> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.brudcast.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Channels overview
> What each channel needs before it can send, what it costs in credits, and what's available today.
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A channel is the route a message takes to reach someone: email, SMS, WhatsApp or push. Each channel
is set up on its own, has its own kind of sender identity, and is billed its own way. You manage all
of them under **Channels** in the dashboard.
## What's available
| Channel | Status | Sender identity | Review needed | Wallet gated |
| --------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------ |
| [Email](/channels/email/overview) | Available | A sender address on a verified sending domain, or the Brudcast trial address | No. Verifying the domain proves you control the address | No |
| [SMS](/channels/sms/overview) | Available | A sender ID | Yes. Your business documents are reviewed, and the sender ID is approved country by country | Yes |
| [WhatsApp](/channels/whatsapp/overview) | Early access | A business number on your own WhatsApp Business Account | Yes | Yes |
| [Push](/channels/push/overview) | Available, through Firebase Cloud Messaging | No sender identity. You connect your Firebase project as an app | No. The credential is checked with Firebase instead | No |
Telegram, iMessage, in-app messaging and voice aren't channels you can send on. A contact can hold a
Telegram or iMessage identity, and both can be registered as sender identities through the API, but
there's no campaign channel for either, so nothing is sent on them. In-app messaging and voice aren't
available at all. Push works only through Firebase Cloud Messaging, so there's no direct connection
to Apple Push Notification service or to web push services.
Channels listed under **Coming soon** move up to **Your channels** when they become available. We
don't publish dates. To ask for one, email [support@brudcast.com](mailto:support@brudcast.com) with
your organization name and the channel you need.
## Credits per message
"Wallet gated" means the organization wallet must hold enough credits before a send on that channel
goes out, even on an active plan. Email and push only draw credits once you've used up your plan's
allowance. See [Credits and wallet](/billing/credits-and-wallet).
## The Channels page
Three cards sit at the top of **Channels**:
| Card | What it counts |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Channels Ready** | Channels that can send right now, out of the channels you can set up today |
| **Awaiting Approval** | Sender identities waiting on a decision (**Pending** or **In review**), plus push apps whose credential hasn't been validated yet |
| **Domains Verified** | Email sending domains in the **Verified** state, the Brudcast trial address included |
Under the cards, **Your channels** lists each channel with its status, how many of its required setup
steps are done, and a button to open it. Channels you can't set up yet are listed further down, under
**Coming soon**.
### Readiness
Readiness answers one question per channel: can it send right now? The answer comes from the
checklist on the channel's **Setup** tab, and a channel is ready once every required step is done.
Sending a first campaign is never a requirement.
| Label | Value | What it means | What to do |
| ----------------------------------------- | ------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Not started** | `not_started` | No setup step is done yet | Select **Set up** |
| **Setting up** | `in_progress` | Some steps are done, and at least one required step is left | Select **Continue**, then work through the **Setup** tab |
| **Ready to send** | `ready` | Every required step is done | Nothing. **Manage** opens the channel |
| **Subscription required** or **Disabled** | `locked` | Something outside the checklist stops the channel | Select **Unlock** or **View** |
| Listed under **Coming soon** | `unavailable` | The channel isn't offered to your organization | Nothing |
A channel shows the most restrictive state that applies, so a locked channel never shows as ready
even when its checklist is complete.
* **Subscription required** means email or push has no active subscription. Subscribe under
**Billing & Plans**. See [Plans and subscriptions](/billing/plans-and-subscriptions).
* **Disabled** means Brudcast has switched the product off for your organization. You can still see
what you set up, but you can't add to it. Email
[support@brudcast.com](mailto:support@brudcast.com).
SMS and WhatsApp are never locked for a missing subscription, because they're paid from the wallet
rather than from a plan. A send without enough credits is refused instead.
Readiness is about the channel as a whole. A campaign runs its own checks before it sends, such as an
approved identity for each of its channels and enough credits for its audience. See
[Send checklist](/campaigns/send-checklist).
## The same five steps on every channel
Every channel setup guide follows the same shape, so moving to a new channel doesn't mean learning a
new process.
Check that your plan covers the channel, and that the wallet holds credits if the channel is
wallet gated.
A sending domain (or the Brudcast trial address) for email, a sender ID for SMS, a business
number for WhatsApp, and a connected Firebase app for push.
DNS verification for email. Review for SMS and WhatsApp. An automatic credential check with
Firebase for push.
Push can send a test notification to one device. For email and SMS, preview the campaign or send
it first to an audience that contains only your own contact. For email you can also send a
message to yourself through the send API or the SMTP relay.
Send for real, and know where to look when something fails.
Each channel's **Setup** tab shows these steps as a checklist.
## Sender identities
A sender identity is who a message comes from: the from address on an email, or the sender ID on a
text message. Every channel except push needs one before it can send, and each channel proves your
right to use it in its own way.
| Channel | Identity | Where you manage it | How it's trusted |
| -------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Email | A sender address: from email, from name, optional reply-to | **Channels > Email**, **Senders** tab | Verifying the sending domain. No review |
| SMS | A sender ID | **Channels > SMS**, **Sender IDs** tab | Brudcast reviews your business documents, then carriers approve the sender ID country by country |
| WhatsApp | A business number | **Channels > WhatsApp**, **Numbers** tab | Brudcast review |
Push has no sender identity. You connect your Firebase project as an app under **Channels > Push**,
and Brudcast checks its credential with Firebase rather than reviewing it.
| Status | Label | What it means |
| ----------- | ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `pending` | **Pending** | Submitted, and nobody has started reviewing it. You can still change its value |
| `in_review` | **In review** | Review has started. The value is now locked |
| `approved` | **Approved** | Usable in campaigns |
| `rejected` | **Rejected** | Not usable. The reason appears under the status |
* An email sender address is created **Approved**. Verifying the domain already proved you control
every address on it, so there's nothing left to review.
* **The value locks once review starts**, because Brudcast and the carriers decide on the exact
sender ID or business number you submitted. To use a different one, register a new sender.
* **A rejection comes with a reason**, shown under the status, and you get a notification. Only
Brudcast can reopen a rejected sender, which moves it back to **In review**.
* One identity per channel can be the default. Making one the default clears the previous one.
SMS is the only channel that asks for business documents, because carriers register a sender against
the business behind it. See [Sender IDs](/channels/sms/sender-ids).
## One campaign, several channels
A campaign can carry more than one channel. Brudcast works out how many contacts are reachable on
each one, because a contact with an email address and no phone number can't be reached by SMS.
You write content per channel: the same campaign holds an email body, an SMS body, and so on. See
[Write content for each channel](/campaigns/write-content-per-channel).
## Related
The fastest channel to get live.
Sender IDs, approval per country, and credits per segment.
The checks a campaign passes before it sends.
How credits are held, spent and topped up.