Connect an SMS provider and send an SMS campaign

Before you start

• An account with an SMS provider and its API credentials. Twilio shows the Account SID and Auth Token in the Twilio Console.
• A sender. Twilio and Plivo ask for a sender number. The other providers ask for a sender name of up to 11 letters and digits. Your provider decides which senders your account may use.
• Phone numbers in international format, with a + and the country code, for example +447700900123. This is the E.164 format.
• Consent. NetSendo does not check SMS consent before sending. Only message people who agreed to receive SMS.
• The scheduler and queue services running. See Services, queue worker and scheduler.
• NetSendo 2.7.2 or newer. In 2.7.0 and 2.7.1 the panel's Send Now, Schedule and Send Test SMS did not deliver; update first.
• No licence check. SMS works on every plan.

Steps

Connect the provider

1. Open Settings → SMS Providers and click Add Provider. On an empty page the button is Add First Provider.

2. Under Select Provider, click your provider's tile: Twilio, SMS API (Polska), SMS API (Międzynarodowy), Vonage (Nexmo), MessageBird or Plivo. The two SMS API tiles are SMSAPI's Polish (smsapi.pl) and international (smsapi.com) services.

3. Type an Integration Name, for example Twilio main.

4. Set the sender. For Twilio, fill Sender ID / From Number with your Twilio number, for example +447700900123. For SMS API, Vonage and MessageBird, fill Sender Name (maximum 11 alphanumeric characters). Plivo sends from the number in its credential fields (step 5), so you can leave Sender Name empty.

5. Fill in the provider's credential fields. Some of these labels are still shown in Polish:

   Provider	Fields
   Twilio	Account SID, Auth Token, Numer nadawcy (sender number: the same number again)
   SMS API (both)	Token API, Nazwa nadawcy (sender name), Tryb testowy (test mode: nothing is sent)
   Vonage (Nexmo)	API Key, API Secret, Nazwa nadawcy
   MessageBird	Access Key, Nazwa nadawcy
   Plivo	Auth ID, Auth Token, Numer nadawcy

6. Optional: set a Daily Limit. Leave it empty for no limit.

7. Tick Active and Default, then click Add.

8. On the provider's card, click the Test connection icon. The status changes from Not tested to Active, or to Connection error. This test only checks the credentials. It sends no SMS.

Prepare the recipients

9. Open Contact Lists → SMS Lists, click New SMS List, type a List Name and click Create List.
10. Add people with Contact Lists → Add Subscriber: choose the SMS list and fill Phone. The country picker next to the number starts at Poland (+48), so change it first if needed. For many numbers, see Import contacts.

Write the SMS

11. Open Address List → Add SMS Message.
12. Type a Campaign Name (Internal). Only you see it.
13. On the Content tab, write the Message Content. The counter above it estimates the parts: 160 characters per SMS, or 70 when the text has any non-ASCII character, such as ł or é (shown as (Unicode)). Insert variable adds placeholders such as [[first_name]].
14. On the Settings tab, keep Sending Type on One-time. Under Audience, pick your list in -- Select SMS List --. Leave SMS Sender on Auto (default), or pick a provider.

Test and send it

15. Click Send Test SMS, type your number in Phone Number (with the country code) and click Send Test. The test goes through your default provider, with [TEST] in front of the text. If the provider rejects it, its error is shown instead of "Test SMS sent successfully!".
16. Under Scheduling, choose when to send:
    • Send Now, then click Send Now at the bottom. The SMS queue starts sending within a minute.
    • Schedule for Later, set Date and Time, then click Schedule. The time is read in your account's time zone.
    • Or click Save Draft to send later by hand.

Check that it works

• The test SMS arrives on your phone, with the sender you set.
• In SMS Message List, the campaign shows Scheduled while the SMS go out (a scheduled campaign shows its date) and Sent once every recipient has been handled.
• Through the API, GET /api/v1/messages/ID/stats returns queue_stats with the number of SMS sent, failed and skipped.
• If you set a Daily Limit, the provider's card shows Sent today.

If it doesn't work

The campaign stays Scheduled and no SMS arrives

The scheduler or the queue worker is not running, or sending is paused by the weekly schedule under Settings → CRON Settings. Follow Emails are not sending: SMS use the same services.

The campaign shows Sent right away, but no SMS arrives

You are on NetSendo 2.7.1 or older, where Send Now saved the campaign without queueing it. Update to 2.7.2, open the campaign and click Send Now again.

Send Test SMS shows an error

"No SMS provider configured" means no provider is both Active and Default. Any other text is the provider's own answer, for example a wrong number format or a sender name your account may not use.

Test connection shows Connection error

The credentials are wrong, or the provider refused them. The notice shows the provider's message. Edit the provider and enter the credentials again.

Some recipients were skipped

They have no phone number, or they are not active. NetSendo skips them.

SMS went to the wrong country

The number was saved without a country code. The Twilio and SMS API (Polska) connectors treat a 9-digit number without a prefix as Polish (+48). Save every number with its country code.

Sending stopped part way

The provider reached its Daily Limit, and the rest of the SMS failed. Raise or clear the limit. Sending speed is also capped by Message limit / minute under Settings → CRON Settings.

Do it with an AI assistant

The NetSendo MCP server can run the whole campaign:

• list_sms_providers and list_contact_lists find the IDs.

• create_campaign creates the draft. Use channel sms, type broadcast and the list in contact_list_ids.

• send_campaign sends now, or schedule_campaign sends later.

• get_campaign_stats shows sent, failed and skipped.

• send_sms sends one SMS, for example a test, to a contact's number (subscriber_id) or to a phone that belongs to a contact. In 2.7.1 and older the server rejected its request.

Example prompt:

Create an SMS campaign to my list "VIP SMS" with the text "Hi [[first_name]], our sale starts tomorrow at 9:00." Show me the draft and its recipient count, then send it after I confirm.