Managing Use Case sending limits
At GetThru, we know how important it is for an organization to ensure timely and reliable texting outreach. While we have put in place a speedy and precise system to ensure that your messages are delivered to your contacts in a timely manner, it's essential to consider your 10DLC throughput limits.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- What is 'throughput'?
- How does ThruText manage throughput?
- Per-second or Per-minute Limits vs Per-day Limits
- Breakdown of sending limits
- Use Cases and Throughput Math
- How do I know if a message has encountered a queue?
What is 'throughput'?
Throughput refers to the capacity of providers to deliver messages, both SMS and MMS, at any given time. If the message volume exceeds the available throughput, messages will be queued and delivered as throughput becomes available. Throughput is measured by the number of segments that can be sent per-second, per-minute, or per-day to users of a particular carrier.
Since throughput is enforced per segment, a message's segment count directly affects how many messages can be sent within the available limits. Shorter SMS messages with less segments can move through the queue more quickly than longer messages. Sending messages earlier in the day helps reduce delays, as some messages may not be delivered immediately due to queuing. We recommend monitoring your campaign throughout the day to handle replies that may come in later. MMS messages count as 1 segment and support up to 1,600 characters. If you plan to send a long text message, sending an MMS will allow you to maximize the throughput.
How does ThruText manage throughput?
As 10DLC is here to stay, we have rebuilt ThruText's message-sending "engine", nicknamed the SuperCollider, for maximum efficiency under the guidelines. With the improved message-sending engine, we've implemented a sophisticated system that proactively manages rate limits to ensure your messages reach their intended recipients as soon as possible. Our system ensures that messages that observe a rate limit are queued and sent when capacity is available, maximizing deliverability.
Different mobile carriers have different throughput limits; for example, some have per minute limits (e.g., AT&T), while others have a maximum amount of messages that can be sent to their subscribers per day per EIN (e.g., T-Mobile). Our system identifies hundreds of subcarriers and applies the maximum throughput limit for each use case, making the system fast and efficient.
Per-second or Per-minute Limits vs Per-day Limits
When messages encounter a carrier's per-second or per-minute limit, they will be continuously re-queued until they are sent. If a message is queued for too long and encounters the campaign close time, the messages will remain queued and will be sent the next time the campaign opens. If messages encounter a carrier's per-day limit, the messages will be queued up to be sent the next day when the campaign is open.
If the queued messages are initial messages, they will not be sent if the campaign's initial message sending window has passed. By following the start and end dates for initial messages, and open and close times for all messages, ThruText prevents campaigns from sending messages to a contact after the text is useful (e.g., after a voter registration deadline or too late at night). You can see which messages remained unsent by running a message export on your campaign.
Breakdown of sending limits
SMS and MMS sending limits are based on the carrier, vetting type, vetting score, and use case type. For more information on where to review your organization's sending limits within your account, please check out our Brand Registration guide.
How the Vetting Score Determines the Throughput Limits
Here is a breakdown of potential sending limits per carrier:
T-Mobile
The T-Mobile daily cap is a limit on how many SMS or MMS segments you can send to T-Mobile users per day, for all brands using the same EIN. To ensure that you can engage with contacts who respond in a timely manner, GetThru allocates 5% of this cap towards replies, leaving 95% of the cap to be used for initial messages. This prevents the cap being entirely consumed by initial messages, ensuring replies can be sent without delay.
Vetting Score | Brand Tier | Total SMS/MMS Segments | Initial Message Segments (SMS/MMS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 75-100 | High | 200,000 | 190,000 |
| 50-74 | Upper-mid | 40,000 | 38,000 |
| 25-49 | Lower-mid | 10,000 | 9,500 |
| 0-24 | Low | 2,000 | 1,900 |
| Active CV Token | Uncapped | Uncapped |
AT&T
AT&T limits how many segments you can send to their users per minute. The limits for standard use cases are determined by the vetting score, while special use cases have their own set limits.
| Vetting Score | Brand Tier | SMS Segments per minute | MMS Segments per minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| 75-100 | High | 4,500 | 2,400 |
| 50-74 | Upper-mid | 2,400 | 1,200 |
| 25-49 | Lower-mid | 240 | 150 |
| 0-24 | Low | 240 | 150 |
| Charity Use Case | 2,400 | 1,200 | |
| Political Use Case | 4,500 | 2,400 |
Verizon
Verizon limits how many segments you can send to their users per second and is independent of the vetting score.
| SMS Segments per second | MMS Segments per second |
|---|---|
| 100 | 25 |
NOTE - All sending utilizing the same use case share each carrier sending limit.
A brand's "Vetting Score" determines its use case's throughput limits. The best way to improve an organization's vetting score is to ensure the accuracy of your organization's details in your Brand Registration as compared to your organization's tax filings. If you have any concerns or want to update any information, please reach out to [email protected].
Use Cases and Throughput Math
Choosing the appropriate Use Case is vital to achieving the highest throughput for your messages. Special Use Cases, such as Political and Charity, have higher sending rates than other Use Cases and are treated preferentially by the carriers.
To decide a campaign's throughput, consider that 30% of your campaign could be AT&T contacts, 30% T-Mobile, 30% Verizon, and the rest various networks. Example: For a 60,000 contact campaign, 18,000 contacts are AT&T, 18,000 are T-Mobile, 18,000 are Verizon, and 6,000 are various other networks to estimate what can go out daily and how long it will take. For the examples below, we will measure sending rates for AT&T contacts within a campaign based on SMS segments or MMS. For T-Mobile, consider your daily cap when planning sending.
| AT&T rate limits and contact total examples | Political Use Case or Brand Tier High | Charity Use Case or Brand Tier Upper-mid | Standard Use Case and Brand Tier Lower-mid or Low |
| 4-segment initial message and 5,000 contacts | 5 minutes | 8 minutes | 1 hour and 23 minutes |
| MMS to 5,000 contacts | 2 minutes | 4 minutes | 33 minutes |
| 5-segment initial message and 10,000 contacts | 11 minutes | 21 minutes | 3 hours and 28 minutes |
| MMS to 10,000 contacts | 4 minutes | 8 minutes | 1 hour and 7 minutes |
| 3-segment initial message and 30,000 contacts | 20 minutes | 38 minutes | 6 hours and 15 minutes |
| MMS to 30,000 contacts | 13 minutes | 25 minutes | 3 hours and 20 minutes |
| 2-segment initial message and 25,000 contacts | 11 minutes | 21 minutes | 3 hours and 28 minutes |
| MMS to 25,000 contacts | 10 minutes | 21 minutes | 2 hours and 47 minutes |
Understanding use cases and their impact on your sending rate is crucial for ensuring that your messages are delivered promptly. By considering your campaign size, segment count, and time of sending, you can manage potential delays and successfully deliver your messages to your contacts. Limiting SMS segments to 2-3 is strongly encouraged if a brand has a low vetting score and standard use case (Higher Education, Polling & Voting, Public Service Announcement, Customer Care).
How do I know if a message has encountered a queue?
The admin campaign page shows how many messages in your campaign were queued in the Analytics section.
For a more comprehensive look, message exports show each message's status. If a message is waiting to be sent by the system, it is "unsent." Messages that are "unsent" will move through the system and change status. If the system attempts to send the message but the carriers refuse it, the message is "rate limited." "Rate limited" is a terminal status and can no longer change in status. Accounts are not charged for "unsent" or "rate limited" messages.