Text Messaging

SMS Shortcodes

Scale your text messaging to high volumes with an SMS shortcode.

If you need to send and receive tens of thousands of SMS messages per day, Telerivet recommends using an SMS shortcode.

SMS shortcodes are typically expensive, so we only recommend using shortcodes if your typical message volume is over 10,000 messages per day.

How it works

If your SMS shortcode is provided directly by a mobile network, Telerivet can connect our servers directly to the mobile network:

Your Contacts
Mobile Networks
Telerivet Servers

Learn more:

If your SMS shortcode is provided by a third-party SMS gateway, that provider would appear between Mobile Networks and Telerivet Servers in the diagram above.

Direct Connectivity

Telerivet can help organizations acquire a dedicated short code in several countries, and can bill directly for per-message fees. For pricing and availability, email us and describe your use case, estimated daily and monthly message volume, and countries needed.

Bring Your Own Connectivity

If you get a SMS shortcode from a mobile network, Telerivet can integrate with the mobile network directly. In order for your shortcode to work on multiple mobile networks in your country, this would likely require integrating with each mobile network separately.

However, in some countries, it is easier to get a shortcode from a third-party SMS gateway than from a mobile network. These gateways can integrate with multiple mobile networks in a particular country, so that Telerivet does not need to integrate with each mobile network separately. The following third-party SMS gateways can provide SMS shortcodes in the countries listed below:

twilio
Provides shortcodes in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom (learn more).

vonage
Provides shortcodes in the United States, Canada, France, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Pakistan (learn more).

africastalking
Provides shortcodes in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi, Ethiopia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Guinea, Lesotho, Mali, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, South Africa, Eswatini, and Togo (learn more).

Telerivet can also integrate with other shortcode providers on request.

Shortcode Setup

To connect an SMS shortcode to your Telerivet account, first secure an SMS shortcode from a mobile network or SMS gateway in your country. Then, email us and we will gladly connect your shortcode to your Telerivet account.

In order for Telerivet to integrate with your SMS shortcode provider, your provider must provide an API that Telerivet supports. Telerivet can integrate with most types of SMS APIs, as long as they are based on either SMPP or HTTP.

In order to test the integration, we may also require you to connect an Android phone to Telerivet and give us access to send and receive messages through it. This allows Telerivet to make sure that your integration is actually working, even if our developers are in a different country.

The typical timeline for integration is one to two weeks, if the shortcode is not provided by a SMS gateway API that Telerivet already supports, such as Twilio or Africa's Talking.

Integration Pricing

Since custom integrations require Telerivet to do additional work for initial development, ongoing maintenance, and support, additional fees may apply above Telerivet's normal service plan pricing.

Pricing for custom integrations depends on the API. To discuss pricing for custom integrations, contact us at support@telerivet.com.

Note that in addition to Telerivet's service plan and integration fees, you'll also have to pay the API provider directly for costs such as the messages you send you send/receive, reserving your virtual number or shortcode, and any other costs involved in using their platform.