The Vodafone SMS Messaging Interface is a carrier-grade messaging hub, powered by technology that is reliable, cost-effective, timely and secure.

It offers single connection management and centralised reporting services.

SMS Send 

• Send messages from a defined sender address. 
• Apply message rate throttling to limit submission rate per second and segment longer messages for consolidation in the receiving device.

Delivery Status and Notifications 

• Request the status of submitted SMS message blocks with standardised delivery states returned. 
• Subscribe to receive delivery receipt call back notifications into your application so you can confirm delivery to the expected recipient.

SMS Receive 

• Retrieve messages sent to your registered address via an on-demand API call. 
• Subscribe to receive notifications of new messages waiting for collection to enable automated message retrieval directly from your application.

About The Firewall

Source operator MSISDN validation

It performs a validation check by comparing the originating operator that has issued the message to the operator that owns the MSISDN presented as creating the message.

Velocity thresholds

It carefully controls the number of messages/minutes that a source MSISDN is allowed to originate. Once the threshold is exceeded, the MSISDN is added to a blocked senders list.

Fraud, spam and spoof protection

It uses keyword and pattern filtering to produce fingerprinting for identified spam. External content filtering for detecting spam campaigns is available as an additional service.

Content fingerprinting

It uses basic keyword and pattern filtering to produce fingerprinting for identified spam. External content filtering for detecting spam campaigns is available as an additional service.

Payload type detection

This facilitates the identification of selected types of message payloads. The types of messages that can be detected are: Binary, WAP Push, MMS Notification, EMS, Ringtone, Picture, ME Data Download, ME De-personalisation SM, (U)SIM Data Download, Smart Message

Keyword detection

It scans for key words in real-time.

Allow and Deny lists

It can either allow or deny list of MSISDNs, operators’ SMSC node address and operators.

Sending a SMS

1. Your application sends a POST request to the API. It includes the recipient's unique MSISDN, and either the customerID and senderAddress, or the senderAddress, and the SMS message.
2. The API sends the SMS, if the request was successful. Your application can send SMS messages to one or more recipients (destination numbers) in a single request.

Delivery Status and Notifications

1. Your application sends a POST request to subscribe to receive SMS messages addressed to your application.
2. Your application will receive SMS messages when they are processed by your provider messaging platform.

Retrieving an SMS

1. Your application polls the messaging platform for SMS messages. It includes either the customerID and registrationID, or just the registrationID.
2. The API replies with the message(s), if successful.

Currently, there are 975 mobile operators using multiple messaging solutions and access technologies, leading to considerable overhead of technical and commercial resources.

Maintaining all these point-to-point relationships between multiple networks becomes highly complex, problematic and resource-intensive.

Application-to-Person (A2P) traffic

Typical use cases for A2P messaging include:

• Business notifications
  Enterprises use P2A messaging to send notifications, alerts, and updates to customers or employees. For example, order confirmations, shipping notifications, and appointment reminders.
• Customer service
  Businesses deploy P2A messaging for customer support, allowing users to interact with automated systems for queries, information retrieval, or issue resolution.
• Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
  P2A messaging is commonly employed for sending one-time codes or authentication messages to users for secure access to accounts or transactions.
• Marketing and promotions
  Companies use P2A messaging to send promotional offers, advertisements, and marketing messages to a broad audience.

Person-to-Application (P2A) messaging

Typical use cases for P2A messaging include:

• Surveys and feedback
  P2A messaging can be used to gather feedback, conduct surveys, or collect information from users.
• Subscription services
  Get SMS instructions for managing account-related updates on subscription-based platforms like streaming, gaming, e-learning, news and media services
• Productivity tools
  Users of productivity tools and project management platforms can use P2A messages to respond to task reminders, project updates, and important announcements related to the service.
• Emergency alerts
  Enable your audience to reply to alerts and provide a positive response to notification of emergencies and critical events.