Overview

The Skyetel Network can enable your phone numbers for SMS and MMS. This feature allows you to send and receive a SMS or MMS from/to mobile phone networks (like Verizon or T-Mobile).

Getting Started

You can toggle the SMS & MMS enablement from within our portal in the phone number options menu:

You will be presented with three options:

E-mail

This method allows an incoming SMS or MMS to be converted to an email and sent to a specified address in our portal.

Phone Number

This method allows an incoming SMS or MMS to be forwarded to another phone number (generally a mobile phone)

Callback URL (POST or GET)

This method allows you to receive the SMS or MMS via a call from our API.

Once your phone number is enabled for SMS, it will appear green in our Portal:

Limitations to SMS & MMS

While our network is able to enable and process SMS and MMS for almost all of our numbers, there are a few limitations to be aware of:

Toll Free Numbers

Our network is not currently configured to SMS enable Toll Free numbers.

SMS Enablement Requires the "State" of a number to be Healthy

Our network does the legwork to prepare a number for SMS enablement as soon as it it's phone number state becomes "Healthy". This insures that we do not accidentally prepare a number for SMS prior to it actually being on our network.

SMS Enablement can take up to 24 hours

While most SMS enablements will be instant, there are edge cases where some phone numbers take longer than others to enable.

SMS & MMS may only be sent via our API

Our network requires you to use our API to send any SMS or MMS.

Ineligible Numbers

While most numbers on our network support SMS and MMS, some numbers do not. Specifically, non-US numbers (including Canada - sorry guys) can not be enabled for SMS. There are also a very small percentage of US numbers that are ineligible.

Sending an SMS or MMS through Skyetel API

SMS is sent by generating a specially-crafted request to the Skyetel SMS API and using an SID and Secret you have created for this purpose.

Generating and obtaining an SID and Secret

Skyetel allows you to create your own SID and Secret and later remove it when it is no longer used. These can be generated by visiting your Skyetel portal

Sending a basic SMS or MMS

Here is an example of performing that request using the curl command-line tool:

curl -X POST -v \
  -H "Content-type: application/json" \
  --user <SID>:<SECRET> \
  --data '{ "to": "15558001234", "text": "You are awesome" }' \
  https://sms.skyetel.com/v1/out?from=15558004321

In the to field provide your the correct 10-digit destination phonenumber; and provide you SMS-enabled source phonenumber in the from field.

Required header fields

Field	Data Type	Example Usage
Authorization	"Basic" followed by a base64 encoding of a string that includes your SID and Secret separated by a colon ':'	Authorization: Basic RXhhbXBsZTpFeGFtcGxl
Content-type	"application/json" is required to verify the kind of data being sent	Content-type: application/json

Required fields in data

Field	Data Type	Example
to (required)	10-digit phonenumber	"15558004242"
text (required)	String up to 1024 characters	"Never gonna give you up; never gonna let you down"
media (optional)	One or more accessible links to media files. Maximum of 1.5 MB total.	[ "https://media.giphy.com/media/LXONhtCmN32YU/giphy-tumblr.gif", "https://media.giphy.com/media/tqI9aaw8dtoYM/giphy.gif" ]

Example SMS Message Body

{
  "to": "15558001234",
  "text": "ARRR! THE SHIP BE SINKING!",
  "media": [ "https://media.giphy.com/media/3o6ZtihIv0pJqdp3H2/giphy.gif" ]
}

Required URL query fields

Field	Data Type	Example Usage
from	10-digit Skyetel message-enabled phonenumber	from=15558004321

Troubleshooting

Unauthorized Error

Check that your SID and Secret are correct
Check that the your 10-digit from phone number is accurate, in a GOOD lifecycle state, and SMS-enabled
Check that you have a positive Skyetel balance

Message not Received

Wait up to 3 minutes especially for MMS messages that include multiple attachments
Check that your media attachments are not large than 1.5MB
Check that your recipient phone number is correct and able to receive messages
Try a separate recipient phone number
Open a Skyetel portal support ticket