The Ultimate Guide to Delivery Reports for Text Messaging APIs

Are you sick and weary of using your API to send text messages and then wondering if they were received? So, stop wondering now! We'll be delving into the world of text messaging API delivery reports in this comprehensive guide.

This article will have you confidently tracking the success of your text message deliveries in no time, from knowing the various sorts of reports available to implementing them in your own code. So grab a cup of coffee, and let's begin our quest for text message delivery wisdom.

Brief overview of the different types of delivery reports

There are a few distinct types of delivery reports for text messaging APIs that you need to be aware of. These consist of SMS and MMS read receipts as well as delivery records for SMS and MMS messages.

Reports on SMS delivery show whether a text message was successfully sent to the phone of the intended receiver. The date and time of delivery, the recipient's phone number, and a status code indicating the delivery status are often included in these reports, which are normally sent by the carrier or messaging provider.

Similar to SMS delivery reports, MMS delivery reports give details on the delivery of multimedia communications (such photographs and videos) as opposed to text messages.

Delivery receipts, such as SMS and MMS, are messages that are sent back to the sender to verify that the message was successfully sent to the recipient's phone. The time and date of delivery, the recipient's phone number, and a status code indicating the delivery status are often included in these receipts.

In order to verify that the message was received and read by the recipient, SMS and MMS read receipts are a form of communication that are sent back to the sender. The recipient's phone number, the date and time the message was read, and a status code indicating whether the message was read or not are often included in these receipts.

It's crucial to check with your supplier for information on what types of reports are available because not all carriers or messaging platforms allow all types of delivery data. You can control and track the delivery of your text messages more effectively if you are aware of the various delivery reports that are accessible to you.

Overview of the topics that will be covered in this guide

This comprehensive guide will cover a wide range of subjects pertaining to text messaging API delivery reports.

Here is a quick rundown of some of the major subjects we will be delving into:

1. Types of Delivery Reports: We'll talk about the various kinds of delivery reports that are accessible, including SMS and MMS delivery reports, delivery receipts for SMS and MMS, and read receipts for SMS and MMS.
2. Understanding Delivery Report Status Codes: We'll explain what each status code means and how to use it to your advantage.
3. Implementing Delivery Reports in Your API: In this article, we'll walk you through the process of integrating delivery reports into well-known messaging services like Twilio and Nexmo.
4. Advanced Use Cases: We'll look at how to deal with unsuccessful deliveries, undeliverable messages, and how to use delivery reports to engage and get feedback from customers.
5. Throughout conclusion, we'll highlight the most important ideas discussed in the manual and list further resources.

You will have a thorough understanding of text messaging API delivery reports from this guide. You will have the information and abilities necessary to track and control the transmission of your text messages once it is over.

Types of Delivery Reports

There are a few distinct types of delivery reports for text messaging APIs that you need to be aware of. These consist of SMS and MMS read receipts as well as delivery records for SMS and MMS messages.

Reports on SMS delivery show whether a text message was successfully sent to the phone of the intended receiver. The date and time of delivery, the recipient's phone number, and a status code indicating the delivery status are often included in these reports, which are normally sent by the carrier or messaging provider.

Similar to SMS delivery reports, MMS delivery reports give details on the delivery of multimedia communications (such photographs and videos) as opposed to text messages.

Delivery receipts, such as SMS and MMS, are messages that are sent back to the sender to verify that the message was successfully sent to the recipient's phone. The time and date of delivery, the recipient's phone number, and a status code indicating the delivery status are often included in these receipts.

In order to verify that the message was received and read by the recipient, SMS and MMS read receipts are a form of communication that are sent back to the sender. The recipient's phone number, the date and time the message was read, and a status code indicating whether the message was read or not are often included in these receipts.

It's crucial to check with your supplier for information on what types of reports are available because not all carriers or messaging platforms allow all types of delivery data. You can control and track the delivery of your text messages more effectively if you are aware of the various delivery reports that are accessible to you.

Explanation of SMS delivery reports

It can be determined from SMS delivery reports whether a text message was successfully sent to the phone of the intended receiver. The date and time of delivery, the recipient's phone number, and a status code indicating the delivery status are often included in these reports, which are normally sent by the carrier or messaging provider.

You might come across a few typical status codes in SMS delivery reports. The message was successfully delivered to the recipient's phone, for instance, if the status code is "Delivered". A "Failed" or "Undelivered" status code means that the message was unable to reach the recipient's phone.

