URL shorteners
URL shorteners keep the links in your SMS and Viber messages short, so messages stay within fewer segments and cost less to send. They shorten the survey link inside the message content of your queue items, mainly for SMS and Viber. Admin only
Why a short link matters
An SMS fits 160 characters per segment. A full survey URL can be long enough on its own to push a message past that limit, splitting it into two segments — which costs roughly twice as much to send. A short link is often the difference between one segment and two, so shortening pays for itself across a campaign.
The same logic applies to Viber, and it keeps your messages cleaner and easier to read whatever the channel.
e-sat.ly, the built-in shortener
e-sat.ly is the suite's own shortener. A shortened link looks like https://e-sat.ly/ followed by a short code — around 28 characters in total, which comfortably leaves room for the rest of your message.
It's a full product in its own right, with its own console where you can see every link, the clicks each one received, and how long the data is kept. To see your survey links there, connect one of your organization's e-sat.ly projects to your workspaces. The suite then shortens their links into that project, and there's no key or token to copy anywhere.
The e-sat.ly panel at the top of the URL shorteners page shows whether it's On or Off for your organization.
Connect e-sat.ly
Open URL shorteners
In the Admin Panel, go to Configuration → URL shorteners.
Select Set up e-sat.ly
You'll find it on the right of the e-sat.ly panel.
Choose the project
Pick one of your organization's e-sat.ly projects. If your organization doesn't have one yet, one called Admin Panel is created for you when you save. You can rename it in the e-sat.ly console later.
Choose the workspaces
Select the workspaces whose links should go into the project. A workspace that currently uses another shortener, such as bit.ly, moves to e-sat.ly, and the panel tells you before you save.
Save
New SMS and Viber messages from those workspaces are shortened into your project, and their links and clicks appear in the e-sat.ly console.
Only organization administrators can change this
Everyone who can open the page can see whether e-sat.ly is on. Connecting it, changing the workspaces, and switching it off are for organization administrators.
Once it's connected
The connected project stays fixed. Select Manage e-sat.ly to add or remove workspaces. Each time you open it, the project is checked with e-sat.ly:
- Connected project shows in green with a check mark when the project exists and works.
- Each workspace that's working shows a green connected label.
Removing a workspace from e-sat.ly stops it shortening links, so its messages carry the full-length link.
Once e-sat.ly is connected, administrators also find e-sat.ly in the product menu, under Other.
When something needs attention
The panel tells you when a connection needs fixing, and what to do about it:
- Some workspaces use an old token. This happens when someone re-issues the project's key in the e-sat.ly console. Those workspaces send links unshortened until you fix them: select Reconnect, or open Manage e-sat.ly and save.
- The project no longer exists. If the project was deleted in e-sat.ly, choose another project from the panel to set it up again.
- Workspaces are split across projects. If your workspaces use more than one e-sat.ly project, you're asked to choose one. When you save, every selected workspace uses it.
Switch e-sat.ly off
Open Manage e-sat.ly, turn off Use e-sat.ly, and save.
Switching off stops shortening
Every workspace that uses e-sat.ly stops shortening its links. Messages carry the full-length link, which can push an SMS into more segments. The project and the links already in it stay in e-sat.ly.
Other shorteners
You can use a different shortener on some workspaces, for example if you want branded links. It replaces e-sat.ly on the workspaces you choose. These shorteners are listed under Other URL shorteners, below the e-sat.ly panel.
| Provider | What you'll need |
|---|---|
| bit.ly | Token |
You generate the token in the provider's own dashboard (for bit.ly, under your account's API settings) and paste it here.
Firebase Dynamic Links and Google's URL shortener
Firebase Dynamic Links shut down in August 2025, and Google's URL shortener was retired in 2019, so neither can be chosen any more. A workspace still set to one of them isn't shortening links. Connect it to e-sat.ly, or to another shortener.
Get a token
Sign up with bit.ly and generate an API token.
Add the shortener
Under Other URL shorteners, select Add shortener, then paste your token.
Pick the workspaces
Choose which workspaces should use it. On those workspaces it replaces e-sat.ly.
Save
New SMS and Viber messages from those workspaces now use your custom links.
Test with a real send
After connecting a shortener, send a test survey to yourself and check the link in the message opens correctly. Branded domains occasionally need DNS set up on the provider's side before links resolve.
Related
e-sat.ly
Projects & API keys
Configuration
Message content
Dispatch queue
Messaging providers