Why is my SMS Failing?

If you are sending SMS messages and you see that they are consistently failing, it is likely that the carrier has blocked you from sending messages. 

SMS messages, like email messages, can appear as spam and be blocked at the carrier's discretion. Phoneburner does not have control over this, as the mobile carrier is responsible for delivering your messages.

This could be due to the number of messages being sent vs the number of messages responded to (a disproportionate number of responses could raise a flag) or the content of your messages. If they appear to be unsolicited messages, they may get flagged. If the carrier rejects it because they think it is SPAM, they may reject it with an error message or silently block it without any sort of "failed" message at all. 

The best usage guideline PhoneBurner can offer is to use SMS just like you would use your own phone to text..

• Only send SMS to contacts who have already agreed to receive SMS from you.
• Avoid texting contacts who have never heard from you before, or who you do not have a relationship with. These messages are much more likely to be flagged.
  
• Send personal messages to people who are expecting them such as: "Hey Bob, I just called you about the position you said you were interested in, please call me back" vs a repetitive copied and pasted message that is the same to each contact over and over, but it is ultimately the carrier who makes the determination. 
  
• Be mindful of the number of messages you send in total, and the number of messages you send to a particular contact. Especially if they are not responding.

Even if you follow the best usage guidelines, PhoneBurner cannot guarantee your messages or numbers will not become restricted by a carrier. We don't have any control over how they choose to regulate activity on their services.   

Messages will also fail if a contact has replied "STOP" to any previous SMS messages from the same vPhone number. 

Please review Phoneburner's Terms and Conditions of service, section 8 for details and make sure your usage is in compliance with all regulations.  Please review your SMS activity and make changes, if appropriate, to be sure you are not at risk for account termination.