Businesses who need to send out a lot of text messages, such as for marketing or customer interaction purposes, can find SMS delivery reports to be particularly helpful. Businesses may monitor the effectiveness of their text messaging campaigns and make necessary adjustments using delivery reports.

It's important to note that not all carriers or messaging platforms enable SMS delivery reports, therefore it's important to ask your provider if this kind of data is offered.

Additionally, some carriers and messaging platforms include other details in SMS delivery reports, such as the reason a delivery attempt failed, whether the phone was turned off, or whether the number was invalid. It's crucial to confirm with your provider the details they provide in the delivery report.

In conclusion, SMS delivery reports are an effective tool for individuals and businesses to track the delivery of their text messages and make defensible choices about how to manage their text messaging operations.

Explanation of MMS delivery reports

Similar to SMS delivery reports, MMS delivery reports let you know whether a multimedia message—such as an image or a video—was successfully sent to the phone of the intended receiver. The date and time of delivery, the recipient's phone number, and a status code indicating the delivery status are often included in these reports, which are normally sent by the carrier or messaging provider.

The word "Sent" is a frequent status code for MMS delivery reports, signifying that the message was successfully delivered to the recipient's phone. A "Failed" or "Undelivered" status code means that the message was unable to reach the recipient's phone.

Businesses who need to transmit multimedia messages, such as for marketing or customer interaction objectives, might benefit notably from MMS delivery reports. Businesses may monitor the effectiveness of their multi-media communication campaigns and make necessary adjustments using delivery data.

It's important to note that not all carriers or messaging platforms enable MMS delivery reports, thus it's important to ask your provider if this kind of report is offered. Additionally, certain carriers and messaging systems include other details in MMS delivery reports, such as the reason a delivery attempt failed, whether the phone was turned off, or whether the number was invalid. It's crucial to confirm with your provider the details they provide in the delivery report.

In conclusion, MMS delivery reports are an effective tool for companies and individuals to track the delivery of their multimedia communications and make wise management decisions.

Explanation of SMS and MMS delivery receipt

Delivery receipts, also referred to as read receipts, are a category of delivery report that reveal if the intended recipient of a text message or multimedia communication has really viewed the content. The recipient's phone number, the date and time the message was read, and a status code indicating the receipt status are all included in these receipts, which are normally supplied by the carrier or messaging provider.

"Read" is a frequent status number for SMS and MMS delivery receipts, signifying that the recipient has successfully read the message. The recipient has not yet read the message, according to the "Unread" status code.

Businesses and individuals that want to make sure that their messages have been read and taken action upon may find delivery receipts to be particularly helpful. They may monitor the effectiveness of their campaign and follow up as necessary with delivery receipts.

It's important to note that not all messaging systems or carriers enable delivery receipts, therefore it's important to ask your provider if this kind of report is offered. It's also crucial to keep in mind that some recipients might choose not to send delivery receipts or might have their phones set up so that they don't automatically send them.

In conclusion, delivery receipts, often referred to as read receipts, are a helpful tool for companies and people to determine whether their text messages and multimedia communications have been read and to make educated decisions about how to manage their messaging campaigns.

Explanation of SMS and MMS read receipt

Read receipts, also referred to as delivery receipts, are a category of delivery report that reveal if the intended recipient of a text message or multimedia message has really read the content. The recipient's phone number, the date and time the message was read, and a status code indicating the receipt status are all included in these receipts, which are normally supplied by the carrier or messaging provider.

"Read" is a frequent status code for SMS and MMS read receipts, signifying that the recipient has successfully read the message. The recipient has not yet read the message, according to the "Unread" status code.

Businesses and individuals that want to make sure that their messages have been read and taken action upon may find read receipts to be particularly helpful. They may monitor the effectiveness of their messaging and follow up as necessary with read receipts.

It's important to note that not all carriers or messaging platforms enable read receipts, therefore it's crucial to ask your provider if this kind of report is offered. It's also vital to keep in mind that not all recipients may opt to send read receipts or may have their phones set up so that they don't do so automatically.

In conclusion, read receipts, often referred to as delivery receipts, are a useful tool for companies and people to determine whether their text messages and multimedia communications have been read and to make educated decisions about how to handle their messaging campaigns.

Understanding Delivery Report Status Codes [Most popular delivery status codes]

The state of a text message or multimedia message is indicated by a delivery report status code, which is transmitted along with a delivery report. The recipient's phone number, the date and time the message was delivered, and a status code indicating the message's delivery status are often included in these codes, which are typically sent by the carrier or messaging provider.

