Feature Updates 07/31/2020
Text Message Marketing >MMS Mass Text > Updated MMS Carrier Throttle Limits
An update is now live for the text message marketing > send mass multi-media (MMS) text message feature that imposes new throttle limits for bulk outbound MMS messages. Recent feedback was provided from Twilio that indicates new cell phone carrier AI velocity filters have been implemented to flag bulk MMS messages sent at a rate faster than 20 messages per minute ( 1 MMS per 3 seconds). For security purposes, cell phone carriers do not disclose their internal criteria of spam filtering AI algorithms. However, Twilio has reported it's finding that an outbound MMS rate of 1 MMS per 3 seconds should help avoid the new MMS velocity filter.
Unfortunately, in the text message realm, spamsters are real issue for cell phone carriers. Overtime cell phone carriers are being forced to implement more restrictions on messages in an attempt to globally control spam text messages. It's unfortunate as legitimate text message traffic suffers from the restrictions being imposed to combat spamsters. This holds true no matter which text marketing company or text message vendor is used as it's upstream at the cell phone carrier level.
To help honor new MMS velocity limits, an update is now live that will automatically throttle outbound mass MMS text messages to send at a rate of 1 MMS per 3 seconds. Kindly note this update only applies to MMS messages and not to SMS. SMS messages are throttled at the rate provided by Twilio for the type of number. For a 10-digit phone number 1/second, for a 10-digit toll-free 3/second and shortcodes at 100/second.
With that being said, no matter the phone number type, all outbound mass MMS text messages will be throttled at 1 MMS per 3 seconds to help protect church phone number accounts and stay under the radar of cell phone carriers blacklists.
What is the difference between SMS and MMS? When sending text messages there are two different types; SMS and MMS. An SMS message is a regular text message with no image media. An MMS is a text message that contains media such as a picture. Online Giving's advanced text marketing allows for churches to optionally attach images to outbound text marketing messages. In the event, an outbound message contains an image, then it's considered an MMS.
Should I avoid MMS? We recommend the church choose their message type according to the requirements of the campaign. The only difference is now when considering sending out an image, church administrators will want to factor in the extra time for delivery. Keep in mind MMS is only used when an image is present in the outbound message. Otherwise, it's an SMS message.
Any, alternatives to text messages? A text message is a great medium for reaching and engaging your church members. However, it's not the only medium we offer at OnlineGiving.org. If you haven't already, we recommend checking out our mobile application. Our mobile application includes unlimited push notifications and includes a scheduler similar to text messages. Push notifications can either replace text message notifications are work alongside as another channel.