SMS Shortcodes
  • A911 TylerA911 Tyler
    Active911 is moving to shortcodes for SMS messaging! Sending thousands of SMS messages a day has caused calls to be dropped by various providers(*cough*Verizon*cough*) probably because they got marked as spam messages. As a result, we have joined the shortcode movement. What does this mean to Active911 users? In means less messages potentially being marked as spam and the ability for us at Active911 to see if the message was delivered successfully. If anyone is having a particularly bad time with their SMS users, let us know and we will switch you immediately. For those of you that we have already switched, you'll see that the call comes from a different number. For those who notice the difference, let us know what you think.
    Active911, Inc
    support@active911.com
    https://www.active911.com/Contact
  • Carl B.Carl B.
    What a difference the switch has made. Messages are coming in a lot faster now for the SMS users.

    Tyler, any insight on character length limits for messaging? We seem to have messages being cut off sporadically.
  • Joseph S.Joseph S.
    Carl, most carriers limit messages to 160 characters.  If you are seeing messages cut shorter than this, check phone settings or call your carrier.  I seem to recall that Blackberries tend to default to something much shorter (120 characters, 90 characters, something like that) but that it can be corrected somewhere in the phone settings.

    The Active911 SMS messages we send are formatted for the 160 character limit.  If you are not getting all your characters, it should be resolvable but you may need to call your carrier. :)
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