Contents
- Introduction
- Types of Phone & SMS Usage Charges
- Understanding SMS Usage Charges
- Understanding Call Usage Charges
- International Phone Usage Charges
Introduction
This article is an overview of the types of phone and SMS usage charges you can expect when using Concours Pro’s LC Phone System, and when to expect to be charged for each.
Unless specifically stated, all usage rates linked and described below are for Australian phone numbers, and for making / receiving calls, and sending / receiving SMS / MMS to and from other Australian phone numbers.
We do not reference any exact phone usage rates in this guide as they may change from time to time.
Click here to view the current Concours Pro Usage Rates.
Note: If your SMS sending or overall phone usage is suspended for any reason, you will still be charged monthly number rental charges, and any incoming SMS, MMS and call charges.
Types of Phone & SMS Usage Charges
- Phone Number Rental.
Monthly charge for the rental of Australian Local, Mobile or Toll Free phone numbers to use for Calls or SMS in Concours Pro. - Making Phone Calls.
Charge for making a phone call from the Concours Pro desktop or mobile app. - Receiving Phone Calls.
Charge for receiving phone calls to a Concours Pro phone number. - Missed Calls.
Charge for phone calls that are forwarded to your own number or to the web/mobile app, but are not answered. - Call Recording.
Charge per minute or part thereof for all incoming or outgoing calls that are recorded in Concours Pro. - SMS Sending.
Charge for an SMS sent per segment – See below for more details. - SMS Receiving.
Charge for an SMS received, per SMS. - MMS Sending.
Charge for sending an SMS, per segment, that include multimedia, known as MMS. This includes SMS with images, audio recordings and video. - MMS Receiving.
Charge for receiving an SMS that include multimedia, such as images, audio recordings and video. - Carrier Lookup.
Charge for verification of a phone number to determine its ability to receive SMS.
Understanding SMS Usage Charges
SMS Sending.
When looking at the structure of modern SMS, a standard single message is made of up to 160 characters as a maximum.
If emojis or complex language characters such as Chinese characters (Unicode characters) are included, this character limit drops from 160 to 70 characters only.
Each of these single messages is called an SMS segment.
However, modern phones and mobile networks support message concatenation, which enables longer messages to be sent. Messages longer than 153 characters (67 characters for Unicode messages) are automatically split into segments and then re-assembled when they are received. The extra 7 (or 3) characters worth of data in each segment is then used to reconstruct the message at its destination.
Notes:
- Concours Pro technically supports a maximum of 1600 characters per message, but you shouldn’t get anywhere near this.
- Message concatenation allows you to send long SMS messages, but this increases your per-message cost, because SMS are billed per segment.
- Message segmentation and concatenation also applies to MMS messaging.
SMS Receiving.
All SMS are received at the same flat rate, no matter how many segments they contain.
Understanding Call Usage Charges
When making and receiving calls in Concours Pro, all calls have 2 legs, INCOMING and OUTGOING, which make up the call.
Usage rates vary based on the INCOMING and OUTGOING legs of the call. Essentially these 2 legs are 2 separate calls. Ie. Getting the call to/from Concours Pro’s LC Phone System, and to/from your device.
When receiving calls:
The INCOMING leg is the incoming call getting from the caller TO The LC Phone System. This leg can be one of 2 types of numbers calling:
- Local / Mobile.
- 1300 / 1800.
The OUTGOING leg is call being forwarded FROM The LC Phone System to the you, the user. Calls can be forwarded to you so you can answer them in one of three ways:
- Forwarded to the desktop or mobile app.
- Forwarded to your own Local / 1300 / 1800 Number.
- Forwarded to your own Mobile number.
When we combine the 2 INCOMING number types and 3 OUTGOING types of call forwarding we have 6 possible combinations, each of which is a different cost as reflected in the usage rates, per minute or part thereof.
All missed (unanswered) incoming calls are charged only the INCOMING leg of the call, since the OUTGOING leg is not completed.
When making calls:
The INCOMING leg is the call you are making getting from the desktop or mobile app on your device, TO The LC Phone System. This leg has the same rate, whether it is from the mobile or desktop app, as this is the only way to make calls in Concours Pro.
The OUTGOING leg is the call you are making getting FROM The LC Phone System to the recipients phone. This leg can be one of 4 types of number that the recipient has:
- Local.
- Mobile.
- 1300.
- 1800.
When we combine the single type of INCOMING leg and 4 types of OUTGOING recipient phone numbers we have 4 possible combinations, each of which is a different cost as reflected in the usage rates, per minute or part thereof.
International Phone Usage Charges
When making / receiving calls, and sending / receiving SMS / MMS to and from international (non Australian) numbers, usage rates vary based on the international numbers country of origin.
Note: International usage rates are not currently published on our website, and for some countries can vary greatly from Australian rates.
Please contact our support team if you require confirmation of current rates for international phone numbers and usage.
Using International Phone Numbers
Australian SMS capable numbers in Concours Pro can only send SMS to other Australian phone numbers. Generally speaking, other countries phone numbers can also only send SMS to numbers in their own country.
The exception is USA phone numbers, so in the case where you may need to SMS internationally, you can use a USA phone number in Concours Pro, which has global SMS capabilities. USA numbers have stringent verification and regulatory requirements that must be satisfied before use, and some also have monthly regulatory charges. Please contact support for more details.
Note: Recent changes in the UK have restricted all UK numbers from receiving SMS from non-UK numbers. Read here for more details and the workaround: SMS Blocking for International Long Codes in the UK.
Sending and Receiving SMS Internationally
Usage rates for sending SMS / MMS to international numbers are based on the SMS / MMS sending rates in the international numbers country of origin.
Usage rates for receiving SMS / MMS from international numbers are based on the SMS / MMS receiving rates in the international numbers country of origin.
International SMS / MMS rates are always based on the country of origin of the other number, no matter the country of origin of YOUR Concours Pro number.
Receiving and Making Calls Internationally
Similarly to SMS International rates, international receiving and making call rates are always based on the country of origin of the other number.
When Receiving Calls Internationally:
The INCOMING leg is the incoming call getting from the caller TO The LC Phone System, and varies based on the type of number that is calling and/or that numbers phone provider in its country of origin.
The OUTGOING Leg remains the same as described above.
When Making Calls Internationally:
The INCOMING Leg remains the same as described above.
The OUTGOING leg is the outgoing call getting FROM The LC Phone System to the recipients phone, and varies based on the recipients type of number and/or phone provider in its country of origin.
Carrier Charges for USA and Canadian Numbers
When sending / receiving SMS / MMS to and from USA and Canada, you may be charged carrier fees. SMS and MMS carrier fees are typically small surcharges applied by the various North American mobile carriers on certain types of incoming or outgoing message traffic.
We are unable to publish exact rates as they are determined by the third party North American mobile carriers. As of the date of this article, they are typically up to $0.0076 per SMS and $0.0146 per MMS, however these rates are subject to change without notice.
