The short answer: the text field takes your own wording, up to 300 characters, with {code} once (that is where the code goes) and, if you like, {minutes} (the validity in minutes). If you leave it out, we use a short text that fits in one SMS. For your own, the recipe is: company name, the code, what it is for, “Do not share it”. And short, so it stays a single part.
What to include, and in what order
| 1 |
Who is sending, right at the start. Your company or service name, even if you use a Sender ID.
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| 2 |
The code, early. Many phones show only the start of a message in the notification; the customer should not have to open the SMS to see it.
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| 3 |
What it is for. Signing in, confirming the number, approving a payment. It is the best defence against code-sharing scams.
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| 4 |
The validity, with {minutes}, if it fits.
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| 5 |
“Do not share it.” Always.
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Ready-made examples
| Use |
Text for the text field |
| Login |
[COMPANY]: your login code is {code}. Valid for {minutes} min. |
| Sign-up |
[COMPANY]: code {code} to confirm your number. Do not share it. |
| Payment |
[COMPANY]: code {code} to confirm your payment. Do not share it. |
| Booking |
[COMPANY]: code {code} to confirm your booking for 20/12. |
| Portuguese, no accents (160 characters per part) |
[EMPRESA]: o seu codigo e {code}. Valido {minutes} minutos. Nao o partilhe. |
Replace [COMPANY] with your company name before sending. Leave {code} and {minutes} as they are: we fill them in on each send.
Staying in one part
Without accents, an SMS holds up to 160 characters; with letters such as ã, õ, ç, á or ó, the whole message switches to Unicode and a part holds only 70. Each part uses one credit. English texts like the ones above have no accents and fit easily; Portuguese texts often do have them, so keep them short or drop the accents. The send response includes parts, so you will know from the first test. The full explanation is in how many credits an SMS uses.
The sender
In the sender field, give a Sender ID approved for the number's country, and the code arrives under your brand name. Without sender, it goes out from the free NETMSG sender. Neither can receive replies: the customer types the code on your website or app.
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No links and no advertising in a code SMS. An offer next to the code makes the message look suspicious and pushes it into two parts. Send promotions separately, to people who agreed to receive them.
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Autofill: some browsers can fill in the code by themselves if the last line of the SMS has @ followed by your site's domain, a space, and # followed by the code. It takes up characters, so check that the message still fits in one part.
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