SMS Broadcast
SMS Broadcast Jobs let you schedule an SMS campaign to be delivered to a filtered group of customers at a specific date and time. Rather than sending immediately, a broadcast job queues the messages and dispatches them when the scheduled moment arrives. This is especially useful for reminders tied to upcoming events, such as warning customers whose packages are about to expire.
Creating a Broadcast Job
Navigate to SMS & Notifications → SMS Broadcast and click New Broadcast Job. Fill in the form as described below.
Filtering the Audience
Use the customer filters to define who will receive the message:
- Operator / Reseller – restrict the audience to a specific operator's customers.
- Zone – target customers within a named zone.
- Package – select customers on a particular service plan.
- Expiry window – a common use case is to target customers whose package expires within a set number of days (for example, expiring in 3 days). Enter the number of days in the expiry filter to automatically include only those customers.
The estimated recipient count is shown in real time as you adjust filters.
Scheduling the Send Time
Set the Send Date and Send Time fields to specify exactly when the broadcast should go out. The system uses the server's configured timezone, so verify that the time entered matches your local timezone if they differ.
A broadcast job can be scheduled for any future date and time. Jobs scheduled in the past will not be sent; always double-check the date before saving.
Composing the Message
Write the message body in the text area. All standard template variables are supported:
| Variable | Replaced with |
|---|---|
{customer_name} |
Customer's full name |
{package_name} |
Active package name |
{amount_due} |
Outstanding balance |
{expiry_date} |
Package or billing expiry date |
Keep an eye on the character count to avoid unexpected multi-part SMS charges.
Monitoring Job Status
Once saved, the broadcast job appears in the Broadcast Jobs list with one of the following statuses:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | The job is scheduled and waiting for its send time. |
| Sent | The job has been processed and messages were dispatched to all matched recipients. |
| Failed | The job encountered an error during processing. Check the error detail column for more information (common causes: insufficient SMS balance, gateway connectivity issue). |
You can cancel a Pending job at any time before its scheduled send time by clicking Cancel in the job list. Jobs that have already been sent cannot be recalled.
Notes
- SMS credits are deducted from your balance when the job is processed, not when it is created.
- If the SMS balance is insufficient at send time, the job will move to Failed and no messages will be sent. Top up your balance and recreate the job if this occurs.
- Very large broadcast jobs (thousands of recipients) may take several minutes to fully process after the scheduled time.