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Troubleshooting: Not Getting SMS

If your customers aren’t receiving SMS messages from Elevate Prospect, work through these common causes in order.

1. Check Message Status in Your Inbox

Open your Inbox and look at the message you sent. Each message has a status:

  • Delivered — the carrier confirmed receipt. If it says delivered but the customer didn’t see it, the issue is on their device (do-not-disturb, blocked numbers, full inbox).
  • Failed — hover over the status for a failure reason. Common failures include invalid numbers, carrier blocks, or provisioning issues.
  • Pending — the message is queued. If it stays pending for more than 2 minutes, there may be a provisioning issue with your number.

2. Verify the Destination Number

Double-check the recipient’s phone number:

  • Make sure it’s a valid 10-digit US or Canadian number (Elevate Prospect currently supports US/CA SMS).
  • The number should be in E.164 format: +1XXXXXXXXXX. The system auto-formats, but manual entries may have errors.
  • Landline numbers cannot receive SMS. Verify the number is a mobile phone.
  • VoIP numbers (Google Voice, etc.) sometimes have SMS delivery issues depending on the provider.

3. Check Your Phone Number Status

Go to Settings → Phone and verify your number is Active. Numbers can become inactive due to:

  • Pending verification (new numbers require verification before sending)
  • Billing issue (if your payment method failed, SMS may be paused)
  • Compliance hold (if your account triggered an automated review)

If your number shows any status other than Active, follow the on-screen instructions to resolve it.

4. Carrier Filtering (The Most Common Cause)

US carriers aggressively filter SMS traffic to combat spam. Your messages may be blocked if:

  • Missing STOP language: Every automated message must include “Reply STOP to opt out” or similar. Without it, carriers flag your messages as spam.
  • URL shortening: Some carriers block messages with shortened links (bit.ly, etc.). Use full URLs or your own branded short domain.
  • High-volume sudden sending: If you send a large batch of messages at once, carriers may throttle or block you. Spread batch sends over time.
  • SHAFT content: Messages related to Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, or Tobacco are universally blocked by US carriers.
  • New/unverified number: Numbers under 48 hours old have lower deliverability. Carriers build trust over time.

5. Compliance Checklist

Run through this checklist to ensure your messages comply with carrier requirements:

  • check_box All automated messages include STOP opt-out language
  • check_box Your business name appears in every message
  • check_box Messages are sent during reasonable hours (8 AM–9 PM recipient local time)
  • check_box You have consent (customer opted in or has an existing business relationship)
  • check_box No URL shorteners in message body
  • check_box Message content is not promotional if the consent was for transactional messages only

6. Still Not Working?

If you’ve checked everything above and messages still aren’t delivering:

  1. Try sending to a different carrier (e.g. if the recipient is on Verizon, try an AT&T number). This helps isolate carrier-specific issues.
  2. Try sending a plain “test” message with no links or special characters to rule out content filtering.
  3. Check your Sent folder and note any error codes. Common codes:
    • 30005 — Message blocked by carrier (usually content/spam filtering)
    • 30006 — Number not reachable or invalid
    • 30007 — Carrier gateway error, retry
  4. Contact our support team with the error code and the exact message text. We can escalate to the carrier on your behalf.

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