# How does text billing work?

ForeverFan's texting billing system is simple and straightforward!

#### **Base Number Cost**

To start, you will need to purchase a custom phone number. This costs $6.00 per month. This number is connected to your account and is used for all the text messaging features.

#### SMS Text Segments

Our campaigns are sent out using the Short Message Service (SMS) protocol. As a part of this standard, text messages are sent in fixed-size segments. Based on the encoding used in your message (which depends on the presence of special characters and emojis), the number of characters in a segment varies.

You’ll see how many segment you’re using below your drafted message. As an example, the following campaign uses two segments:

<figure><img src="https://275082752-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FBR933Znj31kGqDJst2we%2Fuploads%2Froqm63JQYmLFWVQhQ9IL%2FScreenshot%202024-07-10%20at%209.07.10%20AM.png?alt=media&#x26;token=c56c8b0c-0a73-4ce0-8dd2-eb38827f425e" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

#### **Domestic Texting Charges**

In addition to the cost of the phone number, you also pay for each text message sent or received. The cost per text segment sent domestically is $0.01. This means if you send or receive 100 segments worth of messages in a month, you would be charged an additional $1.00 for that month.

#### **International Texting Charges**

International texting is charges on a per use basis, much like domestic texting. However, unlike domestic texting, the cost per segments varies depending on the market rate to the country you are attempting to send a message to. Be sure to toggle on “Include International Numbers” if you wish to send your campaign internationally. See the CSV below for more specific rates.

{% hint style="info" %}
As of July 16, 2024 -- UK phone numbers have been disabled. UK carriers have recently implemented restrictions on messaging traffic originating from international long codes to UK phone numbers; they consider the use of international long codes for Application- To-Person (A2P) SMS as an abuse of Person-To-Person (P2P) routes.
{% endhint %}

#### **Media Attachment Charges**

If you decide to attach an image to your texting campaign, 2 additional segments are added to your message for domestic fans, and 1 additional segment is added to your international total.

{% file src="<https://275082752-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FBR933Znj31kGqDJst2we%2Fuploads%2FdHg4N3r3ROHfuWrTGChq%2FInternational%20Texting%20Prices.csv?alt=media&token=41fa0196-443e-4b03-b08a-cb5df458babd>" %}

Please note, all charges are automatically billed to the payment method on file in your account on a monthly basis. If you have any questions or need further clarification on billing, feel free to reach out to our support team [here](mailto:hello@foreverfanmusic.com).