Many people ask us 'why Voodoo SMS?'. The simple answer is that we chose our name, Voodoo SMS, because we wanted to be a little bit different! We didn't want to be 'Text [insert boring word here]'. Plus, we think our service is just magical!
Yes! We give you 25 free credits to try us out on a trial account basis. Upgrading to a full account is also free! We don't sell fresh air, so the only thing that costs from us is credits.
Unlike with some other SMS providers, when you purchase credits with us, they NEVER expire.
A standard SMS message contains 160 characters. This deducts 1 credit from your balance. However, we enable a 'Long Message' feature, which allows you to send an SMS containing more than 160 characters. The maximum amount of characters for a long message is 2142. So, the minimum is 1 credit, and the maximum is 14 credits in a message. Once an SMS exceeds 160 characters, it is charged at 1 credit per 153 characters, including the first SMS. The 7 missing characters are what basically links the message together, and the maximum of 2142 characters isn't our limit, it's industry-wide.
Never, we pride ourselves on our offering of complete flexibility. Not to mention the fact that we think our service is too effective to walk away from!
If you have found a cheaper like-for-like quote from elsewhere, hats off to you! However, we will price match happily if you provide us with a written quote; we might even beat the quote!
If you're texting someone for the first time, we think it's good practice to give them an option to Opt-Out. To do this, you can offer them the option to text EXIT to 88440 (this is not inclusive in their texts and will cost them 8-12p depending on their network provider), or they can text STOP to 07860041410 (this is inclusive in their texts and is free for them). Both these options will add the respondent to your Blacklist, meaning they won't receive another text from you, even if they're on your next contact list.
The chances are highly likely! We integrate with many different types of systems and are very flexible in what we can do to integrate with you. We provide modules for a number of the top eCommerce Platforms, car parking systems, till systems and many others.
Yes, SMS delivery for future date and time can easily be scheduled using a parameter 'sd' in our API. Date/time for scheduled SMS should be passed in UTC format (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss) Example: 2016-05-30T13:00:00
We understand that your database is your world, so to have anyone you don't trust access it, would be unthinkable. This is why we have an Extended Verification SSL Certificate on every single page of our site. We are ranked the MOST secure bulk SMS provider in the UK too!
Our site is hosted with the best hosting company in the UK; this ensures almost NO down-time. We also undertake regular penetration tests to examine the durability of our site. As well as this, we take regular backups so that the portal is quickly recoverable in the event of any issues arising. In case of any emergencies, our Technical Support Team is available around the clock as well.
White Routes / Direct Connect Routes are a MUST for us. White Routes ensure that your SMS remains in the UK at all times and that it goes to the recipient via the Mobile Network Operator (MNO). SMS sent via Grey Routes, however, travel internationally before being filtered back into the UK. So what's wrong with that? Well, Grey Routes open your SMS up to the possibility of data manipulation, theft and fraud. Also, your SMS is likely to get held up in international traffic which can be very busy; this obviously means your messages can take MUCH longer to deliver than if they were sent by White Routes.
The Sender ID is the sender as it will appear on the Recipients phone. This can be up to 11 characters and can be alphanumeric. Verified mobile numbers, Virtual Mobile Numbers and dedicated Shortcodes can also be used as Sender ID. Special characters are not permitted, except hyphens.
The main reason why a Contact List won't upload properly is because you may have a blank row at the top of your spreadsheet. We are fine with column titles or no column titles, we just don't like blank rows!
Numbers added to the Whitelist will receive messages, even if they aren't on the contact list. This is a good way to manage campaigns and ensure that scheduled Broadcasts have sent on time and correctly.
To ensure that uploading your Contact List goes smoothly: - We like Contact Lists to be in a CSV Format, but you can also upload them in an XLS. or XLXS. format as long as there are no EXTRA rows. - Our system adds country codes to the numbers if they aren't there, but the best practice would be to have numbers in the following format; 447xxxxxxxx. - The first column in your Contact List should be the Numbers.
Basically, Excel thinks that your number is a long number, so it converts it into a scientific notation. All you have to do to fix it is simply click on the column header, click Format Cells > As Number > 0 Decimal Places.
The long message functionality allows you to send multiple SMS messages within the same message. Please refer to 'How do Voodoo SMS decide on how many credits to deduct?' for credit information on this.
Any numbers added to the Blacklist will no longer receive any messages, even if you try and send to them. They can be added manually or automatically using the 'opt out' options available.
Numbers added to the Whitelist will receive messages, even if they aren't on the contact list. This is a good way to manage campaigns and ensure that scheduled Broadcasts have sent on time and correctly.
This allows you to stagger your broadcast out in batches, for example 300 messages every 30 minutes for 3 hours. The alternative to this which is sending 1,800 messages out all together, could possibly cause a tsunami effect, and everyone is likely to respond at the same time, which may overload you. Batch Send allows you to receive a nice and steady stream of respondents that you can handle easily.
If a recipient's phone is turned off, not in signal or on flight mode, the networks usually try to send SMS for 48 hours until they finally give up. This allows time for recipients to turn their phones on, gain signal etc. This timeframe can be altered by us, up to a maximum of 7 days.
Can't find an answer to your question? Email us a question at support@voodooSMS.com