The default SMS character encoding supporting most Latin characters with a maximum of 160 characters per message.
Why GSM 7-bit Matters
GSM 7-bit is the most efficient SMS encoding available, packing the most characters into the fewest segments, but it only covers the GSM default alphabet: standard Latin characters and a limited set of symbols. The moment a message needs a character outside that set, an emoji, a regional script, even some punctuation like curly quotes, the whole message has to fall back to Unicode encoding at a lower per-segment limit.
How GSM 7-bit Works
GSM 7-bit packs each character into 7 bits instead of a full byte, fitting 160 characters into 140 bytes per segment. A message using only the GSM default alphabet is billed at the 160-character single-segment threshold; anything outside that alphabet forces the message into Unicode, dropping the limit to 70 characters per segment.
How SMPPCenter Uses This
SMPPCenter uses GSM 7-bit encoding by default whenever a message body only contains supported characters, keeping segment count, and therefore cost, as low as possible, and only falls back to Unicode when the content actually requires it.
Related Terms
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Client Feedback
What Our Clients Say
Our clients run regulated, high-volume messaging infrastructure and prefer not to be named publicly. These testimonials are shared with permission while keeping commercially sensitive details confidential.
We needed complete control over our messaging infrastructure instead of relying on a hosted provider. The platform has delivered excellent performance and reliability.
The platform has been reliable for business-critical messaging. Multi-connection support and detailed logging have made daily operations much easier.
The delivery reports and routing controls give us the visibility we were looking for. The system has integrated well with our internal applications.
We evaluated several messaging platforms before selecting SMPP Center. The deployment flexibility and API capabilities matched our enterprise requirements.
Names and company details are withheld at our clients' request. This is common among telecom providers, SMS aggregators, fintech companies, and enterprises that consider their messaging infrastructure commercially sensitive.