Why would a text message not be delivered? -Here are the top 15 reasons behind!
Phoning a friend? If their phone is turned off, you’ll know it right away. But what about a text? You may never know if your message got delivered.
Global messaging using A2P (Application to Person) messaging (or SMS API) platforms is complicated, as most of the heavy lifting is done without you knowing it. Today, we’re going to show you the main reasons why SMS text messages go undelivered.
Wish to know more about SMS? How to fix delayed text messages on your Android device?
1) The recipient’s phone is switched off
If you get a busy signal while calling, you try again later. But when the SMS doesn’t get delivered on the first try, it is automatically re-sent in certain intervals. When the phone is available again, the message gets delivered.
If a certain amount of time passes without the SMS being successfully delivered, your mobile carrier might decide to stop trying. For example, Messente’s system is configured to try to deliver messages within 6 hours. If the message still won’t go through, it is eventually marked as ‘Failed.’
If you do get a ‘Failed’ warning on one of your messages, then you know that the delivery has definitely not been successful. At this point, you can try and resend the message, and the process will be repeated.
If this reoccurs, then it can be hard to know whether the recipient’s phone is switched off, or there is a more serious problem with either your phone or theirs. Most people will have their phones turned on at some point during the day, so if your message goes a whole 24 hours without being delivered, then it’s fair to assume that a switched-off phone is not the explanation.
2) False negative
Sending SMS text messages also requires receiving Delivery Reports (DLR) from carriers or operators. When the operator fails to respond with the correct receipt, the sender isn’t notified of the delivery and marks it as ‘Failed.’
Unfortunately, there are many cases where the operator has a problem on their end and the DLR is not sent through correctly. The most annoying thing is that the sender will have no idea that this is the issue and instead think that the problem lies elsewhere.
If you’re the person trying to send messages, then there’s really no way to know if you’ve run into a false negative. Ultimately, you only know if a message is delivered by receiving a reply.
USA, Canada, and most Latin-American countries are known not to provide delivery reports at all.
3) The number is roaming (abroad)
If you’re trying to send SMS messages to a number that is currently not in the home country often causes problems, and frequently, delivery to numbers that are roaming is not guaranteed. It’s also worth noting that sending an SMS abroad can be very expensive, especially if you don’t have international messages included in your data plan.
If you know beforehand that the recipient is abroad but you still want the message to get through to them, then there are a few things to remember. Firstly, be sure to use the correct country code, which is inserted before the phone number. Additionally, ensure that your carrier allows international SMS messaging — your messages won’t be sent if this is not the case.
If you’re a business sending messages to phone numbers all around the world, then you should check that you are collecting your clients’ country codes when they share their numbers with you.
4) The sender you are using is prohibited
Some countries or operators are blocking some types of senders or A2P messaging platforms. Japan, for example, doesn’t allow sending A2P SMS messages from regular phone numbers. Telia Sonera in Finland, on the other hand, blocks messages from alphanumeric senders like “CarService1″ or “best hotel.”
These restrictions are put in place to prevent companies from engaging in high-volume messaging or spam. In these cases, it’s more difficult to run A2P marketing strategies, even if you’re not going to be spamming your clients.
Make sure to do your research around the rules and laws in your country. As long as you understand what is and isn’t allowed, you shouldn’t have any problems running a successful marketing campaign with an A2P strategy.
