> ## 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.

# SMS overview

> Send plain-text SMS campaigns from an approved sender ID, paid per segment from your wallet. How setup, approval and pricing fit together.

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SMS reaches people on any phone, whether or not they read email. You send it from a sender ID, the
name recipients see in place of a phone number. You pay for every message in credits from your
wallet.

<Screenshot id="ss-sms-overview-hero-channel-page" alt="The SMS channel page with its Setup, Sender IDs and Documents tabs and the Approved Sender IDs, Awaiting Approval and Setup counters" />

SMS doesn't need a subscription. The wallet is what pays for it, so a send is blocked when the wallet
can't cover it.

<Snippet file="wallet-gated.mdx" />

## How the pieces fit together

A sender ID has to be approved before it can send, and approval happens country by country. The
wallet is independent of approval: it only has to cover the send when you send.

```mermaid theme={"system"}
flowchart LR
  D[Business documents accepted] --> S[Sender ID registered]
  S --> R[Reviewed by Brudcast, approved by carriers per country]
  R --> A[Approved in at least one country]
  W[Wallet topped up] --> C[Campaign sends]
  A --> C
```

## Setup path

<Steps>
  <Step title="Top up your wallet" icon="wallet">
    [Turn SMS on](#turn-sms-on)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Get your documents accepted and register a sender ID" icon="badge-check">
    [Sender IDs](/channels/sms/sender-ids)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check where you can send" icon="globe">
    [Countries and number formats](#countries-and-number-formats)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Write a message that fits" icon="message-square">
    [Writing SMS content](/channels/sms/writing-sms-content)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Send a campaign" icon="send">
    [Send your first SMS](/channels/sms/send-your-first-sms)
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Turn SMS on

There's no SMS plan to buy, so the channel is open as soon as you have credits.

1. Go to **Billing & Plans > Credits** and top up. You can pay by card or bank transfer, or buy a
   credit pack. Bonus credits from a pack can pay for SMS.
2. Turn on auto top-up. It refills the wallet when the balance drops below a threshold you set, up to
   a daily limit. Without it, a campaign that runs out of credits stops partway through.
3. In **Channels > SMS**, open the **Documents** tab and upload your **Operating License** and
   **Company Registration Document**. Approval takes the longest of all the SMS setup steps, so start
   it now. See [Sender IDs](/channels/sms/sender-ids).

If the page says SMS has been disabled, the product has been turned 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).

See [Credits and wallet](/billing/credits-and-wallet).

## The SMS page

Go to **Channels > SMS**. It has three tabs:

* **Setup**: the checklist for this channel. "Get your business documents accepted", "Register an
  SMS sender ID" and "Get your sender ID approved".
* **Sender IDs**: every sender ID you've registered, its status, and the countries it can send to.
* **Documents**: your business documents, reviewed once and reused for every sender ID.

The counters at the top show **Approved Sender IDs** (approved by at least one carrier),
**Awaiting Approval**, and how many **Setup** steps are done.

## How SMS differs from email

|             | Email                                                       | SMS                                                                           |
| ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Identity    | A sender address on a verified domain, usable straight away | A sender ID, reviewed by Brudcast and approved by carriers country by country |
| Documents   | None                                                        | Business documents, plus an authorization letter for each sender ID           |
| Paid for by | Your plan's allowance, then 1 credit per email              | Credits only, per segment, at the destination country's rate                  |
| Length      | No practical limit                                          | Counted in segments, up to 4 per campaign message                             |
| Content     | HTML or plain text                                          | Plain text                                                                    |
| Opt-out     | An unsubscribe link                                         | "Reply STOP to opt out", added to every campaign message                      |
| Results     | Delivery, opens and clicks                                  | Delivery only. No opens or clicks                                             |

## Who a campaign reaches

An SMS campaign reaches only contacts with an SMS identity: a phone number and its country. Contacts
without one aren't reached and aren't charged. Numbers that replied STOP are skipped.

