A short code is a specialized 5 or 6-digit number ideal for marketing campaigns, lead generation, and promotions where you want people to easily remember your number. Short codes are used for sending and receiving SMS (and MMS) messages to mobile phones.
Short code (also called short numbers, Common Short Code, or CSC) messaging is commonly used to send business text messages and marketing campaigns to a user’s mobile device. A short code is a specialized five to six-digit phone number used in one-way SMS and MMS messaging. Short code messages convey information to a customer that doesn’t require a response. A customer can text a keyword to a business to opt in to marketing messages, vote, or enter a contest.
Short codes are leased monthly, their cost varies depending on the type of short code you choose. Short codes are an alternative to long numbers, full-length phone numbers used to send and receive text messages and calls.
How to Choose Between Short Code or Long Number? The 5 Main Differences >
There are two types of short codes: shared short codes and dedicated short codes.
“Text PIZZA to 13131”
“Text BACON to 13131”
“Text COOL to 13131”
These are all examples of shared short codes. Even though each of these text messages shares a numeric code, they would be routed to separate businesses. Shared short codes are used and shared between thousands of businesses, making their monthly cost more affordable. Traffic coming into each short code is separated by the use of unique keywords, which enables mobile carriers to distribute short codes among businesses in the same industry.
“Text PIZZA to 13131”
“Text PIZZA to 12345”
“Text PIZZA to 54321”
These are all examples of dedicated short codes. They all use the keyword PIZZA, but texts would be routed to each business based on their short code, not their keyword. Dedicated short codes are assigned to specific businesses. Since one company absorbs the entire cost of the code, dedicated short codes are more expensive than shared short codes. If you sign up for a shared short code and want to use a keyword that has already been taken, you would have to change to a dedicated short code service.
Within dedicated short codes, there are two subsets: random short codes and vanity short codes.
CM.com has direct connections to hundreds of networks worldwide. Our vast global reach helps us get the most competitive pricing in the short code marketplace for our customers.
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