Sometimes you may see or hear from your end-users that your SMS are were delivered with a delay. You might also see that the status on an SMS is 'sent', meaning we are still trying to deliver it. Below we will discuss some reasons that you may see a delay, how we retry delivery, and what to do if you are still experiencing issues.
Reason for delays
The phone is switched off or out of network coverage
We are unable to deliver an SMS if the phone is switched off. Similarly, we are unable to deliver an SMS if the phone is switched on but out of network coverage. It is also possible for the phone to have an issue with the Application-to-Person (A2P) network, which we explain more about here. In this case it is also not possible for us to deliver the SMS until the phone has reconnected to the A2P network. Most connection issues are resolved by simply restarting the phone as this refreshes the connection to the network.
The number is roaming
We cannot guarantee delivery for numbers in roaming. Whether or not the SMS can be delivered depends on agreements between the home network and the roaming network. This is out of our control.
Retrying delivery
If we are unable to deliver an SMS to a valid number, we will try to re-deliver the message. The exact timespan varies according to the validity period on the SMS. Most networks will try to deliver a message for 48-72 hours, but you are able to set your own validity period on SMS if you require this. You can read more here on how to set your own validity period: Setting a Validity Period for your SMS
Still having issues?
If you encounter this issue more often or see that this is affecting multiple numbers, we can investigate this in more detail. To do so, the following information is needed from your side:
- Your Workspace ID
- Between three and ten affected recipient numbers. The more examples we receive, the easier it is for us to investigate.
- Date and timestamps when the messages were sent and when they were delivered on the phone. Please include your timezone.