of your SMS templates in descending order by the highest number of segments. In the right-hand column, you are able to view the estimated number of segments that each template contains.
Step 2: Modify your SMS templates by clicking on the name of the template. If you make changes to the template, be sure to click Save Changes when you're done.
Note: An estimated number of segments is provided at the bottom right of the text box to provide length guidance.
Step 3: You can also view and edit any of the following SMS templates that are found in the communication section:
Crew job notification: Go to Settings > Dispatch > Crew Job Notifications
Sales outreach messages: Go to Settings > Sales > Sales Templates and scroll down to the SMS section. All of these templates can be viewed and modified.
Customer messages: Go to Settings > Communication > Email / SMS Templates. You can click any of these templates and select the SMS Editor to view or adjust the template.
Modify Notifications to be Sent via Email
Step 1: Navigate to Settings -> Communication -> Email & SMS Templates.
Step 2: Select a template that you would like to modify by clicking on the name of the template.
Step 3: From the drop-down menu adjust the notification to be sent by email only.
FAQs
Where are all my SMS messages stored?
You can view all your sent and received message details in your Twilio account.
Where do I pay for my SMS charges?
You can view and pay your SMS charges in Chargebee.
What happens to my segments if I don't use them all by the end of the month?
Any unused paid segments roll over to the next month. The 1,000 free segments provided by SmartMoving each month do not roll over.
Why are my SMS messages being flagged as spam?
SMS messages that contain high numbers of segments have a high likelihood of being flagged as spam by the carrier.
Why are my templates that are less than 160 characters still showing a high number of estimated segments will be used?
Using emojis or other special characters will increase the number of segments that are used for the message.