Sender IDs

The sender ID, also called a header, is what the recipient sees instead of a phone number. Six characters, registered to your entity, and tied to a category.

The rules#

Choosing one#

Six characters is less room than it sounds, and the sender ID is the only branding on the message.

• Use a recognisable abbreviation of your brand. SPLSFY, not SMS001.
• Keep it consistent. Recipients learn to trust a sender ID; changing it resets that.
• Avoid anything that reads as a generic service. Portals reject headers that could impersonate a bank, a government body or another business.

Registering one#

1. Register it on your DLT portal

   Under your entity, in the header or sender ID section, choosing the category it will carry.

2. Wait for approval

   The portal checks it is not already taken and not misleading. Usually a few hours.

3. Add it to the panel

   On the Sender IDs page, with the same six characters and the same category. We store it upper-cased, so the case you type does not matter.

4. Wait for our review

   We confirm it matches what you registered. Most are approved within 24 hours.

Why one gets refused#

At the DLT portal: already registered to someone else, too close to another business's header, or suggesting an authority you are not. Portals are strict about anything resembling a bank or a government service.

In the panel: the six characters do not match what was approved, the category does not match, or the entity it was filed under has no verified chain. Each rejection says which, and you can correct and resubmit.

Using it#

You do not choose a sender ID at send time. Each template is attached to one when you register it, and sending with that template uses its header. This is what keeps the pairing correct: a category mismatch between the header and the template is caught when you add them rather than at the operator.