Smart Encoding for SMS
Smart Encoding for SMS
Smart Encoding detects Unicode characters that look similar to GSM-7 characters and replaces them automatically. This keeps your messages in GSM-7 encoding (160 characters per segment) instead of falling back to Unicode (70 characters per segment).
Why It Matters
A single "smart quote" (curly quote) copied from a word processor or website switches your entire message from GSM-7 to Unicode — potentially doubling your segment count. Smart Encoding catches these invisible encoding traps.
Common Characters That Trigger Unicode
| Unicode Character | GSM-7 Replacement |
|---|---|
| " " (smart quotes) | " " (straight quotes) |
| ' ' (smart apostrophes) | ' (straight apostrophe) |
| — (em dash) | - (hyphen) |
| … (ellipsis character) | ... (three periods) |
| ñ, ö, ü (some accented chars) | Kept as-is if in GSM-7 extended set |
How to Enable Smart Encoding
Smart Encoding is enabled by default on JustCall accounts. To verify:
- Go to Settings → SMS/MMS.
- Check that Smart Encoding is toggled on.
When enabled, JustCall processes every outbound message before sending and replaces Unicode look-alikes with GSM-7 equivalents.
When to Disable Smart Encoding
If you intentionally send messages in languages that require Unicode (e.g., Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi), Smart Encoding may interfere with character rendering. Disable it under SMS settings for those numbers.