# SMS Overview

Short Messaging Service (SMS) is a text-based way of communicating that has been around for a decade or more. If you would like to use the IS-Messenger platform for SMS messaging, you will need to create an account with one of our partners.

Once you have created an account and provisioned a phone number, you may connect it to the IS-Messenger platform and interact with your contacts through SMS messages just like any other channel.

### Supporting Partners <a href="#supporting_partners" id="supporting_partners"></a>

If you wish to connect SMS to the IS-Messenger platform, please consider the following partners:

* [Twilio](https://docs.is-messenger.com/ismessenger/messaging-channels/sms/twillio-sms)
* [MessageBird](https://docs.is-messenger.com/ismessenger/messaging-channels/sms/messagebird-sms)
* [Vonage](https://docs.is-messenger.com/ismessenger/messaging-channels/sms/vonage-sms)

{% hint style="info" %}
If you are interested in using a partner that is not listed here, please request a new channel integration on the IS-Messenger Feature Request board!
{% endhint %}

### Channel Capabilities <a href="#channel_capabilities" id="channel_capabilities"></a>

The channel capabilities of SMS supporting partners are listed below:

* Message Status Availability
* Supported File Types
* Metadata Received by Channel
* Broadcasts
* Rate Limits

### **Message Status Availability**

The message status availability for different SMS channels is shown in the table below:

| **SMS Channel** | **Sent** | **Delivered** | **Read** | **Failed** |
| --------------- | -------- | ------------- | -------- | ---------- |
| Twilio          | ✅        | ✅             | ❌        | ✅          |
| MessageBird     | ✅        | ✅             | ❌        | ✅          |
| Vonage          | ✅        | ✅             | ❌        | ✅          |

### **Supported File Types**

The file types supported by different SMS channels and the maximum file size for each file type are shown in the table below:

| **SMS Channel** | **Image Size Limit (MBs)** | **Audio Size Limit (MBs)** | **Video Size Limit (MBs)** |
| --------------- | -------------------------- | -------------------------- | -------------------------- |
| Twilio          | 5                          | 0.5                        | 0.5                        |
| MessageBird     | 1                          | 1                          | 1                          |
| Vonage          | 2                          | -                          | -                          |

### **Metadata Received by Channel**

Different channels provide different sets of Contact's metadata to the IS-Messenger platform. The list of Contact's data you’ll be able to obtain from different SMS channels is shown in the table below:

| **SMS Channel** | **Metadata Received by Channel**                |
| --------------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| Twilio          | Phone number, City, State, Postal code, Country |
| MessageBird     | Phone number                                    |
| Vonage          | Phone number                                    |

### **Broadcasts**

IS-Messenger’s supporting SMS partner channels have no restrictions on the content or number of messages businesses can send in a broadcast. Broadcast messages will be charged at the usual per-message rate.

{% hint style="info" %}
\- Learn more about [how to send a broadcast here](https://docs.is-messenger.com/ismessenger/modules/broadcast/broadcast).\
\- Learn how to [deal with failed broadcast messages here](https://docs.is-messenger.com/ismessenger/modules/broadcast/broadcast).
{% endhint %}

### **Rate Limits**

A rate limit is the number of API calls an app or user can make within a given time period defined by the channel. Learn more about the rate limits of SMS channels below:

* [Twilio](https://support.twilio.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002943027-Understanding-Twilio-Rate-Limits-and-Message-Queues)
* [MessageBird](https://developers.messagebird.com/api/sms-messaging/#send-outbound-sms)
* [Vonage](https://api.support.vonage.com/hc/en-us/articles/203993598-What-is-the-Throughput-Limit-for-Outbound-SMS-)