SMS Platform Extended Error Codes

SMS platform error codes are organized in two-level, very specific detail Error Codes (whose values are visible in failure.source.code field) and human "friendly" SMS Status Reasons included in the status.reason field

  "status": "delivery_failed",
  "reason": "details: system failure; reason: received_network_error; code: 34",
  "direction": "outgoing",
  "details": "received_network_error",
  "failure": {
    "code": 15001,
    "source": {
      "name": "sms-messagebird",
      "code": "34"
    }
  },

SMS Status Reasons

here is a list of the SMS Status Reasons associated to each Failure Status

Expired SMS

This status indicated the expired message couldn't be delivered before the expiration of its validity period. MessageBird has a retry policy designed to maximize the chance of successful delivery, but retries will stop once the validity period expires. Multiple reasons can cause an SMS to expire

unavailable subscriber

This reason indicates receiver wasn't available due a temporary issue (example: it is out of coverage), the retry pattern couldn't complete a successful delivered before the expiration of the validity period.

DLR not received

This reason indicates the SMS was sent to a mobile operator or downstream provider however no DLR has been returned before the end of the message validity period. This usually indicate the receiving network has a longer retry pattern then the validity period or it is experiencing an issue processing DLR.

expired

This reason indicates the SMS was expired before we were able to send the message to a mobile operator or downstream provider.

Failed to Deliver SMS

The message couldn't be delivered and a negative Delivery Status Report (DLR) has been received. More detail can be found in the reason, or when present in the error code.

unknown subscriber

This reason indicates the receiver number is not associated with an active line.

Following Extended Error codes (failure.source.code)are associated with this reason

• 1: EC_UNKNOWN_SUBSCRIBER

• 2: EC_UNKNOWN_BASE_STATION

• 3: EC_UNKOWN_MSC

• 5: EC_UNIDENTIFIED_SUBSCRIBER

• 9: EC_ILLEGAL_SUBSCRIBER

• 10: EC_BEARERSERVICE_NOT_PROVISIONED

• 11: EC_TELESERVICE_NOT_PROVISIONED

• 12: EC_CALL_BARRED

generic delivery failure

This reason indicates that no detailed information has been received by the downstream supplier and no additional information is available about the reason of the failure.

unavailable subscriber

This reason indicates that the receiver number the SMS is temporarily unavailable, the number is valid and shall be kept in your database however the retry.

Following Extended Error codes (failure.source.code)are associated with this reason

• 8: EC_ROAMING_NOT_ALLOWED

• 26: EC_SUBSEQUENT_HANDOVER_FAILURE

• 31: EC_SUBSCRIBER_BUSY_FOR_MT_SMS

• 27: EC_ABSENT_SUBSCRIBER

• 28: EC_ABSENT_SUBSCRIBER_NO_PAGE

• 29: EC_ABSENT_SUBSCRIBER_IMSI_DETACHED

• 33: EC_MESSAGE_WAITING_LIST_FULL

received network error

This reason indicates that the receiver's network is experiencing some issue, those are temporary preventing SMS delivery however the receiver number used is both valid and correct.

Following Extended Error codes (failure.source.code) are associated with this reason

• 7: EC_UNKNOWN_EQUIPMENT

• 12: EC_ILLEGAL_EQUIPMENT

• 21: EC_FACILITY_NOT_SUPPORTED

• 30: EC_CONTROLLING_MSC_FAILURE

• 34: EC_SYSTEM_FAILURE

• 35: EC_DATA_MISSING

• 36: EC_UNEXPECTED_DATA_VALUE

• 39: EC_NO_ROAMING_NUMBER_AVAILABLE

• 40: EC_MEMORY_CAPACITY_EXCEEDED

• 71: EC_UNKNOWN_ALPHABET

opted out

This Reason indicates that the receiver revoked his/her consent to receive further SMS from the customer/originating number.

Following Extended Error codes (failure.source.code)are associated with this reason

• 103: EC_SUBSCRIBER_OPTEDOUT

carrier rejected

This Reason indicates that receiver's carrier or mobile operator is blocking the SMS, this is most likely caused by the lack of a mandatory registration for the SMS originator or its content and/or the locally applicable definition of forbidden / unlawful traffic

Following Extended Error codes (failure.source.code)are associated with this reason

• 104: EC_SENDER_UNREGISTERED

• 105: EC_CONTENT_UNREGISTERED

• 110: EC_MESSAGE_FILTERED

capacity limit reached

This Reason indicates the receiver's carrier or mobile operator is blocking the SMS due to a limitation of SMS per second per day (e.g. as part of USA's campaign throttling regulation), or on the time of the day you are authorized to send SMS (e.g. as part of India's Do-Not-Disturb policy). Applicable for countries that require registered campaigns.

Following Extended Error codes (failure.source.code)are associated with this reason

• 106: EC_CAMPAIGN_VOLUME_EXCEEDED

• 107: EC_CAMPAIGN_THROUGHPUT_EXCEEDED

Some statutes, Reasons and Error Codes are related to country restrictions. You can find more information about countries restrictions at our help pages.

