Written for people who send
These explanations are written for the person planning a campaign or wiring up a signup flow, not for a standards committee.
50 terms
SMS glossary
Every term you will meet while running business messaging, explained without jargon.
- 50 terms
- Plain English
- No jargon
- Free to read
Why the words matter
Segments decide the cost, encoding decides the segments, and statuses decide what you can prove afterwards. Knowing the few terms that touch money and delivery saves the most time.
Getting started
Message support on Telegram at @exerioco. The account is usually open in under five minutes.
FAQ
Do I need to know all of this?
No. Support sets everything up for you. The glossary is here for when you want to understand what you are looking at.
How do I get an account?
Message support on Telegram at @exerioco and you are usually live in under five minutes.
Related pages
SMS segmentThe billing unit of a text message.Sender IDThe name or number shown as the sender.Alphanumeric sender IDA sender name made of letters.Delivery reportThe status that comes back per message.A2P messagingMessages sent by an application to a person.One time passwordA short code used once to verify someone.Two-factor authenticationA second proof of identity at login.GSM-7 alphabetThe standard character set for text messages.UCS-2 encodingThe encoding used for emoji and non latin text.Escape characterA character that counts twice.ThroughputHow many messages go out per second.Opt-inThe recipient's permission to be messaged.Opt-outThe recipient's request to stop.Short codeA short number used for high volume messaging.Long numberA standard phone number used for sending.Two-way SMSMessaging where the recipient can answer.Bulk SMSOne message sent to a whole list.Transactional SMSA message triggered by something the customer did.Promotional SMSA message that sells something.Flash SMSA message shown directly on screen.Concatenated SMSA long message joined into one.Delivery rateThe share of messages confirmed delivered.LatencyThe time between sending and arrival.API keyThe credential your system sends with.WebhookA status pushed to your system.Rate limitA ceiling on requests per second.Per segment pricingPaying for each part of a message.Prepaid balanceCredit held on the account before sending.Balance reservationMoney held while a send runs.Number formattingTurning local numbers into international ones.DeduplicationRemoving repeated numbers from a list.Suppression listNumbers that must never be messaged.Sender registrationApproving a sender name in advance.Message templateA reusable message with placeholders.Scheduled sendingQueuing a send for later.Quiet hoursTimes when marketing should not be sent.Failed statusA message that did not arrive.Pending statusA message still on its way.CSV importUploading a list from a spreadsheet.PersonalisationFilling in details per recipient.CampaignOne planned send to an audience.Conversion windowThe period where a message still works.Engagement rateHow many recipients acted.ChurnCustomers who stop buying.No-showA booking nobody turns up to.Cart abandonmentA basket left without checkout.Know your customerChecking who an account holder is.GDPREuropean data protection rules.Data retentionHow long records are kept.Audit logA record of who did what.
Start sending
Support on Telegram at @exerioco sets you up in under five minutes.