diff --git a/src/smsutil.c b/src/smsutil.c
index ad38ed98..1eb4e3c8 100644
--- a/src/smsutil.c
+++ b/src/smsutil.c
@@ -110,6 +110,17 @@ static inline int to_semi_oct(char in)
 	return digit;
 }
 
+void encode_bcd_number(const char *number, unsigned char *out)
+{
+	while (number[0] != '\0' && number[1] != '\0') {
+		*out = to_semi_oct(*number++);
+		*out++ |= to_semi_oct(*number++) << 4;
+	}
+
+	if (*number)
+		*out = to_semi_oct(*number) | 0xf0;
+}
+
 /* Returns whether the DCS could be parsed successfully, e.g. no reserved
  * values were used
  */
diff --git a/src/smsutil.h b/src/smsutil.h
index d362aa98..4a392665 100644
--- a/src/smsutil.h
+++ b/src/smsutil.h
@@ -401,6 +401,7 @@ static inline unsigned char bit_field(unsigned char oct, int start, int num)
 }
 
 void extract_bcd_number(const unsigned char *buf, int len, char *out);
+void encode_bcd_number(const char *number, unsigned char *out);
 
 gboolean sms_decode(const unsigned char *pdu, int len, gboolean outgoing,
 			int tpdu_len, struct sms *out);