Why are my SMS call summaries incomplete?

Problem

Your call summaries appear cut off, incomplete, or out of order.

Explanation

Each carrier (e.g., Verizon, AT&T) has its own way of handling SMS messages. Our system does not attempt to limit characters, and leaves that to the discretion of the carrier. If you find your call summaries are either truncated, segmented, or "cut off," that is likely what is happening. In this case, we advise you to rely on your email summaries.

Here is what we have seen, although this list is not intended to be comprehensive and may change at any time:

Carrier

Behaviour

AT&T Wireless

Does not limit characters

Project Fi

2000 character limit

Sprint

Splits into multiple texts, usually in sequence, usually numbered

T-Mobile

Does not limit characters

Verizon

Most of the time: Does not limit characters

iPhone users will likely see a truncated message with a caret (>) indicating they can tap to read the full message.

As of 2018, we rarely see problems with SMS truncation. If your do, or your provider is not listed above, please contact us so that we can run a test with you.

We explored using MMS, instead of SMS, to get around this, but soon found that MMS messages are subject to their own problems, namely significant delivery delays (or messages not arriving at all). 

Questions? Contact us!

If you're already a Smith.ai client and need help, please email us at support@smith.ai or call us at (650) 727-6484 for assistance.

If you're not yet a Smith.ai client, please schedule a free consultation to get started with our virtual receptionist services or email us at sales@smith.ai. We'll help you select the best plan to match your business’s growth goals and budget.

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