Question

What do the common acronyms regarding SMS mean?

Applies To

• SMS
• Terminology

Answer

• SMS: Short Message Service that allows the exchange of short text messages (maximum 160 characters for one message) between phone, web, or mobile communication systems. More information on SMS is available on Wikipedia.
• LVN: Long virtual number is a virtual number that enables businesses to have their own long telephone number to receive and send calls and messages from. You can buy a LVN through your Vonage API account dashboard.
• MT: Mobile Terminated message. It may also be referred to as an outbound message. This is a message sent from a client application to a mobile device.
• MO: Mobile Originated message. It may also be referred to as an inbound message. This is a message originated from a mobile device towards a Vonage long virtual number that will be forwarded to your Webhook URL.
• DLR: Delivery Receipts are provided (upon request) to notify intermediate and final statuses of an outbound SMS. Final DLRs are widely provided but intermediates are dependent on the network messages are sent to.