You wrote one SMS in the editor, but the Obsedia preview shows two parts. The preview is measuring the message prepared for a recipient, not only the draft in your text box. A first name, an unsubscribe link or one character outside the usual SMS alphabet can change both the encoding and the number of billable parts.
Count the message the customer would receive
Obsedia SMS Marketing Hub lets merchants write a campaign, personalize it with a first name and inspect the customer-facing preview before confirmation. For marketing messages the estimate includes the unsubscribe link. The final text can therefore be longer than the line you composed before personalization.
The number of parts is worked out per final message. One customer name may be short; another may be longer or use characters with a different encoding. A campaign estimate should account for the eligible audience and destination instead of treating the editor draft as a universal one-part SMS.
One character can change the encoding
Standard SMS uses a limited GSM-7 alphabet where a single-part message commonly fits up to 160 basic characters. A message containing a character outside that alphabet can use UCS-2 instead, with a common single-part limit of 70. Curly quotation marks and some accented or non-Latin characters are examples worth checking; not every visible character consumes the same space.
Long messages also reserve space to join parts on the customer’s phone. Common concatenated limits are 153 GSM-7 characters or 67 UCS-2 characters per part. Some GSM extension characters count as two units. These are general SMS-encoding rules, not a substitute for the Obsedia estimate for a particular destination and final recipient text.
A practical two-part scenario
Imagine a campaign draft that appears to fit one part. Obsedia inserts the customer’s first name and adds the required unsubscribe link to the recipient preview. The result may cross the single-part limit and display two parts. A different name or destination can change the estimate again; the editor’s plain character count is not the bill.
Now consider the same message with a smart apostrophe pasted from a document. If that character switches the encoding, even a shorter-looking message might need more parts. This is an illustrative encoding scenario, not a claim that a specific merchant’s campaign will have a particular count or price.
What to review before confirming a campaign
Check the customer-facing message, not only the draft. In Obsedia, review the personalized content, unsubscribe link, encoding/part count, selected destinations and total estimated spend together. The app shows campaign costs before confirmation, with SMS usage separate from the subscription.
If the count surprises you, inspect unusual punctuation and the length of your own copy. Shorten repetitive text if it does not help the customer. Do not remove a required opt-out route just to make a message cheaper, and do not assume that changing one character will reduce every recipient’s total by the same amount.
- Read the exact preview including the inserted first name and unsubscribe link.
- Check whether punctuation, emoji or language characters change the encoding.
- Review message parts across the audience, not only for a short sample name.
- Check country rates and the campaign estimate before confirmation.
- Confirm the eligible audience, sending window and prepaid EUR balance.
Parts affect budget; delivery is a different result
Obsedia displays rates by destination and estimates the campaign before the merchant confirms it. More parts can increase SMS usage and draw more from prepaid EUR credit. The subscription fee is separate. Use the in-app estimate rather than a generic rate copied from another provider or country.
A correct estimate does not mean the carrier delivered a message. Queued, sent, delivered, failed and unknown are different states in Results. Keep the cost review before sending and the outcome review afterward; that distinction makes billing and deliverability questions easier to answer.
When two parts are the right choice
A two-part preview is a cost signal, not an error. A useful offer, the store's identity, a clear next step and an opt-out route may be worth more than forcing every message into one part. In Obsedia, compare the customer-facing text with its estimate; remove padding or repeated phrases, but keep the information a customer needs to understand the message.
If the shortened version still needs two parts, approve the campaign only when the eligible audience, destination mix and prepaid budget make sense. Save the final wording you reviewed. That gives you a concrete reference if a later campaign's preview changes because names, links or punctuation are different.
Price the final recipient preview, including personalization and the unsubscribe link. Character count alone is not an SMS part count.
