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SMS Error Codes

Outlining the statuses for messages sent by Salesmsg

Chris Brisson avatar
Written by Chris Brisson
Updated over a month ago

If you've sent an SMS text message and are getting errors, this page will give you guidance on how to improve your delivery and what the errors mean.

🏆 #1 Recommendation

Enable PhoneCheckr to lookup your contact phone numbers to ensure that you send texts to valid numbers that can receive SMS text messages.


2000 - 2999 Errors

21266

'To' and 'From' numbers cannot be the same

You attempted to send an SMS, but the To phone number you supplied is the same as the From number.

Possible Causes

You attempted to send an SMS from a Twilio number to itself (i.e. putting the same Twilio number in the To and From parameters).

Possible Solutions

Ensure you are not attempting to send a message from a Twilio number to itself.

21211

Invalid 'To' Phone Number

You attempted to initiate an outbound phone call, but the called phone number you supplied was not a valid phone number or was incorrectly formatted.

Possible Causes

  • The formatting of the 'To' number you supplied was invalid.

  • You attempted to send a message or place a call from a Salesmsg number to itself.

Possible Solutions

🏆 Enable Auto-Recharge (recommended)

We recommend turning on Auto-Recharge, so when your credits fall below a certain amount, we will automatically add credits to your account.

21408

Permission to send an SMS has not been enabled for the region.

You have attempted to send an SMS to a region that has not been enabled in your account's. Salesmsg is only available in the United States and Canada at this time.

Possible Causes

You have attempted to send an SMS to a region or country that is not available. Currently, Salesmsg is only available in 🇺🇸 and 🇨🇦.

Possible Solutions

If you wish to send messages to a different country, please contact our support team for more information.

21606

The 'From' phone number provided is not a valid message-capable Salesmsg phone number for this destination.

You can only send SMS messages from a phone number provided by Salesmsg, and that phone number must be SMS enabled. You can only send SMS messages from a phone number or short code provided by or ported to Salesmsg, and that phone number must be SMS-capable. For short codes, the From number must be in the same country as the To number.

Due to anti-spam regulations, the number a user sees when you send an SMS using your application must be the same Salesmsg number associated with that account. This differs from voice calls, where it is possible to display a verified caller ID other than your Salesmsg number.

Possible Causes

  • The Number you are using may not be capable of sending messages

  • The Number may be formatted incorrectly. Salesmsg accepts numbers in E.164 format

  • If the Number is a short code, it must be associated with the same country as the destination address.

Possible Solutions

  • Check that you are using a Salesmsg phone number with SMS capabilities.

  • If you are sending from a short code, verify that the country you are sending to matches the country of the short code.

21610

Attempt to send to unsubscribed recipient

The person you are trying to message has opted out of receiving messages from your Salesmsg phone number. You have attempted to message a 'To' number that has replied with "STOP" to one of your previous messages.

Possible Causes

The end user handset has responded with "STOP" or another opt-out keyword.

Possible Solutions

  • Consider removing this phone number from your list of recipients.

  • Request the recipient to resubscribe to your messages by texting in "START" or another opt-in keyword to your Salesmsg sender.

21612

Message cannot be sent with the current combination of "To" and/or "From" parameters

You have attempted to send to a number that is not currently reachable via Salesmsg SMS. If the number provided is a properly formatted E.164, it is most likely that Salesmsg does not yet have service with the carrier you are trying to reach. We have logged the carrier you are attempting to reach and will monitor these failures when adding new carriers. The combination of “To” and “From” parameters on this message cannot be connected by Salesmsg at this time.

Possible Causes

  • Number formatting: The format you used for the “To” or “From” number may not be formatted using the E.164 format. Salesmsg standardizes numbers using the E.164 format. If the “To” or “From” number of this message were altered by Salesmsg in a way that you didn’t expect, try re-submitting the message with E.164 formatted addresses.

Possible Solutions

  • Check the format of your contact phone number to ensure the proper accepted format for the given country.

