SMS may not arrive at the destination device for a number of reasons. In this article you will find explanations for the different status reports.
If your SMS does not arrive despite these measures, please contact our support and provide the ID of the SMS or the recipient number and the time of sending. You can find the ID in the Message Details for the SMS in Conversations - click a message and then click Details.
Check status: Did the SMS send?
First, check the status report of the SMS in question - it will give you a first hint as to why your SMS did not arrive. If your SMS was not sent at all, please check whether there is enough credit available, whether you accidentally tried to send your SMS without text or whether other invalid information could have prevented the dispatch.
Status "Delivered"
If your SMS has the status "Delivered" but you are sure the SMS has not arrived (for example because you have sent an SMS to yourself), please check:
- Was the recipient number entered correctly (look for typos)?
- Did you enter the correct country calling code?
- Does the receiving device display the SMS after a restart?
If these points are fulfilled, please contact our support with the SMS ID or the recipient number and the time of sending.
Status "Not delivered"
In most cases the status "Not delivered" has something to do with the receiving device. If possible, check:
- Is the receiving device switched on?
- Does it have network reception?
- Does it receive the SMS after a reboot?
- Can the device currently receive SMS that were not sent via our gateway?
Status "Rejected"
If you receive the status "Rejected" the message was rejected by the network operator. Often, the filtering of messages is related to the regulations in the recipient country.
The international market is very inconsistent. Our blogpost on sending international SMS gives an overview of the rules. Nevertheless, please check the regulations in the recipient country carefully, as we cannot guarantee the list is complete. Some countries like France, the USA or India have very complex and strict regulations and may impose massive penalties.
The most likely reasons for a rejection are:
Content identified as spam
Different countries allow different content via SMS. Carrier filters automatically block messages with certain words. In China, for example, content dealing with cosmetics is forbidden, among other things. If you want to send links, check in advance whether sending URLs is allowed. Some countries prohibit this completely or only allow it after pre-registration.
Sender ID not accepted
Depending on the recipient country, only specific senders may be allowed. Alphanumeric senders may be blocked or numeric senders may be changed. In some countries you must register as a sender in advance.
Encoding
Message encoding also plays a role when sending international SMS. Certain network operators cannot process Unicode messages, for example. Also note the different rules regarding message length (see next point).
Message length
The length of your message can also cause a carrier to reject the SMS. Depending on the coding, certain countries allow fewer characters than usual. In China, for example, an SMS can contain a maximum of 65 characters in Unicode and a maximum of 130 characters in GSM coding. In some countries concatenated long SMS are not supported.
Request a refund
If you have checked why your SMS did not arrive and believe a refund is justified, contact our support with the SMS ID. Our technical team will see the data of the SMS in question and can credit the SMS back if applicable.
Blocked links
It can happen that certain links are blocked by our filters. If you believe that your SMS did not arrive due to a blocked link, please contact us.
Inbound SMS
For details please read the article Inbound SMS do not arrive.