Are your outbound messages showing as undelivered? There’s usually a simple explanation. We put together this guide to help you troubleshoot and resolve any issues with your messages not delivering properly.
In this guide, we’ll cover any outbound messages that register an undelivered error notification. If you’re having issues with messages failing to deliver but you did not receive an undelivered notification, please see this article.
Why was my message undelivered?
If you receive the undelivered notification on your message, this indicates OpenPhone has received a delivery receipt indicating the message did not deliver. On the web or desktop app, you can highlight over the undelivered notification and see the specific reason why your message didn’t go through.
The destination number you are trying to reach is unknown and may no longer exist
If a message you sent returns the above error message, your message failed to deliver due to an unknown or inactive destination. It’s possible that the number is no longer in service or has been temporarily deactivated.
If you believe the number active and receive the above error message, please email a brief description of your issue to support@openphone.co for our support team to further troubleshoot.
The destination handset you are trying to reach is switched off or otherwise unavailable.
If a message you sent returns the above error message, it failed to deliver due to an unavailable or unreachable destination. This might mean your attempted recipient is outside of cellular service or their mobile device is turned off and unavailable to receive messages.
While unlikely, it’s also possible the receiving carrier sent us this error message after filtering out the message. If you’re experiencing repeated instances of this issue, please reach out to our support team at support@openphone.co to further troubleshoot. Please include three (3) or more specific instances of this issue in your email.
The destination number you are trying to reach is blocked from receiving this message.
If a message you sent returns the above error message, your message failed to deliver because the destination is blocked from receiving this message. Possible reasons could include:
- The user does not accept SMS from unknown senders
- The user cannot receive SMS due to limitations of their mobile plan
- The receiving carrier filtered out the message as spam
If you’re able to rule out the reason above, please reach out to our support team to further troubleshoot. Please include three (3) or more specific instances of this issue in your message.
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.
If a message you sent returns the above error message, it failed to deliver because the recipient is unable to receive this message. The most likely reasons are that the destination is a landline or it is otherwise unreachable.
If you’re consistently experiencing this issue, please reach out to our support team to further troubleshoot. Please include three (3) or more specific instances of this issue in your message.
Unknown error
If a message you sent returns the “unknown error” message, this means the message failed to deliver without the error notification from the receiving carrier specifying the issue. It’s also possible that the message failed to send due to an issue on your end, including a poor internet connection. While uncommon, this could also be due to a temporary outage with OpenPhone. To check on this, please go to our status page at status.openphone.co
If you’re consistently experiencing the unknown error message, please reach out to our support team to further troubleshoot. Please include three (3) or more specific instances of this issue in your message.
Your message content was flagged as going against carrier guidelines
If a message you sent returns the above error message, your message failed to deliver because it was filtered or blocked (by either OpenPhone or the receiving carrier). If blocked by OpenPhone’s end, this means that your messaging violated our terms of service. If blocked by the receiving carrier, this means your message was flagged as spam by the receiving carrier.
If you believe your messages are compliant with our terms of service and that you’ve only contacted users who have opted to be contacted, please submit a request here with the following:
- Brief summary of your business and your usage of OpenPhone
- How you collected your contact’s information
- How they granted permission to be contacted
For additional best practices to ensure message delivery, please see this guide here.