21614

'To' number is not a valid mobile number

You have attempted to send a SMS with a 'To' number that is not a valid mobile number. It is likely that the number that you have specified is a landline number or is an invalid number.

Possible Causes

  • The number you provided may be a landline number.

  • The number you provided may be invalid or formatted incorrectly.

  • If you are attempting to send SMS to Internet of Things (IoT) or machine-to-machine (M2M) numbers, the numbers may use a non-standard format that Twilio has not added to our number validation system yet.

Possible Solutions

  • Confirm that the number you are sending to is not a landline, using PhoneCheckr

  • Please verify you have provided a valid mobile number in proper.



3000 - 3999 Errors

30003

Unreachable destination handset

Possible Causes

Error code 30003 means your message failed to deliver because the destination was unavailable or unreachable. This error occurs if you are trying to reach an unreachable or switched-off destination handset.

This doesn't mean that it's a bad number, its simply that at the time of the message attempting to be delivered, it failed because the device was off or unreachable.

  • Most likely, the phone number is a LANDLINE and is unable to receive SMS

  • The destination number you are trying to reach is unknown or may not exist.

  • The device you are trying to reach is not on or does not have sufficient signal.

  • There is an issue with the mobile carrier.

Possible Solutions

The first step to troubleshooting this issue is to attempt to replicate the problems. Attempt to send another test message to this contact.

If you see similar results, continue troubleshooting with the following checklist:

🏆 Enable PhoneCheckr (recommended)

  1. Enable PhoneCheckr to lookup your number to determine the number Type.

  2. Send messages to only Valid numbers (type: mobile, voip) and skip sending to Landlines.


  • Is the destination device powered on?

  • Does the device have sufficient signal? If not power the device off, wait 30 seconds, and then power it back up.

  • Is the device connected to the home carrier's network? We cannot guarantee message delivery on devices roaming off-network.

  • Can the device receive non-Salesmsg SMS?

  • Can the device receive messages from another Salesmsg number (non-Alphanumeric Sender ID), or with a shorter one-segment (non-concatenated) body?

  • Can other devices using the same mobile carrier receive your messages?

30005

Message Delivery - Unknown destination handset

If a message you sent is not delivered to the end device and returns a 30005 error code, this means that delivery of your message failed due to an unknown or inactive destination number, for example, a number that is no longer in service.

Possible Causes

  • Most likely, the phone number is a LANDLINE and is unable to receive SMS

  • The destination number you are trying to reach is unknown and may no longer exist.

  • The device you are trying to reach is not on or does not have sufficient signal.

  • There is an issue with the mobile carrier.

Possible Solutions

🏆 Enable PhoneCheckr (recommended)

  • Enable PhoneCheckr to lookup your number to determine the number Type.

  • Send messages to only Valid numbers (type: mobile, voip) and skip sending to Landlines.

We recommend turning on Auto-Recharge, so when your credits fall below a certain amount, we will automatically add credits to your account.

30006

Landline or unreachable carrier

If a message you sent is not delivered to the end device and returns a 30006 error code, this means that delivery of your message failed due to the destination being a landline and incapable of receiving SMS, or an unreachable destination carrier.

Possible Causes

The destination number is unable to receive this message. Potential reasons could include trying to reach a landline or, in the case of short codes, an unreachable carrier.

  • Your message was sent to a landline, or an unreachable carrier for this phone number type.

Possible Solutions

🏆 Enable PhoneCheckr (recommended)

  • Enable PhoneCheckr to lookup your number to determine the number Type.

  • Send messages to only Valid numbers (type: mobile, voip) and skip sending to Landlines.

We recommend turning on Auto-Recharge, so when your credits fall below a certain amount, we will automatically add credits to your account.

30007

Message filtered

Your message content was flagged as going against carrier guidelines. Your message was filtered (blocked) by our vendor or by the carrier. This may be done by our SMS vendors or by a wireless carrier for violating carrier rules or regulations.

Examples of messaging that would be blocked by Salesmsg are spam, phishing, and fraud. Salesmsg's filtering system is in place to protect mobile subscribers from spam or other forms of malicious or unwanted messages.

