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Flash SMS

Judith Greiner
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A flash SMS is a type of text message that - without user action - appears directly and fullscreen on the mobile phone.

 

Use cases for Flash SMS

  • Emergency notifications
  • One-time passwords (OTP)
  • Time-critical communication
  • Any other type of highly important SMS messages

 

Benefits of using Flash SMS

  • Users can't ignore your message because it appears fullscreen and needs to be closed actively.
  • It's safer than standard SMS because the message isn't stored in the inbox. Information can't get stolen along with the phone.
  • Users can receive Flash SMS even if they have no storage on their phone.
  • Users still have the option of saving Flash messages, with the appropriate sender ID, if they choose to do this. 

If Flash SMS isn't supported by an operator or mobile phone, the message is still sent as a standard SMS. In case of multiple Flash messages being sent, it’s important to keep in mind that your users will only be able to see the last message they receive.

 

How to send Flash SMS

It's not possible to send Flash SMS directly via the MessageBird dashboard. You can send Flash SMS through our API by simply classifying the message as 'type: flash' in the API call. You can find more information on how to do so in the SMS messaging section on our website for developers. 

 

 

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