My texts not received by the recipient

Issues that can impact SMS Text Delivery:

Sometimes, when users send out text messages, the recipient will say they have not received them. Users also, on their end, could wonder why they have not been responded to after sending an important text message to a lead or to their agent.

The Phone Number Can't Accept Texts

Reviewing our logs, there are many instances of SMS/MMS texts that are blocked for a variety of reasons such as:

1. The phone number is for a landline phone that does not accept calls
2. The cell phone is turned off
3. The phone number is not valid

Carrier filtering

First, note that telecommunications carriers like AT&T and Verizon have implemented carrier filtering on SMS/MMS texts to:

1. Enforce rules or regulations about what types of messaging are allowed to that country or mobile network
2. Protecting mobile subscribers from unwanted messaging such as spam, fraud, or abuse

There is no standard practice for carrier filtering across all carriers. Filtering can range from a simple static list of prohibited terms to advanced machine learning systems that constantly adapt based on the messages passing through them. Regardless of the system, carriers keep their filtering systems closely guarded secrets. Due to the ambiguous nature of these filtering mechanisms, Brokerkit is unable to say definitively how these systems work, or why a particular message was filtered.

Steps to Troubleshoot:

1. Check the phone number to determine whether it is a mobile number or not:
   1. Here is a tool to look up the type – wireless or not, and carrier of phone numbers: https://freecarrierlookup.com/
   2. If the number is identified as wireless, meaning mobile, that number should be able to receive text messages.
2. We recommend that the initial outbound message not exceed 306 characters, which generally equates to two segments of text on most standard carriers.
3. Add opt-out language at the end of the text like "Reply STOP to unsubscribe"
4. Use the contact's first name to greet them using variables. "Hi Jane, this is Tom with..." For more detail on variables, go here.
5. Identify yourself and who you are with. "Hi Jane, this is Tom with Keller Williams."
6. Do not use links in your initial outbound message. There is a high probability that carriers will not deliver an outbound message that includes a link.
7. Keep the text clear and simple. Don't include repetitive phrasing. This might trigger spam filtering.
8. Change the message completely to see if that's something in the text body that was blocked
9. Decrease the number of recipients sent at once
10. Send the messages from a different phone number one of two ways:
    1. Send the messages from a different Brokerkit user and their phone number
    2. Go to the Brokerkit phone number page and release your number and get a new one (click your name in top right > Phone Number > Release to release your number)
11. If the above steps don't address the issue, please email us the recipient phone number(s) and the timeframe to help@getbrokerkit.com, and the Brokerkit Help Desk team will pull the logs for texts sent to that phone number for further analysis and report back to you.