When you build a campaign, Brudcast shows the reach for each channel, so you can see the gap before
you send. See [Write content for each channel](/campaigns/write-content-per-channel).

## Countries and number formats

Brudcast sends SMS to countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. To ask
about a country that isn't listed, email [support@brudcast.com](mailto:support@brudcast.com) before
you plan a campaign around it.

Coverage has two layers, and both have to line up:

| Layer              | What it means                                | Where to check                                              |
| ------------------ | -------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| Country coverage   | Brudcast can send to numbers in that country | This page, or ask support                                   |
| Sender ID approval | Your sender ID is approved in that country   | **Channels > SMS > Sender IDs**, in the **Coverage** column |

A sender ID approved only in Ghana can't send to a Kenyan number, even though Brudcast covers Kenya.
That message isn't sent, and it counts as a bounce in the campaign results.

Every number is converted to international E.164 format before it's sent: a `+`, the country code,
then the subscriber number, with no spaces.

| How the number is stored                        | Example                         | What happens                                                |
| ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| E.164                                           | `+2348000000001`                | Used as it is. The country comes from the country code      |
| National format, with the contact's country set | `08000000001` with country `NG` | Read as a Nigerian number and converted to `+2348000000001` |
| Not a valid number for its country              | `0800`                          | Not sent. Counted as a bounce                               |

Carriers need the international form to deliver a message, and an opt-out is matched against the
converted number, so a number left in national form would never match the STOP reply that came from
it. A phone number on a contact must be 10 to 20 characters long.

<Tip>
  Store numbers in E.164 when you can, and always set the contact's country. Brudcast uses the
  country to price the message as well as to read the number.
</Tip>

## What a send costs

```
credits = segments per message x reachable recipients x country rate
```

Destination countries are grouped into tiers, and the rate depends on the tier of the recipient's
number, so an audience spread across several countries costs more than the same audience in one cheap
tier. The rates in force for your organization are shown when you estimate a campaign.

Only contacts with an SMS identity are billed. A contact with an email address and no phone number is
skipped and costs nothing. A single emoji switches the whole message to unicode and more than halves
your character budget, which is the most common reason a campaign costs twice what someone expected.
See [Writing SMS content](/channels/sms/writing-sms-content).

When a campaign starts, Brudcast holds the credits the estimate calls for. As messages go out, the
hold is settled against actual usage, and anything unused is released back to the wallet. That's why
a campaign whose estimate exceeds your balance is blocked before any message is sent, rather than
halfway through. See [Credits and wallet](/billing/credits-and-wallet).

## Rules and limits

| Rule                           | Value                                                    |
| ------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| Sender ID length               | Up to 20 characters                                      |
| Business documents             | PDF, PNG or JPEG, up to 10 MB each                       |
| Segments per campaign message  | 4 at most                                                |
| Opt-out footer                 | "Reply STOP to opt out", added to every campaign message |
| When a message is charged      | When a carrier accepts it                                |
| Waiting for a delivery receipt | 24 hours, then the message is marked expired             |

## Consent

You need consent on record before you text anyone. Opt-out keywords stop messages to people who
change their mind, but they don't replace consent. Each contact holds a consent record. See
[Add and edit contacts](/contacts/add-and-edit-contacts) and
[Opt-out keywords](/channels/sms/writing-sms-content#opt-out-keywords).

## Related

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Sender IDs" icon="badge-check" href="/channels/sms/sender-ids">
    Register one, upload your documents, and get it approved per country.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Writing SMS content" icon="type" href="/channels/sms/writing-sms-content">
    Segments, the 4-segment limit, and the opt-out keywords.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Send your first SMS" icon="send" href="/channels/sms/send-your-first-sms">
    Put an approved sender ID into a campaign.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Credits and wallet" icon="wallet" href="/billing/credits-and-wallet">
    How credits are held, spent and topped up.
  </Card>
</Columns>