If you want to send SMS to your clients through Pogozo your SMS costs will be automatically deducted. No need to remember to pre-purchase credits and no chance of running out of credits half way though sending out your important SMS messages.
SMS credits are charged at $0.10 plus GST per message segment. One segment is equal to 160* characters or less and a message may be made up of multiple segments.
You can check your SMS usage and see your past billings in your Pogozo business settings.
On the main menu go to Settings. Click on the the sub-menu Business and then Pogozo subscriptions.
Scroll down to SMS Usage. This is your current count of SMS sent and the cost that has accumulated so far. You will be billed on the first of each month for the previous months usage.
To view your previous SMS billings scroll down to Subscription History, to see a list of previous invoices.
Understanding SMS Segments (and how to reduce costs)
What is an SMS segment?
SMS messages are charged per segment, not per message. One segment is roughly 160 characters of standard text. If your message goes over that, it gets split into multiple segments.
Why longer messages have fewer characters per segment
When a message is split into multiple segments, a small portion of each segment is used for a header (called a User Data Header). This allows the recipient's phone to reassemble the message, but it reduces the number of usable characters.
Not all characters are created equally
There are two types of SMS encoding that affect how many characters fit into a segment:
GSM-7 (standard text) gives you up to 160 characters, or 153 per segment once the message runs longer than one segment.
UCS-2 (special characters) gives you only 70 characters, or 67 per segment once the message runs longer than one segment.
Your message will switch to UCS-2 encoding — and may suddenly use 2–3x more segments — if it includes:
Smart quotes (' instead of ')
Emojis 👋
Special symbols (é, ", —, ™)
As an example, a 237-character message might be 2 segments using only standard text, but 4 segments if special characters are included.
Placeholders matter
If you're using merge fields or placeholders such as [[PatientFirstName]] or [[BusinessName]], the character count is based on the final message, not the placeholder.
For example, [[BusinessName]] is 17 characters in the template or SMS draft, but "Pogozo Australia Pty Ltd trading as Pogozo" is 42 characters. That can easily push your message into additional segments.
TIP: consider using shorter variables (such as [[BusinessLocationName]]) or typing a shortened name directly.
5 cost-cutting tips
Use straight quotes ( ' not ' )
Avoid emojis and special characters
Keep messages under 160 characters where possible
Be mindful of long names or variables in templates
Use shorter links where possible
TIP: use push notifications instead of SMS — they're free and a great way to reduce costs.
Want to dive deeper?
Message Segment Calculator — copy and paste your SMS to check segments before sending.
What the heck is a segment? — a deeper explanation from Twilio.
How long can a message be? — Twilio's guide to message length and encoding.