> ## 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 troubleshooting

> Sender ID registration and approval errors, sends that fail, and delivery or credit surprises, with why each happens and how to fix it.

Find the message or symptom you're seeing. Each entry says why it happens and what to do.

## Sender ID registration and approval

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="“A Authorization Letter is required before this sender can be registered”" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** a required document is missing. The message inserts the document's name, which is why it
    reads "A Authorization Letter". The same message names the **Operating License** or the
    **Company Registration Document** when one of those is missing or was rejected.

    **Fix:** upload the missing business document on the **Documents** tab, or attach the
    authorization letter on the **Documents** step of the **New SMS Sender** dialog. See
    [Sender IDs](/channels/sms/sender-ids).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="“A sms sender identity with this value already exists for this organization”" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** your organization already has a sender ID with that exact name.

    **Fix:** use the existing sender ID, or choose a different name.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="“No approved SMS sender identities yet.”" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** the campaign's **Sender ID** list only offers approved sender IDs, and you have none
    yet.

    **Fix:** [register a sender ID](/channels/sms/sender-ids) and wait for a carrier to approve it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="“Not sendable yet, still under review”" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** a carrier is still deciding, and the sender ID has no approved country yet. This
    usually takes a few days. The campaign composer shows the same thing as "Not sendable yet, still
    under review. The campaign will not send until this sender is approved."

    **Fix:** wait for the notification. Nothing is needed from you. To send sooner, pick another
    sender ID that's already approved where you're sending.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="“Not sendable yet, not approved”" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** the carriers asked so far didn't approve the sender ID.

    **Fix:** open **Coverage and documents** (the globe icon on the sender ID's row) to see which
    countries refused it, and check whether a document was rejected. Email
    [support@brudcast.com](mailto:support@brudcast.com) if the reason isn't clear.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The sender ID shows Rejected" icon="circle-alert">
    **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. The value itself
    locks once review starts, so a rejected sender ID can't be edited and resubmitted.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The sender ID went back to In review on its own" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** it lost its last carrier approval, so no country is approved any more.

    **Fix:** wait for the next carrier decision, and check **Coverage and documents** for a document
    that has since been rejected.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Sending failures

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="“over the 4-segment limit, shorten the message”" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** with the opt-out footer added, the message needs more than the 4 segments a campaign
    message allows.

    **Fix:** shorten it, or remove the characters that switched it to unicode. See
    [Writing SMS content](/channels/sms/writing-sms-content).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The campaign used more segments than planned" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** an emoji, curly quote or other character outside the GSM-7 set switched the message to
    unicode, so every segment holds 70 characters instead of 160. The opt-out footer may also have
    pushed it over a segment boundary, or merge tags expanded to longer values than you expected.

    **Fix:** watch the counter under the **Message** field as you type, and budget for your longest
    likely merge-tag value. See [Writing SMS content](/channels/sms/writing-sms-content).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The campaign reaches fewer people than the audience" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** only contacts with an SMS identity are reached, and numbers that replied STOP are
    skipped. Neither is charged.

    **Fix:** add phone numbers to your contacts in E.164, such as `+2348000000001`, and set each
    contact's country. See [Add and edit contacts](/contacts/add-and-edit-contacts) and
    [Countries and number formats](/channels/sms/overview#countries-and-number-formats).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Messages to some countries bounced" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** the sender ID isn't approved in those countries. Approval is country by country, so a
    sender ID approved in Ghana can't send to a Kenyan number.

    **Fix:** check the **Coverage** column in **Channels > SMS > Sender IDs**, and exclude the
    countries it can't reach until a carrier there approves it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A message failed with an invalid number" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** the number isn't a valid phone number for its country, so it couldn't be converted to
    E.164.

    **Fix:** correct the number on the contact, or set the contact's country so a national-format
    number can be read. A phone number must be 10 to 20 characters.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A message failed with no route available" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** Brudcast has no route to that destination.

    **Fix:** email [support@brudcast.com](mailto:support@brudcast.com) with the destination country
    before you plan a campaign around it.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Delivery and credits

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The campaign stopped partway through" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** the wallet ran out, and the campaign stopped at the end of a batch rather than mid-batch.

    **Fix:** top up, then send the rest as a new campaign. Turn on auto top-up to avoid it next time.
    See [Credits and wallet](/billing/credits-and-wallet).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A message shows EXPIRED" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** a carrier accepted the message but never sent a final delivery receipt. After 24 hours
    the message is marked `EXPIRED` so the campaign can finish.

    **Fix:** nothing. An expired message may well have reached the phone. The status only means
    Brudcast never heard back.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A message was charged even though it wasn't delivered" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** an SMS is charged when the carrier accepts it, whatever the delivery receipt says
    afterwards, expiry included.

    **Fix:** nothing to reclaim. Recipients who opted out are skipped and not charged at all, and
    contacts without a phone number cost nothing.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The results show no opens or clicks" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** SMS has no open or click tracking. The report leaves these blank rather than showing
    zero.

    **Fix:** measure SMS by delivery, or by traffic to a link you only use in that campaign. See
    [Campaign results](/campaigns/results).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Still stuck

Email [support@brudcast.com](mailto:support@brudcast.com) with:

* the sender ID and the campaign name
* the recipient's number in E.164
* the time you sent, with your time zone
* the exact error text

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

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

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