Bulk SMS comes with a lot of jargon. This glossary explains the terms you’ll meet when choosing a provider, integrating an API or planning a campaign.
Terms A–Z
- A2P SMS
- Application-to-person messaging: messages sent by a system to people, such as OTPs and alerts.
- Alphanumeric sender ID
- A brand name (up to 11 characters) shown instead of a number. One-way. See sender IDs.
- API
- The interface your software uses to send SMS. See the bulk SMS API.
- Bulk SMS
- Sending the same or personalised message to many people at once.
- Concatenated SMS
- A long message split into parts and rejoined on the phone. Each part is billed.
- Delivery report (DLR)
- The network’s confirmation that a message reached the handset. See delivery reports.
- DND (Do Not Disturb)
- A subscriber setting that blocks promotional messages.
- E.164
- The international number format; in Kenya, 2547XXXXXXXX or 2541XXXXXXXX.
- GSM-7
- The standard SMS character set: 160 characters per SMS. See GSM-7 vs Unicode.
- IVR
- Interactive voice response: automated phone menus. See IVR.
- Keyword
- A word customers text to a short code, such as JOIN or VOTE.
- Long code
- A standard-length phone number used to send or receive SMS.
- MNO
- Mobile network operator, such as Safaricom, Airtel or Telkom.
- MO / MT
- Mobile-originated (sent by a subscriber) and mobile-terminated (received by a subscriber) messages.
- Opt-in / opt-out
- A subscriber’s consent to receive messages, and their request to stop.
- OTP
- One-time password, used to verify logins and transactions. See OTP best practices.
- Premium rate SMS
- Messages that charge the subscriber more than a normal SMS, shared with the service owner.
- Promotional SMS
- Marketing messages. Need consent and an opt-out. See transactional vs promotional.
- Sender ID registration
- Network approval for a brand name to be used as the sender.
- Short code
- A short number, usually five digits, that customers text. See short codes.
- Smishing
- Phishing by SMS. See SMS scams in Kenya.
- SMPP
- Short Message Peer-to-Peer, a protocol for high-volume SMS connections. See SMPP vs HTTP API.
- SMS gateway
- The service that connects software to mobile networks. See SMS gateway.
- Throughput
- How many messages per second a connection can send.
- Transactional SMS
- Messages a customer needs to use your service, such as receipts and OTPs.
- Two-way SMS
- Messaging where recipients can reply. See two-way SMS.
- Unicode (UCS-2)
- Character set used when a message contains emoji or special characters: 70 characters per SMS.
- USSD
- Menus reached by dialling codes like *384#, working on any phone. See USSD.
- Voice broadcast
- A recorded message delivered by automated call to many people. See voice SMS.
- Webhook / callback
- A URL your system exposes so a service can notify it, for example of a delivery report or payment.
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