
SMS Short codes – Broadcast your message in bulk - dhfromkorea
http://plivo.com/sms-api/shortcode/?hn
======
josephschmoe
I don't understand why anyone would use this. I've never been anything but
angry when I received a text message from a business. I've never met anyone
who likes receiving text messages from businesses.

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bevenky
I hear you. We all hate SPAM!

In the US, short-codes are helpful for B2C SMS communication. US has many
regulations on using a regular phone number for sending SMS via Applications
and APIs.

For starters, a shortcode allows you to send 40 sms/second which is not
allowed using a regular phone number.

We have tried to document some of the differences and cases when a shortcode
is helpful: [http://plivo.com/faq/shortcode/what-is-the-difference-
betwee...](http://plivo.com/faq/shortcode/what-is-the-difference-between-a-
short-code-vs-a-long-code/)

~~~
joosters
You haven't answered the question. Why is someone going to be happier to
receive SMS from a short number than from a long one?

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saurik
You didn't ask that question, nor did anyone claim that as near as I can see:
only that there are clearly usages for sending text messages to users, and
that short codes are better in at least some way (such as indicated here:
sending large quantities is more easily possible).

That said: I'll bite (in case anyone else reads your message and gets
confused); as a user who deals with a bunch of services that send text
messages (Bank of America, Equifax, AAA, Google, AT&T, UCSB, Pingdom...) I
consider the ones where I get some random long number infuriating if the
number isn't at least constant for me (as I can't add it to my address book),
unprofessional (it would be as if someone hosted Apple's website on their
Geocities account), and even "risky" (as the numbers are usually different for
different carriers, and as mentioned even tend to randomly cycle, there's no
reasonable way for me to know that it isn't someone playing a prank on me when
I get the message; yes: SMS is somewhat spoofable, but replying to a short
code, in my understanding, is not subject to those problems).

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erichurkman
Hipchat is a notable service that seems to pick random phone numbers to send
SMS notifications. It can get really confusing when they split notifications
over multiple messages, and the carrier drops or delays the first message or
two that tell you it's from Hipchat — subsequent messages do not indicate who
it is from.

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yogo
Seems like it works out to be $200 more than Twilio to purchase a random code
through Plivo. But if you manage your own lease it's $200 cheaper. I hope I
didn't screw up the price comparisons. Might make a difference since it all
comes from [http://www.usshortcodes.com](http://www.usshortcodes.com)

A shared short code seems to better for now if you are more price conscious :)

~~~
dhfromkorea
That is only for the first quarter. In fact, if you compare the rental fees,
Plivo is $300 cheaper per quarter.

If you compare the outbound SMS rate, Plivo is 30-40% cheaper than similar
services out there.

Rental-fee: $2700/3 months + (one-time $500)

SMS rate:

0.65 cents/sms (outbound) 0.50 cents/sms (inbound)

Also if you lease a new Short Code before March 31, 2014, we give you $1000
off your first invoice.

~~~
troyk
I have 2 short-codes through twilio and the 30-40% cheaper SMS rate grabbed my
attention. I love twilio and never managed to get far when trying to figure
out how to go direct to the carriers and get better pricing (and twilio was
never interested in price negotiations, in fact I serve mostly non-profits and
they wouldn't even give me their non-profit pricing). But with pricing
pressure from plivo, maybe I can make some progress.

~~~
bevenky
Would love to have you onboard with Plivo. Just for the record, we can port
your existing short-codes from other providers at the same price points.

If that sounds interesting, feel free to reach me at venky@plivo.com

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dhfromkorea
Hi, DH from Plivo here. We're excited to launch SMS short codes today. Feel
free to ask any questions.

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gms
Why should I use you instead of Twilio?

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dhfromkorea
1.tl;dr

For short codes, our pricing is better. Tech-wise, honestly SMS short codes do
not have much room for any difference.

2\. long versions (if you're curious, in general, why someone would choose
plivo over others)

[http://vincedasta.com/p/why-i-went-with-plivo/](http://vincedasta.com/p/why-
i-went-with-plivo/)

[http://clintberry.com/2012/why-plivo-cloud-is-better-than-
tw...](http://clintberry.com/2012/why-plivo-cloud-is-better-than-twilio/)

happy to answer follow-up questions.

~~~
gms
Thanks.

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j45
An open Question regarding short code sms to plivo and anyone else
knowledgeable in the space:

Is there a reason why plivo has not implemented the ability for users to
register keywords on a shared shared shortcode that plivo owns?

This would allow small apps that use a number of texts that don't justify a
separate shortcode to operate under text "mykeyword to 78568" to register

Several sms providers do this, I've always wished someone like plivo or the
likes would and I'm not sure what the issue might be? With a shortcode costing
over a thousand a month I'd be one user who's sign up for a keyword based
shortcode

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analog31
Do I pay when I receive one of these text messages?

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dhfromkorea
If you're referring to when you, as a consumer, receive a message from a Short
Code in the U.S., you will pay the same amount to receive it as you would with
a Long Code (the regular number).

On a related note, this article could be interesting:
[http://www.quora.com/Why-do-US-carriers-charge-for-
incoming-...](http://www.quora.com/Why-do-US-carriers-charge-for-incoming-
calls-and-text-messages)

~~~
analog31
Thanks. That's just what I was wondering. It influences my attitude about
receiving bulk messages. I think that I pay less for e-mail, and it has better
spam filtering, so that would be my preference.

~~~
dhfromkorea
Yup :-)

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0xdeadbeefbabe
Is there an API for sending text to shortcodes?

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x13
Plivo and Twilio are two great places to start your texting journey.

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cjbprime
Anyone know if the shared short codes would support outgoing MMS images, and
what the total pricing would be?

