Send your first message
Choose a channel, send a test message, and confirm delivery. Before you start, you need:
- An account on the free trial or a paying account. If you already have your own sender, send from it instead of the shared test sender.
- If you have a self-signup account on the free trial, a verified recipient to send your test message to.
Choose a channel
Several channels support marketing, notifications, and two-way support, so choose a channel by the coverage and features you need. To test without your own sender, choose a channel with a shared test sender: SMS, WhatsApp, Voice, Viber, or Email.
Select a channel to open its guide. Each guide covers what its sender needs for testing and production, including country and network coverage:
| Channel | Typical use cases |
|---|---|
| SMS | Alerts, one-time PINs, reminders, and campaigns |
| MMS | Picture, audio, and video messages, where supported |
| Newsletters, receipts, and campaigns, with HTML formatting and attachments | |
| Two-way support, notifications, and marketing, with media and interactive buttons | |
| Viber | Promotions, notifications, and conversations, with media and interactive buttons |
| RCS | Messages from a verified sender, with carousels, media, and suggested actions |
| Apple Messages for Business | Two-way support, appointments, and purchases, with list pickers, time pickers, and Apple Pay |
| Voice | Calls and voice messages for alerts and reminders, and contact center support |
The platform also supports:
During the free trial, SMS, WhatsApp, Voice, Viber, and Email include a shared test sender, so you can test these channels without setting up your own sender. Other channels, such as RCS, require a registered sender. Broadcast availability varies by channel.
Channels that run on your own website or app need an SDK or widget integration instead of a shared test sender. The steps that follow do not apply to them:
| Channel | Typical use cases |
|---|---|
| Live Chat | Real-time support on your website or app |
| Mobile Push | Notifications to your mobile app users |
| In-app messaging | Messages shown inside your mobile app |
Send a message
On a self-signup account, the guide on your homepage walks you through sending your first test message. To send a message without the guide, use one of the options below.
The following steps use SMS as an example. Every channel follows the same pattern: you send a message, the platform confirms that it has accepted the message, and you confirm delivery. To use a different channel, follow its get-started guide, then return to confirm delivery.
Send without code
Use Broadcast to send a message from the web interface:
- In the web interface, go to Broadcast and select Create Broadcast.
- Choose the channel, for example SMS, and the shared test sender.
- In the Recipients field, add the number you want to send to. On a self-signup account on the free trial, use a verified recipient.
- Write your message.
- Select Continue to preview, then select Launch.
Send with the API
Replace {baseUrl} with the base URL from your account and {your-phone-number} with the number you want to send to. Replace {authorization} with your credentials, for example App and your API key. Then run the request:
A successful request returns the message as accepted, with a messageId you can track and an initial PENDING status:
For authentication, all response fields, and delivery reports, see the Quickstart. To use a client library, see SDKs.
Confirm delivery
When the platform accepts your message, it is not yet delivered.
To confirm the final status of your test message:
- Message logs: In the web interface, go to Analyze > Logs and find the message. This is the quickest option for one test message.
- API: Pull the delivery report, or query the message logs for the last 48 hours. Each channel has its own endpoints, and not every channel has a logs endpoint.
- Webhooks: Receive the delivery report (DLR) at your own endpoint in real time.
A final status of DELIVERED_TO_HANDSET means the mobile operator reported delivery to the device.
If a test message does not arrive
Check these causes first:
- The recipient is not verified. During the free trial, a self-signup account can send only to verified recipients.
- The free credits are used up, or the trial days ran out. Each channel has its own free credits. On self-signup accounts, the 60 trial days cover the whole account. On managed accounts, each channel has its own trial days. When either runs out, sending stops. To continue, move to a paying account.
If the final status is a failure, the delivery report and Message logs include an error code that explains why. To find what the code means and how to fix it, see the Error code reference.
Go live
Get your own sender, complete any required registration, and send to real customers.
Upgrade to a paying account
Add funds to end the free trial.
Messages API
Send across several channels from one integration, with failover and a format adapted to each channel.
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