How does Vonage investigate SMS delivery problems?

Question

How does Vonage investigate SMS delivery problems?

Applies To

• SMS Delivery
• Troubleshooting
• Support Handling

Answer

Vonage has extensive monitoring to identify and correct most SMS deliverability problems before our users notice them. This is managed through a dedicated team, on-seat 24*365, backed with a full set of alerts, tools and automations.

Unfortunately, 100% deliverability is not always achievable, mostly due to legitimate handset-related problems, such as network connectivity, and on a smaller degree due to actual route problems.

When a Vonage API user opens a ticket regarding SMS deliverability problems, our Support team investigates this through multiple troubleshooting steps, such as:

• Validation of the message request.
• Review of the relevant error code provided through the SMS delivery receipt.
• Comparison with the list of supported features in the relevant country.
• Analysis of delivery statistics for the route used on that message.
• Review of overall performance indicators towards that destination network.

Sometimes, these steps are not enough to identify the exact reason why a message could have failed. In those cases, the next step is to open a ticket with the relevant route provider.

Unfortunately, our multiple route providers might not always be able to investigate cases where only one specific number is involved. We are often required to provide details of several numbers facing problems in the last 48 hours. The ultimate reason for this requirement is to differentiate handset specific problems—the most common scenario—from route related incidents.

If you are concerned with any particular delivery problem, submit a support request, ideally with as many examples and details as possible.