SMS Details Error Codes

Here a comprehensive list of SMS Platform Specific extended error codes codes that will populated the field failure.source.code

 "failure": {
    "code": 15001,
    "source": {
      "name": "sms-mesagebird",
      "code": "34"
    }

Code	Name	Description
0	EC_NO_ERROR	-
1	EC_UNKNOWN_SUBSCRIBER	The receiver number is not associated with an active line.
2	EC_UNKNOWN_BASE_STATION	The receiver number is currently attached to an equipment unknown to the receiving network.
3	EC_UNKOWN_MSC	The receiver number is currently attached to an equipment unknown to the receiving network.
5	EC_UNIDENTIFIED_SUBSCRIBER	The receiver number is not associated with an active line.
7	EC_UNKNOWN_EQUIPMENT	The receiver number is valid but its handset is not able to connect to the mobile network.
8	EC_ROAMING_NOT_ALLOWED	The receiver is currently outside of its network of origin and it is not authorised to roam. The issue will resolve once it returns.
9	EC_ILLEGAL_SUBSCRIBER	The receiver failed to authenticate when connecting to the mobile network.
10	EC_BEARERSERVICE_NOT_PROVISIONED	The receiver number bearer is not provisioned for SMS. This could be because the subscriber have 2 active numbers (dual numbering) and the one used as receiver is not SMS enable (but the other is).
11	EC_TELESERVICE_NOT_PROVISIONED	The receiver is not provisioned for SMS this could be because the number is a not a mobile (i.e. is a IoT number) and/or the subscriber plan do not allow SMS.
12	EC_ILLEGAL_EQUIPMENT	The receiver number is valid but its handset is blacklisted as stolen/lost.
13	EC_CALL_BARRED	The SMS services have been blocked by the receiver operator. This is usually linked to an unpaid bill or lack of credit.
21	EC_FACILITY_NOT_SUPPORTED	The SMS is failing due to the receiving network not supporting SMS.
26	EC_SUBSEQUENT_HANDOVER_FAILURE	The receiver is currently moving between different areas of its network and the SMS couldn't be delivered.
27	EC_ABSENT_SUBSCRIBER	The receiver couldn't be located on the receiver network.
28	EC_ABSENT_SUBSCRIBER_NO_PAGE	The receiver is out of coverage.
29	EC_ABSENT_SUBSCRIBER_IMSI_DETACHED	The receiver switched its handset off.
30	EC_CONTROLLING_MSC_FAILURE	The network equipment the receiver is attached to is experiencing a temporary failure and/or planned maintenance.
31	EC_SUBSCRIBER_BUSY_FOR_MT_SMS	The receiver is currently busy (example on a call) and the SMS could not be delivered.
32	EC_SM_DELIVERY_FAILURE	This is ageneric unspecified faliure
33	EC_MESSAGE_WAITING_LIST_FULL	The receiver has received more SMS then then local network nodes can store for a single user.
34	EC_SYSTEM_FAILURE	A generic issue with the receiver network.
35	EC_DATA_MISSING	A mandatory (by the receiver network) field was empty.
36	EC_UNEXPECTED_DATA_VALUE	Value in one the SMS fields was wrong (i.e. the charset used for coding the SMS).
39	EC_NO_ROAMING_NUMBER_AVAILABLE	The receiver is roaming and a temporary roaming redirecting number was not available to be assigned to reroute the SMS to the correct country/destination.
40	EC_MEMORY_CAPACITY_EXCEEDED	An unspecified equipment on the receiving network has no memory left to handle incoming SMS traffic.
71	EC_UNKNOWN_ALPHABET	The SMS is written in an alphabet/charset that is not supported by the receiving network.
72	EC_USSD_BUSY	The SSM failed to delviered as the reciver was performing an USSD request
101	EC_SUBSCRIBER_INSUFFICIENT_BALANCE
103	EC_SUBSCRIBER_OPTEDOUT	The receiver opted out from receiving SMS all future SMS will be blocked. This error can only be solved by the subscriber sending an opt-in keyword like 'START'.
104	EC_SENDER_UNREGISTERED	The originator used in sending the SMS is not allowed by the receiving mobile operator, this is usually caused by a lack of registration. Please consult our countries restrictions list for more information on how to register it.
105	EC_CONTENT_UNREGISTERED	The content of the SMS is not allowed by the receiving mobile operator, this is usually caused by a lack of registration. Please consult our countries restrictions list for more information on how to register it.
106	EC_CAMPAIGN_VOLUME_EXCEEDED	The the volume cap associated with the Brand this campaign belongs to is reached. Any further SMS will be blocked until the volume cap resets. SMS to other operators are unaffected. You can find more information at our countries restrictions list.
107	EC_CAMPAIGN_THROUGHPUT_EXCEEDED	The maximum SMS rate associated to the campaign of the SMS (via used originator) is reached at the receiving operator, and excess SMS are being blocked. You can find more information at our countries restrictions list.
110	EC_MESSAGE_FILTERED	The SMS originator or content is not allowed by the receiving mobile operator. Please consult our countries restrictions list for more information on applicable regulations and forbidden content or originators.

MMS Details Error Codes

MMS may fail because of a problem with the message receiver or because of the type/size of the file attached. Error codes below refer to the later scenario when normal SMS error codes will apply in the first.

Code	Name	Description
120	EC_MEDIA_NOT_AVAILABLE	The attachment you provided couldn’t be retrieved and/or its URL is invalid
121	EC_MEDIA_TYPE_NOT_SUPPORTED	the attachment(s) you provided cannot be used as part of a MMS, see attachment specification here
122	EC_MEDIA_SIZE_EXCEEDED	the total size of the attachment(s) was too big; see attachment specification here
123	EC_MEDIA_PROCESSING_FAILED	We failed to process your attachment see attachment specification here