Last Updated - April 10, 2026

Purpose

This article explains how Messaging Credits are calculated and consumed when sending Notifications, including what happens if credits are unused or exceeded.

Overview

Clients receive an annual allowance of Messaging Credits for the solutions listed above.  The specific number of Messaging Credits is shown on the applicable product Quote.  Usage can be monitored in the Client Portal.

Key Rules

• Credits are applied per Notification based on message modality and destination region.
• Unused Messaging Credits (including any additional purchased credits) expire at the end of the annual contract period under the applicable Quote and are not refundable.
• If Messaging Credit usage exceeds the annual allowance allocated to the account (or previously purchased credits), the Client pays for overages, and charges apply back to the date incurred.

How Messaging Credits Are Consumed

Messaging Credits are consumed based on factors such as the following:

• Message modality (e.g., SMS, Voice)
• Destination Region
• The modality’s unit of measure (e.g., per SMS message, per minute of voice call)

Credit Rates by Region & Modality

The table below lists the Messaging Credits per unit consumed by each modality, by destination region.

What Counts as a Single Notification

A single Notification is calculated per modality as follows:

SMS Text

• Messages containing only GSM characters are counted as one segment per 153 characters or portion thereof.
• Messages containing any non-GSM characters are counted as one segment per 67 characters or portion thereof.
• GSM characters are defined by the GSM 7-bit default alphabet.

Voice and Conference Voice

• One minute, or portion of a minute, of the voice message.
• Calculated cumulatively per month and per destination country.

TTY

• Per TTY call.

Fax

• Per page transmitted.

Units of Measure by Modality

Use the table below to interpret “per unit” in the regional rate table.

Calculation Examples

The following examples illustrate how Messaging Credits are consumed.

Example A – SMS (GSM), North America
SMS Notification (100 GSM characters) to 100 contacts in the United States

• 100 contacts x 1 Notification/contact x 5 credits per US SMS = 500 Messaging Credits

Example B – Voice, Europe
Voice Notification (30 seconds per message) to 500 contacts in France:

• 500 contacts x 30 seconds = 250 minutes x 40 credits per European voice call (per minute) = 10,000 Messaging Credits

Example C – SMS (GSM segmentation), Asia + North America
SMS Notification (200 GSM Characters) to 250 contacts in India and 2,000 contacts in the United States

• India (Asia): 250 x 2 Notifications/contact x 30 credits per Asian SMS = 15,000 Messaging Credits
• United States (North America): 2,000 x 2 Notifications/contact x 5 credits per US SMS = 20,000 Messaging Credits
• Total 35,000 Messaging Credits

Delivery and Channel Reliance Notice

Everbridge transmits messages through various channels using standard protocols.  Messaging services (including email, voice calls, and SMS) may experience delays or undelivered messages due to third parties (e.g., busy signal, carrier network issues, dead battery).  Everbridge cannot guarantee delivery and advises against relying solely on one messaging channel for important communications.

Changes to This Guide

Everbridge reserves the right to modify this Credit Usage Guide from time-to-time, in its sole discretion, effective upon posting a revised copy of the Guide within the provided Services.  Any use of Everbridge network and Services after such modifications shall constitute acceptance of such modifications.