Users on ALICE Guest Messaging will now have insight as to how many characters and segments their SMS messages containView the number of characters and segments of any SMS message as it is being created in ALICE. (SMS messages only)
Character count - the sum of the numbers, letters, spaces, and special characters the SMS message contains.
Segment Count - the number of separate messages that will be sent via SMS. Messages with a character count greater than 160 will be sent in multiple segments.
🔐 User Type & Roles
This feature is available for all Guest Messaging usersTo view message character counts, the user must have at lease Employee User Type access
The user must also have the following settings within “Roles” enabled:
Access to “SMS/Chat” tab
Access to “Add,” the Guest SMS Facility
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Consider also granting access to “View”, “Edit”, “Close” depending on the tasks each user will be responsible for performing. |
Things to Consider
SMS (Short Messaging Service) messages are limited to can contain a maximum of 160 characters per segment. This is not a new ALICE limitation, we are just exposing the ability to count and see characters and Use the character counter to view when a message exceeds the 160 character count and will be sent as multiple segments.
Segment limit is not controlled by ALICE but through the third-party software we use for Guest Messaging, Twilio. For more information on segments and their encoding technology, please see this article from Twilio.
The segment counter is not a notification of user error and the message can still be sent successfully to customers in multiple segments. The screenshot below shows 1 message delivered in multiple segments.
As a best practice, keep text messages as brief as possible so that messages are clear and concise for the guests receiving them.
⚙ Steps
The Character and Segment Counter feature works automatically is located in the bottom right hand corner and will automatically begin counting as a user is crafting a text message to send:message is crafted.
In the ALICE Chat/SMS tab, navigate to a conversation and start typing a new message:.
As you type in more letters, numbers, and emojis
As the message is entered into the field, the character count will increase. Character count is the first number , as highlighted here:as shown below and is the sum of any numbers, letters, spaces, special characters or emojis used.
Any message containing more than 160 characters is split into multiple segments. You can see the segment count here:
Having multiple segments for a message is not necessarily bad. Just know that some guests may be receiving their messages segmented via SMS, like this:
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A segment counter will appear above the character counter.
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Feedback? Please send us an email to support@aliceapp.com. We’d love to hear from you! |