Texting hasn't changed much since SMS technology was rolled out for consumer use in the mid-late 90’s. Remember sending a message on your t9 flip phone, only for it to split up into 2 separate texts? That's because your message length was actually 2 segments!

So what is a segment?

Think of a segment like a unit of measurement. One segment is equal to roughly 160 GSM-7 characters.

How do I know how many segments my message is?

Strive makes it easy to understand how many segments you're sending with our segment calculator. You can find the segment and character calculator underneath the compose window.

Strive will calculate your character and segment count as you type, so you can always tell how many segments your message is equal to. 

Once your message exceeds a segment, the segment calculator will increase and the character calculator will reset. When the character calculator resets it returns the number of characters you have left before you exceed another segment.‍

How do dynamic fields impact my segment volume?‍

When you add dynamic fields, Strive estimates your character and segment count based on the average size of the data provided for that dynamic field. 

With dynamic fields, the real character count will vary based on your member data.

What are special characters?

Non GSM-7 encoded characters are recognized as special characters. To see how your characters are encoded, use this encoding parser tool. Non-GSM characters are highlighted in red.

If characters like ellipses (...) or apostrophes (') are encoded as special characters, they can be replaced directly in the Strive compose window or via the encoding parser tool. Strive will default to GSM-7 encoding when characters are entered directly into the compose window. Removing formatting in word processors will not change how characters are encoded.

How will multiple segments be delivered?

Multi-segment messages will appear on a supporter’s phone as a single text block. For example, if your message is 2 segments long the message will still appear as a single message on a supporter's mobile device.

Note: Older devices (that are not smart phones) may still break up your multi-segment messages upon delivery. This varies, depending on device's operating system.

How are segments billed?

Strive uses segments to calculate your monthly invoice. Segments will be displayed in the quantity (qty.) column for SMS segments line item in each month's invoice. The volume of segments you send each month will determine your monthly balance.