topic Re: Maximum recipients for SMS? in Get Support

Maximum recipients for SMS?

ottawa — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 06:58:31 GMT

Is there a maximum number of recipients of an SMS on PM? I couldn't find anything, though there seems to be a limit of 10 on some carriers. I need to send occasional announcements to a group that will number between 50 and 100. There's no money in it, so I can't pay for a service.

If PM does have a limit, is there a free service I can use?

Re: Maximum recipients for SMS?

kb_mv — Sat, 30 Jan 2021 21:33:37 GMT

@ottawa wrote:
Is there a maximum number of recipients of an SMS on PM? I couldn't find anything, though there seems to be a limit of 10 on some carriers. I need to send occasional announcements to a group that will number between 50 and 100. There's no money in it, so I can't pay for a service.

If PM does have a limit, is there a free service I can use?

@ottawa This is from an old thread. The issue if there is one appears to be with the app and not PM. Have a read.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Using-Your-Service/Does-Public-Mobile-limit-the-number-of-people-in-a-mass-text/td-p/130266

Re: Maximum recipients for SMS?

will13am — Sat, 30 Jan 2021 21:43:55 GMT

@ottawa , maximum recipients for SMS depend on device app and carrier. If you exceed the limit which I think in the past was 10 recipients, the SMS switches to MMS.

Re: Maximum recipients for SMS?

kb_mv — Sat, 30 Jan 2021 21:46:08 GMT

@will13am wrote:
@ottawa , maximum recipients for SMS depend on device app and carrier. If you exceed the limit which I think in the past was 10 recipients, the SMS switches to MMS.

@will13am I didn't differentiate between SMS and MMS as to me they are the same service wise. My old android Sony sends an MMS whenever I add 2 or more recipients.

Re: Maximum recipients for SMS?

will13am — Sat, 30 Jan 2021 22:07:24 GMT

@kb_mv wrote:
@will13am wrote:
@ottawa , maximum recipients for SMS depend on device app and carrier. If you exceed the limit which I think in the past was 10 recipients, the SMS switches to MMS.
@will13am I didn't differentiate between SMS and MMS as to me they are the same service wise. My old android Sony sends an MMS whenever I add 2 or more recipients.

I don't think as users anyone cares whether the SMS or MMS protocol is used to send out a message. The switchover is transparent.

Re: Maximum recipients for SMS?

gpixel — Sat, 30 Jan 2021 22:17:37 GMT

@ottawa there was a member in the past that also did the same. I'm pretty sure you will experience issues

Re: Maximum recipients for SMS?

ottawa — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 03:28:14 GMT

Thanks for the answers. I found there are apps that support more recipients, and paid services for mass texting in the thousands. A couple of the former are Textra and Chomp (by the same company) and Multi SMS Sender (MSS). Found them in articles at https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/text-better-alternative-sms-apps-android/ and https://www.makeuseof.com/android-apps-sms-bulk/

I'm happy to replace the stock Samsung or Google SMS app, so something like Textra or Chomp might be more use than just a bulk app.

I'm concerned about possible issues, if PM has an unpublished limit or there's some other reason this won't work, it would be good to know sooner than later (i.e. before I actually need it). Can you clarify what kind of issues there might be? Is there an official limit anywhere?

Thanks.

=aw

Re: Maximum recipients for SMS?

softech — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 03:57:08 GMT

@ottawa , i was reading something and it did say some carrier has SMS Spam filter that blocks SMS. It was a general articles so I am not sure if Canadian Carrier is doing it. Also, it mentions each carrier has it own rules to filter and determine SPAM or not. Sending bulk SMS might trigger the filter. You did mention you are planning to send 50 - 100, it's hard to say whether this number is big enough that caught the eye of the filter

are you sending to specific group and the members are pretty static? if so, you might want to use Whatsapp or other communication software of that nature .

Or is your SMS recipients are more random and more business oriented and even sales related? if so, that might be more chance that it got blocked.. and for sure PM or Telus would love you offer you their proper Business option with an extra charge 🙂

Re: Maximum recipients for SMS?

ottawa — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 04:10:34 GMT

Strictly not for profit, it's an alert related to snowplow arrival. Some people want email, some want text, so for now I have 2 lists. If there's a hard limit of (say) 25 recipients per SMS message, I could ask if anyone uses another messaging system and manage a 3rd list. Or split the SMS list in 2, if it's a per-message limit (vs per-day or whatever). If the limit is (say) 10, that would be too many lists and sending 5 10-recipient messages one after another would probably raise a flag anyway.

Re: Maximum recipients for SMS?

emby — Fri, 07 May 2021 17:06:11 GMT

This is a good question and one, on multiple occasions, I have had myself. It should be a simple disclosure that can be found on any carrier's website with a quick search but, like you, all I have been able to find in the past are general answers or best guesses which I'm personally not a fan of. I suspect that SMS/MMS gets overshadowed these days by advancements in other messaging options but, as you have clearly stated, there are still well justified and widespread uses for SMS/MMS and so those answers should be just as transparent. I should note that this is not strictly a PM/Telus oversight.

I agree with @will13am that the limits come from both the carrier and from the device/app your using. Speaking specifically to the carrier restrictions, here's the response I received from Telus today: "As per Tech Support the limits for Public Mobile may be different from Telus which is a limit of 25." I have my doubts that PM would have different limits but I cannot confirm that. In further discussion with Telus, this limit also appears to be for group messaging (MMS) and NOT mass texting (SMS) which I was not able to get an answer on.

Would a moderator be able to clear up the confusion on this topic? Thanks.

Re: Maximum recipients for SMS?

Nezgar — Fri, 07 May 2021 20:08:20 GMT

I recall a previous topic of someone sending bulk SMS via their phone, and their account was blocked after the 200-250 mark from sending any more SMS. I don't recall if it eventually cleared up after a week or so, but most likely required pleading forgiveness with the moderators. 😁 So if you're sending out 100+ at a time, I'd think you should be very conservative......

Bulk SMS like that really should be using a provider that specializes in that...

Re: Maximum recipients for SMS?

Greg1 — Wed, 21 Sep 2022 03:25:18 GMT

I'm also looking for an answer to this. My daughter is with freedom mobile and I just finished talking to their tech support and their limit is 10. I'm hoping public mobile has a higher limit

Re: Maximum recipients for SMS?

PaulY123 — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 16:42:05 GMT

does anyone know if Public Mobile can and will increase the SMS maximum list size?