Bulk SMS
What is Bulk SMS?
Bulk SMS is the practice of sending the same or templated text message to a large list of recipients at once, typically through a messaging API or an SMPP connection rather than one message at a time by hand. Platforms handle it by queuing the batch, applying per-number and per-campaign throughput limits, and returning delivery receipts for each recipient, which is what separates true bulk sending from a person manually texting a large group.
More detail
Bulk SMS campaigns are typically sent through a REST API or SDK, with the platform handling the underlying SMPP binds, carrier routing, and throughput pacing so large batches don't get filtered as spam-like traffic bursts.
In the US and Canada, bulk application-to-person SMS from a long code must be registered under A2P 10DLC before carriers allow it through at scale; unregistered high-volume sending is commonly filtered regardless of message content.
Frequently asked
- Is bulk SMS the same as SMS marketing?
- Not exactly — SMS marketing is one common use case for bulk SMS, but bulk sending also covers alerts, appointment reminders, and account notifications sent to many recipients at once, not just promotional content.
- How is bulk SMS different from sending SMS through SMPP directly?
- SMPP is the underlying protocol carriers and gateways use to exchange messages at scale; bulk SMS is the sending pattern of dispatching one message to many recipients, which a platform typically implements over SMPP or a REST API that abstracts SMPP away.
See also
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