How do SMS credits work?
Updated 6 months ago
Overview
SMS credits allow you to send invitation and reminder text messages to candidates. Each credit enables you to send one SMS message containing up to three message parts, giving you flexibility for longer messages without worrying about character counting.
Pricing
SMS credits are available for purchase at:
300 SMS credits for $29
Credits never expire, so you can purchase them when needed and use them at your own pace.
How SMS Credits Work
What One Credit Includes
One SMS credit allows you to send a single text message with up to three message parts. This means you can send messages containing:
Up to 459 characters using GSM-7 encoding (standard English text)
Up to 210 characters using UTF-16 encoding (text with emojis or special characters)
Understanding Message Parts
SMS messages are split into "parts" based on their length and the characters used:
For standard text (GSM-7 encoding):
Single-part messages: up to 160 characters
Multi-part messages: up to 153 characters per part
Your credit covers up to 3 parts (459 characters total)
For messages with emojis or special characters (UTF-16 encoding):
Single-part messages: up to 70 characters
Multi-part messages: up to 67 characters per part
Your credit covers up to 3 parts (210 characters total)
Pro tip: To maximize your credits, stick to standard English characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, and basic punctuation). Avoid emojis and special characters like curly quotes or em-dashes, as they trigger UTF-16 encoding and reduce your character limit.
If your message exceeds three parts, additional credits will be charged. For example, a 307-character message (standard text) will be charged as 2 credits instead of 1. Always check your message length before sending to avoid unexpected credit charges.
Character Encoding Examples
The encoding type affects how many characters fit in each part:
GSM-7 safe characters include:
Letters: A-Z, a-z
Numbers: 0-9
Basic punctuation: ! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . / : ; < = > ? @
Special symbols: £ ¥ è é ù ì ò Ø ø Å å Δ Φ Γ Λ Ω Π Ψ Σ Θ Ξ Æ æ ß É Ä Ö Ñ Ü § ¿ ä ö ñ ü à
Characters like ~ ^ | { } [ ] each require an escape code and count as two characters in GSM-7 encoding.
Purchasing SMS Credits
Steps to Buy Credits
Navigate to your Billing page in the Hirevire app
Locate the Buy SMS credits section
Select the 300 credits package ($29)
Complete the purchase using your configured payment method
Credits are added to your account immediately upon successful payment
Only account owners and administrators can purchase SMS credits. Team members should contact their admin to request credit purchases.
Viewing SMS Logs
Track your SMS usage and see detailed information about sent messages on the logs page:
Go to https://app.hirevire.com/logs in your Hirevire account
View the following details for each message:
Recipient phone number
Associated job
Message content
Credits used
Timestamp
Delivery status
The logs page also tracks email and webhook delivery for troubleshooting.
Limitations
Maximum message length: 3 parts per credit (459 characters for standard text, 210 for UTF-16)
Additional charges: Messages exceeding 3 parts will incur additional credit charges (1 credit per 3 parts)
Character encoding: Automatically determined based on the characters in your message
Non-refundable: Purchased credits cannot be refunded
Usage: Credits can only be used for invitation and reminder SMS messages
What's Next
After purchasing SMS credits, you can:
Send SMS invitations to candidates when creating or managing jobs
Set up automated reminder texts in your application templates
Monitor your SMS usage and delivery status in the SMS Logs
Getting Help
If you need assistance with SMS credits:
Check your SMS Logs for delivery status and credit usage
Verify your message content stays within character limits
Contact support if messages fail to send or credits are deducted unexpectedly