SMS Short Code Service
Available Short Code SMS - 57333, 56070, 56767, 57575, 56161
Short codes are designed to be easier to read and remember than normal telephone numbers. Like telephone numbers, short codes are unique to each operator at the technological level. Even so, providers generally have agreements to avoid overlaps.
Short codes are widely used for value-added services such as television voting, ordering ringtones, charity donations and mobile services. Messages sent to short code can be billed at a higher rate than a standard SMS and may even subscribe a customer to a recurring monthly service that will be added to their mobile phone bill until they text e.g. the word "STOP" to terminate the service.
There are many companies in the Indian market who rent keywords, on a monthly basis, whose characters, on a typical mobile phone keypad, represent short codes. Short codes are five digits in length and have to start with the digit '5'. The five digits can be extended by three digits further representing three additional characters. Texts sent to these Short Codes are commonly referred to as Premium Rate SMS Messages and cost around Rs0.10 to Rs5 per text depending on the operator as well as the service.We can send any lenth of full message ranging from 100 - 500(some providers only support).
Technology
Normal telephone numbers (following the E.164 standard) may be of any length, and so when dialed from landline telephones, the network must apply heuristics to determine when dialing is complete — in the US, for example, dialed numbers are generally seven or ten digits long, with an optional prefix of "1" (the country code for the US and Canada). On mobile phones, numbers are terminated with the "Send" or "Call" key and sent all at once over the network, so the network knows the end of the dialed number, and thus one can use short numbers without clashing with longer numbers.
For instance, on a land-line phone, one could not use the short code 12345, since then one could not dial the phone number 1-234-555-4626 (or any other number that shared the prefix 12345), but on a mobile phone there is no such ambiguity.
Short codes and service identifiers (prefix)
Short codes are often associated with automated services. An automated program can handle the response and typically requires the sender to start the message with a command word or prefix. The service then responds to the command appropriately.
In ads or in other printed material where a provider has to inform about both the prefix and the short code number, the advertisement will typically follow this format:
Example 1 - Long version: Text Football to 72404 for latest football news. Example 2 - Short version: football@72404
Alternatives to short codes for SMS reception
An alternative to inbound SMS is based on long numbers (international number format, e.g. +44 7624 805000), which can be used in place of short codes or premium-rated short messages for SMS reception in several applications, such as television voting, product promotions and campaigns. Long numbers are internationally available, as well as enabling businesses to have their own number, rather than short codes which are usually shared across a number of brands. Additionally, long numbers are non-premium inbound numbers. Long numbers do not run on a dedicated messaging network so message speed can be slower than messages transported via a Short Code.