This article provides a comprehensive overview of Carrick Health's message credit system, detailing how credits are utilized for outbound communications, how they are calculated, and how they are managed across different subscription plans.

Message credits are a unit of measurement used by Carrick to track and bill for outbound communications sent from your account. The number of credits consumed varies based on the communication channel, type of message, and its length.

• Standard SMS: 1 credit per 160 characters. Each 160-character segment counts as one credit.

• MMS Messages: An MMS message uses 3 credits for each attached media item (such as images or videos), in addition to credits for the message text based on SMS segment rules.

Example: A message containing 200 characters and an image will use 5 credits:

• 200 characters = 2 SMS segments = 2 credits

• 1 image = 3 credits

• Total = 5 credits

• Smart Voicemail: 3 credits per minute. Credits are calculated based on the voicemail duration, rounded up to the nearest minute.

• Automated Outbound Voice Message: 3 credits per minute. Credits are calculated based on call duration, rounded up to the nearest minute.

Example: A 2 minute 10 second Smart Voicemail will use 9 credits:

• 3 minutes (rounded up) × 3 credits/min = 9 credits

• AI Usage (AI SMS Bots): 3 credits per use. Each AI-driven interaction or response generated by an AI SMS Bot consumes 3 credits.

Example: If an AI SMS Bot generates 4 responses during a conversation:

• 4 uses × 3 credits/use = 12 credits

• Credits roll over from month to month.

• Each new month will consume the current month’s credits first, followed by any available rollover credits.

• Rollover credits expire after one month if unused.

Example: If you receive 1,000 credits in April and only use 800, the remaining 200 credits roll over to May. If those 200 rollover credits are not used during May, they will expire at the end of that month.

• You receive a yearly credit total that can be used at any time throughout the year.

• This flexibility allows you to accommodate seasonal fluctuations in usage more easily.

• If you exceed your annual credit total, additional usage will be billed monthly until your annual plan renews.

To assist you in estimating the number of credits your messages will use, Carrick provides a Message Credit Calculator. This tool allows you to:

• Input your message text

• Receive an estimated credit usage count in real time

We recommend utilizing this calculator before sending large campaigns to help you stay within your available credit balance.