The 6 Major Reasons Why Text Message Delivery Can Sometimes Fail

In this article, we will take a look at the 6 major reasons why text message delivery can sometimes fail. These are all legitimate causes for concern and should not be ignored under any circumstance. Once you know what these possible causes are, you can decide whether or not to take corrective action to ensure that your messages get delivered every time. 

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1) Network Provider

The network provider’s servers may be down or overloaded with texts. This is a common occurrence and happens a lot more often than people realize because it is only when the person on the other end tries to send your message back to you that they will have trouble doing so if their provider’s servers are down or overloaded. So, this is a pretty common reason why your messages aren’t delivering, if you ever really wondered. In addition, if this is occurring on a nationwide level then it will be difficult to determine who is responsible for the network failure. If this happens, it may be a good idea to contact your carrier and complain about how inconvenient it can be trying to send text messages when their servers are down.

2) Carriers Blocking Text Messages?

Carriers sometimes block texts from being sent or received on a particular device for a specific reason. Common reasons as to why this happens include past due bills on the part of the customer, issues with service plans, text spamming and abuse, etc. If you have been blocked from sending texts on a particular device then it may be a good idea to contact your carrier first before contacting the recipient’s provider.

3) International Location

If you live outside of the United States then keep in mind that international carriers don’t always support messaging outside their own network or country because they’d need to set up different servers accordingly. Also, keep in mind that SMS messages must also traverse several networks along the way before they reach their final destination so if one server doesn’t exist at some point during its journey then these messages will fail to send.

4) Inability To Reach Carrier’s Server

In some cases, your carrier’s server may be down or the person on the other end might be facing network issues at their end. If this is the case then you are most likely going to experience problems sending text messages until they are fixed. This can last for a few minutes up to several hours which means that there is no telling how long it could take before you resume receiving texts again if things don’t improve within that time frame.  

5) Local Network Issues

Local network issues occur when either your phone or the phone of the recipient fails to establish a connection with any nearby towers. Usually, these kinds of errors occur due to interference from buildings, varying weather patterns, and even other wireless devices. These issues do not only interfere with text messages, but all types of wireless communication, so being in a dead zone for wireless data will also result in failed text message delivery.

Local network issues are further complicated because the root problems can vary widely depending on which carrier you’re using, what type of phone you have, where you are located, and what time it is. Because errors occur randomly and without pattern or warning, there’s no simple step that can be taken to fix this problem (except, perhaps, switching carriers). You’ll need to check with your carrier if other users experience similar problems when attempting to send texts from your geographical location. The best way to know if local network issues are causing potential problems for others is to ask around; specifically, try asking people who’ve sent texts to you before.

6) Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) Not Responding

Content delivery networks or CDNs are servers that send and receive millions of texts every single day. The problem is – not all of these messages get delivered successfully because there can be several errors along the way, including non-delivery reports (NDR). These types of problems often arise because your text message has entered an invalid format or it could also be due to the response code which wasn’t understood by one server so it routed your message elsewhere before it could be sent on its way to its final destination. Sometimes, carriers will temporarily disable routing through their CDNs to avoid further mishandling of texts as a preventative measure until they have a chance to update their platforms with the latest versions of information that is going around.

The bottom line – there are many reasons why text messaging errors can occur but as long as you know this then you can take the necessary steps to avoid them from happening in your own environment.

Krystal | Sunny Sweet Days
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