Wireless carriers have filtering systems in place as well. These carrier filters are used to block abusive traffic, as well as to enforce rules or regulations about what types of messaging are allowed to that country or mobile network.

Possible Causes

  • Your message was identified as spam or unwanted messaging by our vendor's or Salesmsg's message filtering system

  • Your message was flagged as objectionable and blocked by a wireless carrier

Possible Solutions

Local Phone Numbers (Coming soon)

  • Register for 10DLC and get approved for your Brand and Use Case

Toll-Free Numbers

  • Register for Toll-Free Verification and get approved (Business Profile and Use Case)

30008

Message Delivery - Unknown error

If a message you sent is not delivered to the end device and returns a 30008 error code, this means that delivery of your message failed for unknown reasons. When Salesmsg receives a very generic error from our carrier partner that we have no further details about, we associate the message with the error code 30008, letting you know that Salesmsg truly doesn’t know what caused this error from the provider.

Possible Causes

  • Check that the phone you were sending to is turned on and can receive non-Salesmsg SMS

  • Ensure that the phone is not roaming off network. We cannot guarantee message delivery on roaming phones.

  • Try sending to other phones who have the same mobile carrier (you can use our Lookups API to determine the carrier if you’re unsure). If messages to other phones go through, the issue is likely device related. Try rebooting the device or contact the mobile carrier for help.

  • If you are sending SMS from an alphanumeric sender ID, see if using a Salesmsg phone number works better. We’ve observed that certain networks may block alpha sender IDs.


  • If the recipient number is another Salesmsg number, ensure that number has an action configured for its Messaging capabilities.

  • Try sending a shorter message to the phone, with simple content that does not include any special characters. This would give our support team an idea as to whether the failure is related to concatenation or character encoding.

  • Salesmsg support can help investigate what went wrong with our carriers. Please open a support request and include a minimum of 3 or more message SIDs where a 30008 error was thrown. Per our carriers' requirements, these SIDs can be no older than 48 hours at most.

Possible Solutions

  • Ensure that the phone is not roaming off network. We cannot guarantee message delivery on roaming phones.

  • Check that the phone you were sending to is turned on and can receive non-Twilio SMS

  • Try sending to other phones who have the same mobile carrier (you can use our Lookups API to determine the carrier if you're unsure). If messages to other phones go through, the issue is likely device related. Try rebooting the device or contact the mobile carrier for help.

  • If you are sending SMS from an alphanumeric sender ID, see if using a Twilio phone number works better. We've observed that certain networks may block alpha sender IDs.

  • If the recipient number is another Twilio number, ensure that number has an action configured for its Messaging capabilities. Choose any available option like "Webhook" or "TwiML Bin."

  • Try sending a shorter message to the phone, with simple content that does not include any special characters. This would give our support team an idea as to whether the failure is related to concatenation or character encoding.

  • Twilio support can help investigate what went wrong with our carriers. Please open a support request and include a minimum of 3 or more message SIDs where a 30008 error was thrown. Per our carriers' requirements, these SIDs can be no older than 48 hours at most. Numbers (Coming soon)

  • Register for 10DLC and get approved for your Brand and Use Case

30032

Toll-Free Number Has Not Been Verified.

Toll-Free verification is required. You sent a message from a Toll-Free number to a mobile subscriber in USA or Canada. Salesmsg requires all Toll-Free numbers to go through a verification process. The Toll-Free number you sent from has not been verified through the required verification process.

Possible Causes

  • Your toll-free number has not been Verified to allow sending of traffic in USA and Canada.

  • Your message content is being flagged as SPAM on an unverified Toll-Free number.

  • Your toll-free verification request was rejected.

Possible Solutions

Starting May 16, 2022, any newly purchase Toll-Free numbers on Salesmsg will need to be verified or it may experience interruptions.

  1. Register for Toll-Free verification.

  2. Review the Toll-Free Best Practices help articles

If you've sent an SMS text message and are getting errors, this page will give you guidance on how to improve your delivery and what the errors mean.

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