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A sender ID is the name recipients see in place of a phone number, such as BRUDCAST. By the end of this page you’ll have one submitted, and you’ll know how to track its approval in each country.
Before you start, have these ready as PDF, PNG or JPEG files, up to 10 MB each:
  • Your Operating License and Company Registration Document. You upload these once, for every sender ID.
  • An Authorization Letter on your letterhead that authorizes this sender ID. Each sender ID needs its own.

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The documents

Carriers register an SMS sender against the business behind it, so they need proof that the business exists and is allowed to operate. SMS is the only channel that asks for documents. Each file must be a PDF, PNG or JPEG of 10 MB or less. Brudcast checks the file’s contents, not just its name, so renaming a file to .pdf doesn’t get past the check. The two business documents are reviewed once and reused for every sender ID. A sender ID can’t be approved in any country while one of its documents is in review or rejected, and the SMS setup step “Get your business documents accepted” is done once both are Accepted. To swap a file that’s in review or accepted, select Replace on its row. Download links expire after a few minutes.

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How approval works

An SMS sender ID is approved in two stages. Brudcast reviews your documents. Then Brudcast registers the sender ID with carriers, and each carrier approves it for the countries it serves. Your sender ID can send to a country as soon as a carrier there approves it. It can’t send anywhere else yet. A message to a country where it isn’t approved isn’t sent, and it counts as a bounce.
1

Upload your business documents

Go to Channels > SMS and open the Documents tab. Drop your Operating License and Company Registration Document into their rows.Each shows In review until it’s Accepted or Rejected. A rejected document shows the reviewer’s note, and you can upload a replacement in the same row. You can register a sender ID while the documents are still in review.
2

Start a new sender ID

Open the Sender IDs tab and select New Sender ID. The New SMS Sender dialog has three steps: Details, Documents and Review.
3

Enter the details

Select Continue.
4

Attach the authorization letter

The Documents step shows your business documents and their status. Upload the Authorization Letter for this sender ID, then select Continue.Continue stays disabled until the letter is attached.
5

Review and submit

Check the summary, then select Submit for Approval. The sender ID appears in the list as Pending.

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What happens next

  1. Brudcast reviews your documents and the sender ID. The status moves to In review.
  2. Brudcast registers the sender ID with carriers. You get a notification when it’s submitted, and another each time a carrier decides.
  3. When a carrier approves it, the sender ID becomes Approved and can send to that carrier’s countries. Other countries keep their own status and decide separately.
Carrier review usually takes a few days. Brudcast notifies you in the dashboard and by email each time a decision is made.

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Track coverage

The Coverage column shows each country and its status by color. For the full picture, select the globe icon (Coverage and documents) on the sender ID’s row. The panel shows:
  • A headline such as “Can send to Nigeria, Ghana” or “Not sendable yet, still under review”.
  • Markets: every country the sender ID has been submitted in, its status, and when it was decided.
  • The authorization letter attached to this sender ID.
When an approval isn’t limited to particular countries, the country is shown as Everywhere.

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Statuses

Sender ID status If a sender ID loses its last carrier approval, it goes back to In review. Country status (in Markets and the Coverage column)

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Change or remove a sender ID

  • Edit (pencil icon): change the label or the default. The Sender ID itself locks once review starts, because carriers approve that exact name. To use a different one, register a new sender ID.
  • Set as default (star icon): only an approved sender ID can be the default.
  • Delete (bin icon): removes it for good. Campaigns set to send from it will fail the send checks.

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Choosing a sender ID

  • Use the brand your recipients already know.
  • Use a name your business has the right to use. Your authorization letter has to cover it.
  • Choose carefully. You can’t change it once review starts.
  • If another organization uses the same sender ID, a STOP reply opts the recipient out of both. See Opt-out keywords.

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Troubleshooting

Why: a required document is missing. The same message names the Operating License or Company Registration Document if one of those is missing or was rejected.Fix: upload the missing document on the Documents tab, or attach the letter on the wizard’s Documents step.
Why: your organization already has a sender ID with that exact name.Fix: use the existing sender ID, or choose a different name.
Why: a carrier is still deciding. This usually takes a few days.Fix: wait for the notification. Nothing is needed from you.
Why: the carriers asked so far didn’t approve the sender ID.Fix: open Coverage and documents to see which countries refused it, and check for a rejected document. Email support@brudcast.com if the reason isn’t clear.
Why: Brudcast rejected the sender ID. The reason is shown under the status.Fix: fix the problem the reason describes, then register a new sender ID.

Countries and number formats

Where Brudcast sends, and how to store numbers.

Sender identities

How review works on every channel.

Send your first SMS

Use your approved sender ID in a campaign.