In the United States, we have direct connections with local operators; however, local networks in the United States apply severe restrictions on what types of messages and the volume that is allowed. Our platform is setup so it adheres to these restrictions in the best way possible, based on official guidelines provided by the carriers.
Sender ID Restrictions
When sending to a US number the sender of your message must be a US Longcode
| Can I send with a name/letters as the sender? | No | The message will be blocked by the network |
| Can I send with an international number as the sender? | No | The message will be blocked by the network |
| Can I send with a local number as the sender? | Yes | To send to the US you must use a Longcode |
| Can I send a message with over 160 characters as 1 SMS? | No | The message will be delivered as separate SMS |
Content Restrictions
| Bulk SMS |
Bulk SMS is officially not supported in the US and operator's preserve the right to filter and block messages that are of a bulk nature and don't adhere to their internal guidelines.
Operators consider messages to be bulk if there is a group of messages with the same/similar content sent using the same originator. We've found that when split across smaller groups (<50 messages) and different times of sending (spaces of a few minutes, for example), allows for a better delivery rate. |
| Maximum Messages |
Our platform allows for 500 SMS (160 characters) per Longcode per day to be sent and we will throttle the number of messages to be sent out at 1 SMS per second. If you send more than this volume, our platform will not send these but you may still be charged. Delivery within this threshold can be affected by the restrictions mentioned above applied at the networks' discretion. This is out of our control. |
| Filtering |
It is not allowed to send messages that promote gambling, betting and/or adult content as well as website links. All messages that can be considered spam and/or unsolicited may be filtered. This out of our control. Many US providers are unable to send the '@' sign unless the SMS is submitted in unicode. You can find out more on special characters here.
Update 28/07/2017 17:30 CEST: As per the 31st of July, local operators in the US are increasing their filtering guidelines. As a result of this, previously accepted traffic may be considered unsolicited and may be blocked. Unfortunately, this is out of MessageBird's control.
Traffic that has been delivered successfully, does not necessarily imply compliance with industry guidelines and regulations. Due to a lack of insight from the local operators we are unable to provide further, proactive details on additional filtering that may take place.
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