Setup SMS
SMS (Short Message Service) is a text messaging channel that reaches recipients on virtually any mobile device, with no app or data connection required, in over 200 countries and regions. Common use cases include one-time passcodes and account verification, transactional notifications such as order confirmations and appointment reminders, time-sensitive alerts, and two-way conversations where customers reply to your messages.
You send SMS with the AWS End User Messaging SMS and Voice v2 API (the sms-voice
namespace, which you call as aws pinpoint-sms-voice-v2 on the AWS CLI). The main send
operation is SendTextMessage, which sends a text message to a single destination phone
number from one of your origination identities. The same API provisions phone numbers, groups them
into pools, and configures the event destinations that track delivery.
Key concepts
The following concepts are central to sending SMS with AWS End User Messaging.
Concept | Description |
|---|---|
Origination identity | The phone number (long code, toll-free, short code, or 10DLC) or sender ID that a message is sent from. The types available to you depend on the destination country and its regulations. |
Phone pool | A collection of origination identities that share the same settings. When you send through a pool, AWS End User Messaging selects an identity and fails over to another if one is unavailable, which improves the resilience of your messaging. |
Configuration set | A set of rules applied to the messages you send, including where to send delivery and engagement events, such as CloudWatch, Amazon SNS, or Amazon Data Firehose. |
Sandbox | The restricted environment a new account starts in, where you send only to verified destination numbers while you build and test. You request production access to lift the restrictions. |
Opt-out list | A list of destination numbers that have opted out. AWS End User Messaging does not send to a number while it is on an opt-out list, which helps you meet carrier and regulatory requirements. |
Registration | The approval process many countries require before you can send, such as 10DLC in the United States or sender ID registration elsewhere. |
How this guide is organized
This chapter walks you through SMS from first setup to scaling in production. Use the following table to find where to start.
Section | What you'll do | Start here if |
|---|---|---|
Set up an origination identity, group it into a pool, create a configuration set, and send a test message. | You are new to SMS and want a working test send. | |
Send messages from your application and set up two-way messaging to receive replies. | You have an origination identity and want to send from your own code. | |
Move out of the sandbox, monitor delivery, manage spending and quotas, and apply sending best practices. | You are sending in production and want to keep it healthy and grow. | |
Review the origination identity types, registration requirements, and features supported in each country. | You need the rules for a specific destination country. |
