The short answer: the SMS goes out exactly as you send it: there is no automatic translation. Store each customer's language, have each notice written in both languages and pick the right text before sending. Mind the cost: Portuguese accents can put a message into Unicode, and English rarely does.
On the SMS page in My MozOut
| 1 |
Split your contacts by language into groups, such as "Customers PT" and "Customers EN". Each contact should be in only one of them.
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| 2 |
Keep one template per language for each notice you repeat: "Lembrete de consulta (PT)" and "Appointment reminder (EN)".
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| 3 |
Send or schedule twice, one send per group, each with its own template.
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Through the API
Your system picks the text from the customer's language field and sends it as usual. In a batch send, each entry can carry its own text, so one list can hold customers in both languages.
The Accept-Language header only changes the language of the API's own messages (errors, for instance), not the SMS the customer receives.
What each language costs
| Text |
Alphabet |
Characters per part |
| Reminder: your appointment is tomorrow at 10:00. |
GSM-7 |
160 in one part; 153 per part if longer |
| Lembrete: tem consulta amanhã às 10h00. |
Unicode, because of the "ã" |
70 in one part; 67 per part if longer |
The same notice can use more credits in Portuguese. The maths is in how many credits an SMS uses and, for developers, in GSM-7 or Unicode in SMS.
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Dropping accents to save money? You can, but read the result out loud. A word or two is fine, but a text full of words missing their accents looks careless and sometimes suspicious. Shortening the sentence is usually the better fix.
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Do not leave language to chance. Ask for it at sign-up or at the counter, next to the phone number. A customer who reads English and gets a notice in Portuguese may ignore it, and the other way round.
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Want to talk to each customer in their own language? See the SMS prices.
See SMS prices
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