SMS Text Messaging from SN

michelek87
Kilo Expert

‎06-13-2014 12:42 PM

Had a couple questions about using SMS Text Messaging from SN and I can never get mine to work on my iPhone so...

 

1.   Is the limit 144 characters for a text message?   Is this controlled by SN or by the platform or carrier?

2.   What happens if the email sent via SMS Text is too long?   Does it just cut off the end of the message or does it break it into multiple messages to the user?

 

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks - Michele

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Community Alums
Not applicable

‎06-13-2014 01:08 PM

Typically text messages are limited to 160 characters, but sometimes 140. This was a limit by the guy who created text messaging based on its intended purpose. This is not something controlled by ServiceNow. ServiceNow actually sends the message to the carrier as an email. To account for the shorter format, there is an SMS alternate field for notifications to allow you to create a briefer message to send. For example, you might put a notice: "Important update on Incident #########. Check your email for details."



As for what happens if the message is too long, I think that also varies by carrier. Most messages I get on my phone seem to ignore any character limit except for messages from my mother, which always seem to break into multiple parts.



You could check to see what would happen by sending an email to your phone. Usually it has the format <phone number>@<sub-domain name>.<top-level domain> (for example, 15551231234@verizon.net). You can check on your provider's website if you are not sure. Send yourself a long message, and that should effectively replicate what you would get from a notification from ServiceNow.