Some common delivery report status codes include:

• "Delivered": This code indicates that the message was successfully delivered to the recipient's device.
• "Undelivered": This code indicates that the message was not delivered to the recipient's device. This can happen for a variety of reasons, such as if the recipient's phone is turned off or if there is a network issue.
• "Failed": This code indicates that the message was not delivered and cannot be delivered in the future.
• "Expired": This code indicates that the message was not delivered because it reached the expiration date.
• "Queued": This code indicates that the message is in queue to be sent.

It's important to note that different messaging platforms and carriers may use

It's crucial to check with your supplier for a complete list of codes and their meanings because different messaging platforms and carriers could use different codes. You can fix any problems with your messaging campaigns and make sure that the proper people are receiving your messages by understanding these codes.

A text message or multimedia message's status, such as whether it was delivered, undelivered, failed, or expired, can be determined by a delivery report status code. You can fix any problems with your messaging campaigns and make sure that the proper people are receiving your messages by understanding these codes.

Explanation of common status codes

There are numerous distinct status codes that you could run into when it comes to delivery reports. You may learn more about the status of a text message or multimedia message from these codes, which can help you keep track of the progress of your messaging initiatives.

Here are some common status codes you may encounter:

• "Delivered": This code indicates that the message was successfully delivered to the recipient's device.
• "Undelivered": This code indicates that the message was not delivered to the recipient's device. This can happen for a variety of reasons, such as if the recipient's phone is turned off or if there is a network issue.
• "Failed": This code indicates that the message was not delivered and cannot be delivered in the future.
• "Expired": This code indicates that the message was not delivered because it reached the expiration date.
• "Queued": This code indicates that the message is in queue to be sent.
• "Accepted": This code indicates that the message was accepted for delivery by the carrier
• "Rejected": This code indicates that the message was rejected by the carrier
• "Read": This code indicates that the message was read by the recipient
• "Unread": This code indicates that the message was not read yet by the recipient

It's crucial to check with your supplier for a complete list of codes and their meanings because different messaging platforms and carriers could use different codes. You can fix any problems with your messaging campaigns and make sure that the proper people are receiving your messages by understanding these codes.

In conclusion, common delivery report status codes are "Delivered," "Undelivered," "Failed," "Expired," "Queued," "Accepted," "Rejected," "Read," and "Unread." These codes can tell you the status of a text message or multimedia message and aid in your understanding of how your messaging initiatives are performing.

How to interpret and act on the status codes

Understanding the various delivery report status codes is essential for understanding how to interpret them and take appropriate action to make sure your messaging initiatives are successful. Here are some pointers on how to go about doing that:

"Delivered" and "Read" codes indicate that your message has been successfully delivered and read by the receiver, respectively, if you receive a delivery report with one of these codes. In this situation, there is no need to take any additional action.

If you obtain a delivery report that includes the codes "Undelivered" or "Failed," it signifies that the receiver did not receive your message. This may occur for a number of reasons, including network problems or the recipient's phone being off. You might want to try sending the message again in this situation or getting in touch with the receiver to make sure their phone number is right.

Codes that start with "Expired": If you get a delivery report that starts with "Expired," it signifies that your message was not delivered because it has passed its expiration date. In this situation, you might want to make sure that the messages are set to expire at a reasonable time by checking your messaging platform's expiry settings.

If you receive a delivery report that includes the word "Queued," it signifies that the message is waiting to be transmitted. No action is necessary in this situation; the message will be sent shortly.

"Accepted" and "Refused" codes: These codes indicate whether the carrier accepted or rejected the message when they appear on a delivery report. Messages marked "Accepted" will reach the recipient, whereas messages marked "Rejected" won't. If you get a "Rejected" code, you might try to resubmit the message after making sure the content complies with the carrier's rules.

It's crucial to check with your supplier for a complete list of codes and their meanings because different messaging platforms and carriers could use different codes. To spot trends and enhance your messaging efforts, it's also crucial to maintain track of your delivery records and watch the status codes.

In conclusion, for your messaging campaigns to be successful, you must be able to analyse delivery report status codes and take appropriate action. You can optimise your messaging campaigns by using common codes like "Delivered," "Undelivered," "Failed," "Expired," "Queued," "Accepted," and "Rejected" to troubleshoot any problems. To spot trends and enhance your messaging efforts, it's also critical to maintain track of your delivery records and watch the status codes.

