Does the Vonage SMS API Support Binary SMS? (via HTTP and SMPP)

Question

Is binary SMS supported via the Vonage SMS API over HTTP and SMPP?

Applies To

• Vonage SMS API (HTTP / REST)

• SMPP

• Binary SMS (type=binary)

• UDH (User Data Header) parameter

• SMS MT (Mobile Terminated / Outbound)

Answer

Yes — binary SMS is supported on the Vonage SMS API via both HTTP and SMPP.

Sending Binary SMS via HTTP (REST SMS API)

To send a binary SMS over HTTP, include the following parameters in your request:

Example request:

POST https://rest.nexmo.com/sms/json
  api_key=YOUR_API_KEY
  api_secret=YOUR_API_SECRET
  from=Vonage
  to=4915123456789
  type=binary
  body=<hex-encoded binary payload>
  udh=<hex-encoded UDH>

A successful request returns "status": "0" and the message is delivered to the handset.

Note: The udh parameter is required for binary SMS over HTTP. Requests without a valid udh may not behave as expected. Always include the body, udh, and type=binary parameters together.

Sending Binary SMS via SMPP

Binary SMS is also fully supported via SMPP. Use the appropriate Data Coding Scheme (DCS) value for binary (e.g. DCS 0x04 for 8-bit binary) and include the UDH in the SMPP esm_class and short_message fields as per the SMPP specification.

Important: Binary SMS is NOT Supported via the Messages API

Binary SMS (type=binary), UDH headers, and protocol_id have no equivalent in the Vonage Messages API. If you are using or migrating to the Messages API, binary SMS must be handled via SMPP. There are no plans to support binary SMS in the Messages API.

Additional Information

• For the full SMS API parameter reference, see the Vonage SMS API Reference.

• For SMS encoding guidance (text vs. unicode vs. binary), see SMS Concatenation & Encoding.

• For inbound binary SMS webhooks, see the Inbound SMS Guide.

• For Messages API migration, note that binary SMS is not supported — see Migrating from SMS API to Messages API.