{"id":2647,"date":"2023-01-18T09:44:55","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T09:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesmsworks.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2647"},"modified":"2023-12-15T10:47:26","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T10:47:26","slug":"unicode-character-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesmsworks.co.uk\/blog\/unicode-character-replacement\/","title":{"rendered":"Unicode Character Replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n

Unicode Character Replacement<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n

Unicode is a set of characters<\/a> <\/strong>that includes all the characters needed to allow you to send texts in any language. It also includes a wide range of symbols.<\/p>\n\n

But using unicode characters reduces the number of available characters in a single SMS message from 160 to just 70.<\/p>\n\n

So if a text inadvertently contains a unicode character you will end up using more text credits than you intended<\/strong>. This is fine if there\u2019s only a few but can be a costly mistake if you are sending many thousands.<\/p>\n

The comma and apostrophe are the most common culprits as there is almost no visible difference between the standard\u00a0 and Unicode versions.<\/p>\n\n

\"comma<\/p>\n\n

Here’s a selection of other unicode characters to watch out for.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n\n

We\u2019ve developed a Unicode replacement tool that solves this problem<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

If you activate the unicode replace filter, we’ll replace the characters defined in the table below before your message is sent.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

The table covers all of the most common unicode characters that are used by mistake.<\/p>\n

Be aware that any other unicode characters will not be changed, so your SMS may still be sent with a 70 character limit per message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Name<\/th>\nUnicode Character<\/th>\nReplacement<\/th>\nDescription<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
En Dash<\/td>\n\u2013<\/td>\n–<\/td>\nEn dash should be a hyphen<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Em Dash<\/td>\n\u2014<\/td>\n–<\/td>\nEm dash should be a hyphen<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Horizontal Bar<\/td>\n\u2015<\/td>\n–<\/td>\nHorizontal bar should be a hyphen<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Start Single Quote<\/td>\n\u2018<\/td>\n‘<\/td>\nStart single quote should be straight single quote<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
End Single Quote<\/td>\n\u2019<\/td>\n‘<\/td>\nStart single quote should be straight single quote<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Modifier Letter Apostrophe<\/td>\n\u02bc<\/td>\n‘<\/td>\nModifier letter apostrophe should be straight single quote<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Start Double Quotes<\/td>\n\u201c<\/td>\n“<\/td>\nStart double quotes should be straight double quotes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
End Double Quotes<\/td>\n\u201d<\/td>\n“<\/td>\nEnd double quotes should be straight double quotes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Low Double Quotes<\/td>\n\u201e<\/td>\n“<\/td>\nLow double quotes should be straight double quotes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
High Double Quotes<\/td>\n\u201f<\/td>\n“<\/td>\nHigh double quotes should be straight double quotes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

You can also use our unicode detector tool to identify unusual characters<\/a><\/strong> before submitting.<\/span><\/p>\n

How to activate the unicode replacement tool<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Log into your account and go to SMS Credits<\/strong> on the left, then select the Cost Saving<\/strong> tab.

\"Enable<\/p>\n

Scroll down and switch on Enable Unicode Replacement.<\/p>\n

How much could I save using the unicode replacement tool?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Example<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you sent a text message to 1000 people that was 150 characters long and it contained a single unicode comma, then you would use 3 credits for each message, rather than 1.<\/span>
<\/span>
<\/span>Sending 1000 texts at our standard SMS rate of 3.25 pence with the unicode comma would cost \u00a397.50 + VAT<\/strong>.<\/span>
<\/span>
<\/span>Strip the rogue unicode comma and you would spend just \u00a332.50 + VAT.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We hope you find this a useful tool to help reduce your SMS costs and eliminate wastage.<\/p>\n

If you’re not sure if you’re already sending unicode characters by mistake, our SMS Insights<\/a><\/strong> tools will tell you.\u00a0

Login to your account and go to SMS Insights, then click on the cost saving tab.

If you have any questions, we’re here to help.
support@thesmsworks.co.uk

Thanks,\u00a0
Henry<\/p>\n

Related articles
Emoji removal tool<\/a> – <\/strong>Reduce your SMS costs by automatically removing emojis<\/p>\n

Integrate SMS into your workflows<\/strong><\/a> – increase customer engagement and improve service<\/p>\n

Find out how to avoid being a victim of SMS pumping fraud<\/a>
<\/strong><\/p>\n

SMS trashing<\/a><\/strong> – What is it and how to avoid being a victim.<\/p>\n

Messages that are just a bit long use 2 credits instead of 1. Find out how our AI message shortener<\/a><\/strong> can help.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unicode Character Replacement Unicode is a set of characters that includes all the characters needed to allow you to send […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2687,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesmsworks.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesmsworks.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesmsworks.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesmsworks.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesmsworks.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thesmsworks.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesmsworks.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesmsworks.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesmsworks.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesmsworks.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}