SMS FAQsUpdated 3 months ago
Which phone numbers that we offer have SMS capabilities?
We offer SMS and MMS functionality for the United States and Canada phone numbers only. UK, Australian, and German mobile numbers have SMS functionality, but no MMS can be sent through them.
What countries can I send and receive SMS messages from?
You can receive messages from all countries.
By default, you can send them to numbers for one of these countries:
Europe
Austria (+43)
Belgium (+32)
Czech Republic (+420)
Denmark (+45)
Faroe Islands (+298)
Finland/Aland Islands (+358)
France (+33)
Germany (+49)
Greece (+30)
Hungary (+36)
Iceland (+354)
Ireland (+353)
Italy (+39)
Luxembourg (+352)
Netherlands (+31)
Norway (+47)
Poland (+48)
Portugal (+351)
Romania (+40)
Slovakia (+421)
Spain (+34)
Sweden (+46)
Switzerland (+41)
United Kingdom (+44)
Vatican City (+379)
North America
Bahamas (+1-242)
Barbados (+1-246)
Bermuda (+1-441)
Costa Rica (+506)
Dominican Republic (+1-829, +1-809, +1-849)
Mexico (+52)
Puerto Rico (+1-787, +1-939)
Trinidad and Tobago (+1-868)
United States/Canada (+1)
Virgin Islands, U.S. (+1-340)
South America
Argentina (+54)
Brazil (+55)
Chile (+56)
Colombia (+57)
Africa
South Africa (+27)
Asia
Hong Kong (+852)
India (+91)
Japan (+81)
Korea, Republic of (+82)
Singapore (+65)
Oceania
Australia/Cocos/Christmas Island (+61)
Guam (+1-671)
New Zealand (+64)
For United Kingdom, you can now only send SMS messages from 10-digit (long code) UK numbers that have completed KYC registration. Since Q4 2024, UK numbers are no longer able to receive SMS messages from non-UK (international) 10-digital numbers.
If you need to send SMS messages to additional countries, you can reach out to our Support team and we may be able to expand access depending on the country.
How is opt-in handled?
It's important to note that you're responsible for using the text features in Gorgias' native SMS system in compliance with applicable laws. We currently don't have an automatic opt-in system where the customer is automatically asked if they'd like to start a conversation via SMS.
Our SMS provider, Twilio, provides Opt-out support, so if a customer sends "Stop", "Unsubscribe", "Cancel", or any other industry-standard opt-out language, you will no longer be able to respond to them until they resubscribe by replying "Start".
Is there a character limit?
The limitation for the length of the message is 1600 characters, however, if the message contains 1.600 characters, it'll be divided into 10 consecutive messages because each message can contain up to 160 characters, even though Gorgias allows 10x more.
What kinds of MMS messages can I send?
We currently allow the following file types: PNG, JPG, JPEG, and GIF. While we can't send or receive HEIC files, you'll be able to receive MMS messages sent from iPhone users as they'll automatically be converted into JPEGs from the users' devices.
We can't currently send or receive PDFs or other non-image file types.
How can I get SMS capabilities on a phone number I own on another platform?
Right now, you can only have SMS on phone numbers owned in Gorgias. If you have an existing number, you can port it over to our platform through the porting process.
Will we see read receipts for SMS?
No, we don't show read receipts for SMS.
Can we receive OTP SMS?
No, OTP SMS isn't received for security reasons.
Are Voice and SMS tickets counted towards my ticket limit?
A ticket will be counted as billable for helpdesk/SMS/Voice as long as there is a billable event related to each billing tracking.
Scenario | Helpdesk billable tickets | Voice billable tickets | SMS billable tickets |
---|---|---|---|
The ticket has 1 helpdesk message, 1 Voice call, and 1 SMS message. | 1 | 1 | 1 |
The ticket has 0 helpdesk messages, 1 Voice call, and 0 SMS messages. | 0 | 1 | 0 |
The ticket has 0 helpdesk messages, 0 Voice calls, and 1 SMS message. | 0 | 0 | 1 |