Understanding SMS Fragments on the Engage Consult Platform


SMS Fragments Explained


What are SMS Fragments?

When you send a text message via SMS (Short Message Service), it's important to know that there's a limit to how many characters can be sent in a single message. A standard SMS message contains up to 160 characters. If your message exceeds this limit, it gets split into smaller parts called "fragments." These fragments are then reassembled by the recipient’s mobile device to display the complete message.


Why do SMS Fragments Matter?


Using SMS fragments efficiently is crucial for both cost management and ensuring that your messages are received correctly. Here’s why:

  • Cost Efficiency: Each SMS fragment counts as a separate message. Sending a long message that gets split into multiple fragments can increase your costs significantly.
  • Message Integrity: While modern devices can reassemble fragments seamlessly, there’s always a small risk that messages might arrive out of order or partially if the network is unstable.


How Are SMS Messages Split?


When an SMS exceeds the 160-character limit, it’s split into multiple fragments, each containing a part of the original message. For example, if your message is 200 characters long, it will be split into two fragments:


  • The first fragment will contain the first 160 characters.
  • The second fragment will contain the remaining 40 characters.


Special Characters and Encoding


The character limit for a single SMS can change depending on the type of characters used:


  • Standard GSM Characters: These include most Latin letters, numbers, and a variety of punctuation marks. When using only these characters, the limit is 160 characters per message.
  • Unicode Characters: If your message includes special characters (such as emojis or characters from non-Latin alphabets), the message is encoded in Unicode. This reduces the character limit to 70 characters per message.


Practical Examples


  • Short Message (No Fragmentation Needed):
    • Message: "Your appointment is confirmed for 3 PM."
    • Characters: 40
    • Fragments: 1
  • Long Message (Fragmentation Occurs):
    • Message: "Thank you for contacting the practice. Please remember to bring your identification documents to your appointment tomorrow at 9 AM. We look forward to seeing you!"
    • Characters: 162
    • Fragments: 2 (First fragment: 160 characters, Second fragment: 2 characters)


Tips for Managing SMS Length


To optimise your use of SMS and minimise costs:


  • Keep It Concise: Aim to keep your messages under 160 characters.
  • Avoid Special Characters: Stick to standard GSM characters when possible to avoid reducing the character limit.
  • Test Your Messages: Before sending out bulk SMS, test a few messages to see how they are split into fragments.


How Engage Consult Helps


Engage Consult provides tools to help you manage your SMS communications effectively:


  • Character Counter: As you type your message, the platform displays the character count and how many fragments your message will use.
  • Message Preview: See a preview of how your message will appear once sent, ensuring clarity and coherence.


SMS costs


Engage Health Systems has no intention to commercialise the already expensive SMS charges so we will only be re charging you the price we pay for the SMS which as of 01/04/24 is £0.021p


We will bill you separately for any SMS you send at cost (2.1p/fragment) on an ad-hoc according to your usage, usually around every 5000 messages

To give you an idea, 5000 SMS message fragments sent with Engage would cost £105+VAT


Cost-Free Alternatives to SMS with Engage


Engage Health Systems provides multi-channel patient messaging. If you would prefer to avoid SMS costs, you can use Engage Messaging by sending messages to the patient portal or sending emails free of charge. No matter which communication channel you select; Engage, email, or SMS,  If your patients have downloaded the Engage App, we will always send a free push notification by default which notifies the patient that they have a message waiting for them in the App/portal.


Two way communication


While we cannot allow a response from the patient via an SMS, we offer full two-way messaging via our secure Engage message system (these offer unlimited characters, attachments, questionnaires and appointment booking links). Patients can be notified about the Engage message using SMS (which would incur a charge as above) or email and you will have the option to allow the patient to reply or not.


Speak to your ICB or Health Board about SMS arrangements


In some cases ICBs or Health Boards are covering the cost of SMS by providing suppliers with SMS functionality via a BT HTTPS API. They provide a username and password to the suppliers which is then applied to each practice with that supplier, in this case the supplier would be Engage. This gives the practices the freedom to send SMS messages without having to pay for each SMS fragment themselves. Instead, the cost of SMS is directed to the ICB or Health Board, who will be billed for the SMS you send. They can track the number of SMS you send by adding your practice code to the bill.


A BT HTTPS API account would cost the ICB or Health Board approx. £53.19 per month and would cover every practice in the ICB or Health Board. This would simply be applied to the ICB or Health Board’s existing account. If you would like to use SMS with Engage but would like to avoid the cost, it is well worth asking your ICB or Health Board if they are able to request a BT HTTP API for the use of Engage. 



Push Notifications through the NHS App


We are delighted to announce that we have been selected to be included in the first round of assurance for using NHS Notify, which allows us to utilise NHS App push notifications. This will give you an alternative solution to SMS, meaning a reduction or no more expensive SMS invoices.  For clinical safety reasons Engage Health Systems have enabled a fall-back system (using the notification method selected - email or SMS) in the event the message has not been read after a certain time period.


Conclusion


Understanding SMS fragments is essential for effective communication through the Engage Consult platform. By keeping your messages concise and mindful of character limits, you can manage costs and ensure that your messages are received as intended. For any further questions or assistance, our support team is here to help.

Feel free to reach out to our support team if you have any questions or need further assistance with using SMS on Engage Consult.


If you'd like training on the messaging services we provide please email training@engagehealth.uk