Message Parts

Mobile phones can only send and receive messages in small chunks called parts. DiaryBook is the same and it is important to know that you are billed per part and not per message.

When a message is too long it gets broken in to parts and each part is sent separately. The receiving mobile phone puts the parts back together again to show a single message.

So when is a message too long? Unfortunately this depends on 2 things: the character set you're using and if the message needs to be broken in to parts. Let's start with the basic character set.

Basic Character Set

The maximum size of a message is 160 characters. If the message goes over this limit then it needs to be broken in to two or more parts. Each part has a maximum size of 153 characters before another part is needed.

For example the following message can be sent as one part:

So here is a message that uses the standard character set for SMS text messaging. It is exactly 160 characters long so it will not need to be broken in to parts

If we were to add a period (full-stop) at the end of this message it would become 161 characters long and so it would be sent in two parts. The first part contains the first 153 characters and the second part the rest.

part one

So here is a message that uses the standard character set for SMS text messaging. It is exactly 160 characters long so it will not need to be broken in t

part deux

o parts.

Advanced Character Set

If the character set is Unicode then the message limits are vastly reduced. The maximum size of a message in this case is 70 characters. If the message goes over this limit then it needs to be broken in to two or more parts. Each part has a maximum size of 67 characters before another part is needed.

For example the following message can be sent as one part:

This text uses the advanced character set and is 70 characters long 🙂

If we were to add a period at the end of this message it would become 71 characters long and so it would be sent in two parts. The first part contains the first 67 characters and the second part the rest.

part one

This text uses the advanced character set and is 70 characters lon

part deux

g 🙂.

For example the following message uses the basic character set and can be sent as one part:

So here is a message that uses the standard character set for SMS text messaging. It is exactly 160 characters long so it will not need to be broken in to parts

However, if we were to add a 🙂 then the whole message has to be sent using the advanced character set. Suddenly the message must be sent in 3 parts costing you 3 times the money