There are two database fields which are critical for sending SMS messages with Emarsys:
Also, some SMS custom fields are created when the SMS feature is enabled in the account:
The field Phone is not referenced by the SMS feature, so do not use this for mobile numbers that you want to use for sending text messages.
The 'Mobile SMS Opt-in' field
When the Emarsys SMS feature is activated, Emarsys automatically creates the Mobile SMS Opt-in field in your account. This field determines whether or not a contact can be sent content via SMS.
When the SMS feature is first activated, this field is of course empty, so Emarsys will initially treat all contacts as having an SMS opt-in. This means that all contacts with a valid mobile phone number will be eligible to receive SMS campaigns. It is up to you to segment the contacts accordingly using other database fields.
After a contact opts out, the value for this field will be set to FALSE and they will no longer be able to receive SMS campaigns.
The 'Mobile' field
The Mobile field stores the mobile number of the contacts. This is a system field and exists in your Emarsys account by default.
When importing contacts, Emarsys will normally try to map telephone numbers to the field Phone. You must therefore pay attention to the field mapping and make sure you have selected Mobile instead.
Emarsys treats all mobile numbers as international, therefore you must:
- Include the international country or region code.
- Remove the leading 0 from the local number.
You can prefix the numbers with 00 and + or leave these out. All versions will be accepted.
Example: A mobile phone number in Austria might be 0664 123 4567. The international code for Austria is 43. Any of these three numbers will be valid:
- 436641234567
- +436641234567
- 00436641234567
When importing contact data, make sure to map these two fields correctly in the same way as you would for any other data imports.
SMS Custom Fields
| Field | Value | How it is updated | Possible use cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile SMS Bad Number |
If the value is anything but empty, it will prevent sending the SMS. It indicates an issue with the number. |
By receiving an error from the provider when trying to send an SMS to this number. |
Checking this value will list all contacts with bad numbers that cannot receive SMSes. |
| Mobile SMS Normalized | The mobile phone number with country or region code, without leading zeros or ‘+' sign. |
By sending to this number. If it is not there yet, Emarsys creates it; if it has changed, Emarsys updates it. |
The mobile phone number in RFC standard. |
| Mobile SMS Operator Code | mblox_operator , openmarket_operator (only applicable for these 2) |
The SMS service updates it when normalizing the number. |
- |
| Mobile SMS last sent | Not in use. | - | - |
| Mobile SMS Opt-in | true/false |
By contact creation and API update (just like any other), and by unsubscribe - either via SMS or unsubscribe link. |
To find out who permits you to receive SMSes. |