Implementing Delivery Reports in Your API

Although implementing delivery reports for your text messaging API may initially look difficult, it's actually a rather simple procedure. Here is a list of the actions you must take:

1. Select a messaging platform: Selecting a messaging platform that provides delivery reports is the first step in deploying them. Delivery reports are a feature that is included by default in many well-known messaging services, including Twilio and Nexmo.
2. Configure your messaging platform: After deciding on a messaging platform, you must set it up so that delivery reports can be sent. Typically, this entails setting up webhooks or callbacks to receive the reports and defining their format (e.g., JSON or XML).
3. Develop your programme: You must then create your application in order to manage the delivery reports. Usually, this entails building code to parse the reports and retrieve the pertinent data (e.g., message status, delivery time, etc.).
4. Test your implementation: It's critical to test your implementation before going live with your delivery reports to make sure everything is operating as it should. Usually, this entails sending test messages and verifying the accuracy of the delivery reports.
5. Once your implementation is online, you must keep an eye on your delivery reports to make sure they are functioning properly. This often entails monitoring the progress of your messages and spotting trends or problems that need to be fixed.
6. Take action on the delivery reports: By keeping an eye on your delivery reports, you'll be able to take action as necessary. You might need to contact the carrier, for instance, if you notice that a lot of your messages aren't getting through.

Choosing a messaging platform, setting up the platform, creating your application, testing your implementation, watching your delivery reports, and taking appropriate action are all steps in the simple process of adding delivery reports for your text messaging API. Remember that tracking delivery reports and taking appropriate action on them are essential for seeing trends and solving problems.

How to integrate SMS delivery reports in popular messaging platforms

Although it can differ based on the messaging platform you choose, integrating delivery reports for your text messaging API is a straightforward task. Here is a step-by-step tutorial for adding delivery reports to Twilio and Nexmo, two well-liked messaging services.

Twilio

1. Sign up for a Twilio account and create a new project.
2. Go to the "Phone Numbers" section of the Twilio console and configure the webhook for "Message Status Callback".
3. In your application, write code to handle the incoming webhook and extract the necessary information from the delivery report.
4. Test your implementation by sending a test message and checking the delivery report for accuracy.
5. Monitor your delivery reports by tracking the status of your messages and identifying patterns or issues that need to be addressed.

Nexmo/Vonage

1. Sign up for a Nexmo account and create a new project.
2. Go to the "Numbers" section of the Nexmo dashboard and configure the webhook for "DLR Callback URL".
3. In your application, write code to handle the incoming webhook and extract the necessary information from the delivery report.
4. Test your implementation by sending a test message and checking the delivery report for accuracy.
5. Monitor your delivery reports by tracking the status of your messages and identifying patterns or issues that need to be addressed.

As you can see, Twilio and Nexmo's integration processes for delivery reports are fairly similar. The vocabulary employed in each dashboard's section is where the primary distinction lies. In both situations, you must set up a webhook to receive delivery reports, write code to process the webhooks as they arrive, test your implementation, and keep track of your delivery reports.

The actual method may differ depending on your use-case and the particular version of their API or SDK you are using. Please bear in mind that this is a high-level overview of how you can integrate delivery reports in various platforms. For more comprehensive instructions, it's usually a good idea to consult the platform's documentation.

Best practices for handling and storing delivery report data

Implementing delivery reports for your text messaging API requires careful handling and storage of the report's data. Best practises to adhere to are listed below:

• Validate incoming data: Confirm that the delivery report webhook's incoming data is verified to ensure that it is coming from a reliable source and that it is in the right format.
• Securely store data: Ensure that the delivery report data is kept in a safe place, like a database with appropriate access restrictions.
• Set up monitoring to find any problems or discrepancies in the data from the delivery report, such as missing or duplicate data, and take the necessary action.
• Use the right data storage: Select a data storage system that can accommodate the amount of delivery reports anticipated and scale as necessary.
• Utilize data for analysis: Examine the performance of your messaging platform using the delivery report data to see trends or problems and decide what needs to be fixed.
• The delivery report data should be kept for a specific amount of time, but you should also have a procedure in place to archive or remove any data that is no longer required.
• Maintain the data's privacy: Check to see if all of the data you store, process, and delete complies with all applicable data privacy laws and regulations to your firm.

You can make sure that the data in your delivery report is precise, safe, and usable by adhering to these best practises. This will enable you to enhance the functionality of your messaging platform and give your users a better experience.

Advanced Use Cases

Delivery reports can be utilised for a lot more than just analysing how well your text messaging API is performing. We'll look at a few sophisticated use cases for delivery reports in this part that will help you progress your messaging platform. These use examples show the entire potential of delivery reports, from automating customer service to enhancing the dependability of your messaging. Grab a cup of coffee, relax, and get ready to be astounded by the potential of delivery reports.

