Skip to content
Swift SMS Gateway Docs

Glossary of terms

API Key

An API key is a way to authenticate requests to the Swift API platform. It is an alphanumeric string of characters that is used to identify the account making the request. A DID must be assigned to an API key to be used.

DID

A DID is a phone number that is assigned to an account. It can be used to send and receive SMS and MMS messages.

  • Host refers to a number assigned to a Swift API account.
  • Remote refers to a number belonging to another carrier or platform.

DIDs must have an API key assigned to them to be used, and must be assigned to a switch for incoming messages.

DLR

Delivery reports are a way to track the status of an SMS message. They can be requested when sending an SMS, and be received via a webhook.

MMS

A single outgoing or incoming message with attached media.

Segments

SMS messages are chunked into segments when sent to the carrier, depending on message length and content. Messages are charged by the segment.

  • If message is ASCII-only, and fits within GMS7 encoding:
    • 160 or fewer characters: 1 segment
    • 161 or more characters: 1 segment per 156 characters
  • Message is ASCII-only, but does not fit within GSM7 encoding:
    • 140 or fewer characters: likely 1 segment (this depends on the specifc characters used)
    • 141 or more characters: 1 segment per 136 characters
  • Message contains non-ASCII characters (UCS2/Unicode encoding):
    • 80 or fewer characters: 1 segment
    • 81 or more characters: 1 segment per 74 characters

SMS

A single outgoing or incoming message. Depending on length and content, they may be transparently divided into segments.

Switch

A switch is a method of grouping numbers and routing messages within Swift’s system.