Common Short Codes are special telephone numbers, significantly shorter than full telephone numbers, which can be used to address SMS and MMS messages from mobile telephones. They are designed to be shorter to read out and easier to remember than a normal length telephone number. While similar to telephone numbers, they are, at the technological level, unique to each network - however providers generally have agreements to ensure they are allocated identically.
Short codes are widely used for television voting, ordering ringtones, charity donations and mobile services (such as Google's SMS search service). Messages sent to short code numbers are generally billed at a higher rate than a standard SMS.
Regional Differences
Codes are 5 or 6 digits in length. Codes starting with 4 are not permitted due to handset incompatibilities.
Codes are 4 digits in length.
Codes are 5 digits in length, starting with 6 or 8 (codes starting in 5 and 7 exist, but are reserved for future expansion). Individual network operators may come to an agreement with customers, allowing any number to be used - except for adult content services, which must use codes starting with 69 or 89.
Codes are generally 5 digits in length, although there are 4 digit short codes that predate the establishment of the Common Short Code Administration. Codes starting with 1 are not permitted.
See also