How to handle failed deliveries

Using delivery reports effectively requires handling unsuccessful deliveries. It's crucial to respond immediately to make sure that a message is sent as soon as possible when a delivery report shows that it has failed to deliver.

The following are some top tips for dealing with unsuccessful deliveries:

1. Find the root of the problem: Finding the root of the problem is the first step. A difficulty with the recipient's phone number, a short-term problem with the carrier, or an issue with your messaging platform could all be to blame for this.
2. Retry the delivery: If the failure was due to a transient difficulty, such as a carrier issue, you should attempt the delivery again as soon as you can.
3. Notify the sender: Let the sender know that the message's delivery attempt failed and explain the situation, along with any suggested course of action.
4. Refresh your records: The failure should be updated in your records so that you can track the total number of unsuccessful deliveries and look for any trends.
5. Take remedial action: Depending on the reason for the failure, take corrective action to avoid repeating the same mistakes. You can build a phone number validation mechanism, for instance, if the failure was brought on by an invalid phone number, to avoid future failures of the same kind.
6. Keep an eye out for reoccurring failures and deal with the underlying problems.

You may reduce the frequency of failed deliveries and make sure that your messages are delivered as fast and dependably as feasible by adhering to these best practises.

How to handle undelivered messages

Using delivery reports effectively requires handling undelivered communications. A communication that has been marked as undelivered was not successfully delivered to the intended recipient.

The following are some suggestions for addressing undeliverable messages:

1. Determine the reason for non-delivery: This is the first stage in determining the reason for non-delivery. This can be the result of an invalid phone number, a transitory carrier issue, or an issue with your messaging service.
2. Repeat the delivery: If the undelivery was caused by a transient difficulty, such as a carrier issue, you should retry the delivery as soon as you can.
3. Notify the sender: Inform the sender of the message that it was not delivered, along with the cause of the failure and any suggested corrective action.
4. Refresh your records: In order to track the amount of undeliverable mails and spot any patterns, update your records to reflect the undelivery.
5. Take corrective action to stop future occurrences of the same undeliveries based on the reason for the undelivery. For instance, you can add a phone number validation mechanism to stop similar undeliveries if the undelivered item was the result of an invalid phone number.
6. Keep an eye out for persistent delivery failures and deal with the underlying causes.

You may reduce the quantity of undeliverable messages and make sure that your messages are sent as promptly and reliably as feasible by adhering to these best practises.

How to use delivery reports for customer engagement and feedback

Delivery reports can be a helpful tool for communicating with clients and getting their feedback. By keeping an eye on the delivery of your messages, you can find out more about how your audience is interacting with your communications and make adjustments to boost engagement. You can make use of delivery reports for client interaction and feedback in the following ways:

1. Monitor message delivery rates: You can identify patterns and trends in client participation by monitoring message delivery rates. For instance, if you notice that some types of communications have lower delivery rates, you might alter your messaging strategy to enhance interaction.
2. Read receipts are used to calculate interest: You can tell how interested your customers are in your messaging by looking at read receipts. Monitoring read receipts will help you see which messages are reaching your audience and which are not.
3. Keep a record of your interactions with consumers. By seeing how they react to your messaging, you can identify trends in their behaviour. For instance, if you notice that customers typically respond more favourably to messages received at different times of the day, you may adjust your messaging schedule to maximise interaction.
4. Depending on how engaged they are, you can categorise your audience using delivery data. For instance, by identifying client segments that commonly open your communications, you can target groups of customers with more individualised content.
5. Deliver feedback by using delivery reports: Another choice is to deliver feedback by using delivery reports. For example, a high number of undeliverable messages could indicate that you need to alter your messaging strategy.

By using delivery reports for customer contact and feedback, you can improve the effectiveness of your messaging and give your customers a more individualised experience.

Conclusion

To sum up, delivery reports are an effective tool for assessing the success of your text message marketing efforts. They can be used to increase interaction, target particular audiences, and deal with undeliverable messages since they give you insightful information about how your clients are responding to your messages.

Making data-driven decisions to optimise your messaging strategy requires an awareness of the various delivery report kinds as well as the interpretation and application of the status codes. Additionally, you can make sure that your text messaging campaigns are successful by following the step-by-step instructions for integrating delivery reports in well-known messaging platforms and putting best practises for managing and storing delivery report data into practise. Additionally, you may increase consumer interaction and feedback by leveraging advanced use cases.

You now have the resources to advance your text messaging thanks to this comprehensive guide.