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Knowledge: Useful Information about Delivery Notifications and Reasoncodes

Subsequently useful information that we were able to collect from our daily experience with sending SMS.

Many requests reaching our Support Team regard the interpretation of Delivery Notification.

What are Delivery Notifications?

A Delivery Notification informs you if a specific SMS has been delivered or not.

The ASPSMS Delivery Notifications are so called «Handset Notifications». A positive Notification does not only mean the Message has been sent, but also it reached the according mobile device.

If an SMS can't be delivered successfully, a Reasoncode indicates the cause of the failure.

Basically there are three different types of Delivery Notification:

Status 0: Delivered

If a Delivery Notification has Status 0, the SMS has been delivered successfully. There is no need for further analysis of the Reasoncode.

Status 1: Buffered

If a Delivery Notification has Status 1, the SMS could not be delivered immediately. In such a case the network will try to deliver the message for maximum 24 hours. To find out more about the reason of this failure the reasoncodes are very helpful.

In any case the SMS will get a final status code: 0 / Delivered or 2 / Failed.

Status 2: Failed

The delivery of the message definitely failed. There won't be any further delivery efforts. The Reasoncodes are useful to find out more about the cause of such a failure.

In the following you will find explanations of reasoncodes that appear the most in our daily work.

«Unknown subscriber»
Recipient that does not or not anymore exist. Please check, if the number has been entered correctly.

«Call barred»
This number has been barred by the provider. This Reasoncode has also occurred in context with empty prepaid cards which were barred for receiving SMS. Often it is still possible to call such a number.

«Absent subscriber»
107 is the most common Reasoncode. The mobile device is turned off or has no reception for some reason. As soon as the device is reachable again, most likely the reception of SMS will work again.

«Delivery fail»
This Reasoncode often occurs when the memory of a mobile device is full. If the recipient deletes one or more stored messages, most likely the message will be delivered.

«Delivery fail»
The validity of a message has expired. That means the system has tried to deliver the message for 24 hours unsuccessfully. The delivery has failed definitely.

«Protocol error»
In the past this error often occurred with certain mobile devices which were not able to handle alphanumeric originators correctly. Now the error occurres mostly when sending overlength messages (more than 160 chars). The concatenation is handled incorrectly within the mobile device and the message will not be displayed.

«SMS lower layer not provisioned»
This code has often been sighted with roaming combinations in non European networks. Typically networks in North- and Southamerica are affected of this error.

«Network time-out»
This code has often been sighted with roaming combinations in non European networks. Typically networks in North- and Southamerica are affected of this error.

«System fail»
It was tried to send a message, but a failure, which could not be specified any further, occurred in the network. This error has been viewed in context with not reachable, barred or overloaded networks and warlike events.

«PLMN system failure»
This code has appeared several times when there was more than one SIM card with the same number signed on in the network. Often code 119 appears together with the use of communication systems which are not able to receive SMS (e.g. UMTS cards).

«MS not equipped»
This code has appeared several times when there was more than one SIM card with the same number signed on in the network. Often code 119 appears together with the use of communication systems which are not able to receive SMS (e.g. UMTS cards).

«HLR system failure»
Home Location Register - Indicates serious problems within the network of the recipient. This code occurs mostly when the recipients network is not reachable. In this case the chance is very little for the SMS to be sent later on. Most likely a delivery failure will be displayed after the validity of the message has expired.

«VLR system failure»
Visiting Location Register Failure - Indicates problems within the network of the recipient. This reasoncode has already occured in combination with roaming problems, e.g. if the recipient was abroad and the foreign network has not negociated an SMS roamingagreement with his home network.