Local & International SMS Glossary

To get the most out of your international SMS campaigns, it helps to familiarise yourself with all the necessary SMS-related terminology. If you’ve ever wondered what MO, MT or Revenue Share meant, then this post is especially for you!

We often get a couple of customers who feel left in the dark with all the SMS jargon around. After all, what does “Mobile Originated” and “Mobile Terminated” actually mean? Below we’ve taken a selection of the frequently used terms and elaborated on them a little. If the term you’re looking for isn’t in the list below, leave it in a comment and we’ll be sure to post a relevant explanation.

Mobile Originated

This is a term you’ll hear a lot, and is applicable to both local and international SMS. It refers to a message sent from a mobile handset to an application. For instance, if you’re running a campaign to increase your opt-in customers by supplying them with “25% discount on all products this Valentine’s day”, then the messages you receive from them are mobile originated. The numbers you have then are mobile originated numbers.

Premium Rate Message (MO)

This refers to a message sent by one of your opt-in clients to your premium-rated number. Under normal circumstances they’ll be charged more than the standard rate. Take note that certain restrictions apply when it comes to international SMS messages and premium-rated messages.

Mobile Terminated

Mobile terminated refers to messages sent from your application, be it local or international SMS that terminates on your client’s mobile handset. An example is sending out the voucher codes for the 25% discount to those individuals who opt-in on your mobile campaigns.

Premium Rate Message (MT)

This refers to a message sent from your application to the mobile handset of one of your subscribers. As with the MO premium-rated message, they are charged a certain amount for receiving the message. These messages often contain data, an application, ringtone or image to justify the associated cost. Again, note that there are certain restrictions that apply concerning international SMS messaging.

Revenue Share

One of the biggest motivators for premium-rated messaging is the revenue share, which basically refers to the division of profit between the content provider and the network operator hosting the premium-rated messaging. Premium-rated messaging can under normal circumstances only be done locally, which means that premium international SMS messaging will require an agreement with network providers in the destination country.

Sender ID / Source Address

This refers to the number from which your messages will be sent. The sender ID refers to long numbers, short numbers and those instances where the sender ID is a company name. In short, it’s the number your contact will see on their mobile handset as the “From” number. Again note that certain restrictions apply with regards to international SMS messaging.

Destination Address (MSISDN)

The name is self-explanatory, and refers to your contact’s mobile number. Do note, however, that this number should be in a specific format that includes the country code (without the leading zero) and the rest of the mobile number. Whether you’re sending international SMS messages or just locally, this is the format the destination number must maintain.

If the above words made sense to you and you’re ready to take it a step further, click to navigate to our international SMS page.

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Tags: international SMS, mobile originated, mobile terminated, MSISDN, premium rate SMS, revenue share, Sender ID