Frequently asked questions

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SMSBOX is an international SMS gateway, which means every number must be in international format with the country code (e.g. BE=32, NL=31, UK=44, etc.), without the local 0 and without the plus sign. E.g. BE number 0496123456 becomes 32496123456, NL number 0625123456 becomes 31625123456.

First register your account. Go to 'Orders' -> 'Order credits'. After payment by bank transfer or online banking, your credits will be added to your account.

Certainly. We can send messages of up to 918 characters. Please note that 1 SMS cost = 160 characters. If the SMS exceeds 160 characters, it will be split into a maximum of 6 x 153 characters (7 characters are used each time to link the SMS parts together). With Unicode this is a maximum of 6 x 67 characters (3 characters are used each time to link the SMS parts together). You will receive the 918/402 characters respectively as 1 long SMS on your mobile phone.

Note: From experience, we know that longSMS is not processed correctly by every mobile phone (=software issues). A long SMS (multiple messages) is assembled on the recipient's device and is never delivered directly as 1 SMS by the network. Some devices have issues with this. The SMS parts have therefore arrived, but are not visually shown on the device because something went wrong linking these messages into 1 long message. We are unable to take any further action in this regard.

This is a default setting in your account. You can change the sender in your account, but it is never guaranteed, meaning that not every configured sender will be displayed correctly to the recipient. This all depends on the local/European legislation of the country/network.
E.g. using a short or shortcode (premium) number (e.g. 3025), or a premium-rate number (e.g. 0900/070) as sender is prohibited, and messages may be filtered by the network as a result.

Known restrictions:

BE (+32): Messages are sent with a shortcode (8xxx) sender.
US (+1): Messages can only be sent with a registered TFN (Toll-Free Number) as sender.
ARE (+971): Messages can only be sent with a registered sender.

Go to 'Settings' => 'Sender' in your Smsbox account (top right). Please always provide an international format for a numeric sender.

PLEASE NOTE: If two-way communication is required with Belgian recipients, we recommend mentioning the number in the message, or you can purchase a virtual number.

Yes, credits remain valid for 1 year. If you order new credits within that 1-year period, any remaining credits will be extended by 1 year. Credits assigned to sub-users have the same expiry date as those of the main account.

A credit is defined as a quantitative ratio applied to a sent SMS, so one (1) SMS is not equal to 1 (one) credit. For the exact ratio per network, please refer to:
https://www.smsbox.be/prijzen#gateway-list

This can happen. We cannot guarantee the sender name. This depends on support from the SMSC. Sending an SMS to landlines (BE) uses a fixed sender that cannot be changed.

This means the SMS has been delivered to our gateway and, in 99.8% of cases, has also been delivered to the recipient. "Delivered" is an SMS with a delivery report. Please note: messages sent to numbers in roaming (i.e. numbers connected to a network other than their home network) may remain in 'Sent' status. We do not guarantee delivery to numbers in roaming. Special routes are required for this. Contact support.

This can happen. We cannot guarantee the sender name. This depends on support from the SMSC. Sending an SMS to landlines (BE) uses a fixed sender that cannot be changed.

This is possible. However, you must have the explicit consent of the sender.

Certainly, these SMS messages are automatically converted into voice messages via our Text to Speech (TTS) module.

• Avoid sending "identical messages" (=content) to multiple recipients shortly after one another.
  Some operators use an intelligent system to detect batching.
• Avoid sending multiple messages shortly after one another to the same recipient.
• Avoid messages containing the word "TEST".

These messages may be filtered by the mobile operators. (=anti-spam measure)
We are unable to take any further action in this regard.

Yes, this is the case. As of 01/04/2023, all SMS traffic to the US & Canada (+1) is closed by default, unless you request a registered sender (Toll-Free Number = TFN). Contact support.

Some characters count as multiple characters within a single SMS message. This is due to GSM encoding. The following characters count as 2 characters: \n, [, \, ], ^, {, |, }, ~, €. This can result in a higher total SMS cost per message.

The maximum length of a single SMS is 160 characters as long as you use the standard 7-bit character set. As soon as you use a character that is not included in the 7-bit encoding list, the maximum number of characters for a single SMS is reduced to 70. This can result in a higher total SMS cost per message. You can calculate the total SMS cost per message using our handy tool, the SMS calculator

Unicode (UCS-2) encoding supports a wider range of characters and languages compared to the rather limited alphabet of 7-bit encoding. If your SMS contains a character that is not part of the 7-bit alphabet mentioned above, UCS-2 encoding is applied automatically. In this case, each message takes up more space and the maximum length is limited to 70 characters. This can result in a higher total SMS cost per message.

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In that case, SIM hosting is the only solution, because Microsoft's SMS messages are sent via an SMS gateway and these are, in turn, 'sometimes' filtered by a virtual number. Click here

A received message can be forwarded to your application via a specified webhook URL or e-mail. The following variables are forwarded: msgid, timestamp, sender, message, keyword (=channel). You configure this in your account under "Channels & Webhooks"

The maximum length of a single voice call message is 160 characters. This can result in a higher total voice call cost per message. You can calculate the total voice call cost per message using our handy tool, the SMS calculator

This does not apply to a voice call message.

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