12 Reasons Why Your Text Message Didn’t Get delivered

Today, many people prefer communicating through text messages over phone calls. It is an easy and reliable way of communicating as it is not affected by background noise and voice quality. 

Similarly, the delivery of most text messages is usually instant, but delays can also occur. It is even possible for some messages to never reach their intended destination. 

The situation worsens if a person doesn’t know the main reasons for text message delay and why their text messages didn’t get delivered.

Thus, to solve this mystery, we have compiled a list of reasons why sometimes text messages may get delayed or might not reach the receiver in this blog. Furthermore, we will discuss how to improve SMS delivery rates by addressing these issues.

Reasons Why your text message didn’t get delivered

There are many reasons why your text messages sent to someone didn’t get delivered to the right person at the right time. Here are some of them,

1. You Type an invalid Mobile Number

One of the reasons that aids in the delivery issue of text messages is entering an incorrect mobile number. It is the most common silly mistake that people make. It happens when a sender enters the phone number/mobile number of a receiver incorrectly. 

For example, let’s say a person was supposed to send a message to someone with the “123-4567” number but accidentally typed “123-4576”. In this case, the message will be directed to the wrong recipient. It shows even a tiny mistake (a single wrong digit) can lead to failed SMS delivery.

Hence, it is always a good idea to double-check a mobile number before pressing the “send” button on your device. 

2. The Number is Incorrectly Formatted

Proper number format (country code followed by mobile number) is essential for a message to reach its destination. If you write an incorrect number format, your message won’t be delivered to the right person at the right time. 

Basically, you need to consider writing the correct phone number format to send a message to someone living in another country than yours.  As an example, all messages sent to U.S. telephones must begin with the country prefix “+1” – if the international country prefix is not added, the message may not be delivered.

3. The Recipient has Blocked your Phone Number

Although it might seem surprising, blocking your phone number is also a common reason your text messages are not delivered. It occurs when a message recipient intentionally or unintentionally blocks your number to maintain privacy, become free from SMS marketing, personal preferences, or other reasons. Usually, people block a phone number that irritates them or that they no longer wish to get engaged with anymore.

For example, Eva blocks Hailey’s phone number on her mobile phone. In this case, any text messages Hailey sends to Eva will not be delivered, as she has intentionally restricted communication from her number.

You can confirm whether or not your phone number has been blocked by calling the recipient. In the event the call fails to connect, know that your phone number has been blocked. Also, if you want to be 100% sure, make a call from a different number. This time, if a call connects, then your number is 100% blocked.

4. Your Message was Flagged as Spam by the Recipient’s Carrier

As text messaging grew in popularity, mobile carriers have employed spam filters to protect their subscribers from potentially harmful spam SMSs. Just like your email provider moves suspicious emails to the spam folder, your mobile carrier does the same.

Mobile carriers run special algorithms to separate A2P (Application-to-person) and P2P(person-to-person) messages. If they find any suspicious messages, they mark them as spam and prevent them from reaching the recipient. 

Specifically, a mobile carrier marks particular messages as spam if they contain suspicious content, URLs, content consisting of over 160 characters, and text messages consisting of all capital letters.

5. Recipient Phone is Switched Off

Most people switch off their phones when they want to disconnect from the virtual world and reconnect with reality or when their phone has a low battery. 

If you send messages to someone who has switched off their mobile, your P2P messages won’t get delivered at that time. But your messages will be delivered once the recipient’s phone is turned on. 

6. The receiver’s Number is Roaming

Message delivery failed issue also arises if the recipient of your text message is traveling abroad and their phone is set to roam. In this case, you can use platforms like Messenger or WhatsApp that use internet connections to contact them for free.

7. You’re Sending too Many Messages

You can only send a few text messages in one minute. And if you cross the message limitation and send too many texts within a minute, your texts will be classified as junk, or the message won’t get delivered.

8. The Message contains illegal Content

CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association) has set some SMS messaging guidelines. According to CTIA, sending illegal content over SMS is not allowed. 

Thus, if you send a text message containing illicit content, such as adult content, references to drugs, or anything concerning criminal activity, the phone carrier will block it immediately. Because of this, when sending a message, you must ensure that your message complies with the terms and conditions of CTIA, the messaging platform, and local laws.

9. Sending Message to Landline Number

Landline phones don’t support sending or receiving messages; they are limited to only making and receiving outgoing and incoming calls. Therefore, your text message won’t deliver if you accidentally send a message to a landline. It’s always a good idea to check if the number you’re trying to send a message is a landline. It will solve the mystery behind the message delivery issue to a great extent.

10. The recipient has a Billing Issue

There are many users who have outstanding phone bills. And if they don’t pay phone bills on time, then the service carriers can suspend or terminate the user’s service without further notice. Hence, your message won’t get delivered if you text a recipient whose mobile service is suspended due to billing issues, such as an overdue payment. That means a dedicated message recipient won’t receive SMS messages.

11. Signal Issues

Another factor that affects the message delivery process is weak or unstable cellular signals on the sender’s side. Messages may get lost in transit or fail to reach their recipients due to fluctuations in mobile networks. Moreover, sending a text message also fails if your carrier is facing an outage. This issue doesn’t happen often; it is a rare case.

12. The Receiver has turned on Airplane Mode

Your text message didn’t get delivered because the receiver has turned on airplane mode on their device. Your message will be delivered after they turn off airplane mode.

Conclusion

In summary, there are many factors that affect the message delivery procedure from both the sender’s and receiver’s side. On the sender’s side, they are entering the wrong mobile phone number, entering incorrect mobile phone format, sending too many messages at a time, sending messages containing illegal content, sending a message to a landline number, and signal issues.

Likewise, on the receiver’s side, they are blocking the sender’s number, switching off the mobile phone, phone number roaming, billing issues, signal issues, and enabling airplane mode.

If you are thinking of using a cloud phone system for sending and receiving text, we recommend you trust Dialaxy. It is a top provider of virtual numbers. With our virtual numbers (local and mobile), you can make unlimited calls and SMS in the USA and Canada without delays as long as there is a reliable internet connection.

FAQs

1. Why would a text message not be delivered?

A text message would not be delivered because of various reasons, they are:

• You type an invalid mobile number and number format.
• The receiver has blocked your phone number.
• Your message was flagged as spam.
• Recipient has switched off their mobile.
• You are sending a message to your landline number.
• Signal issues.

2. Why are my messages taking time to deliver?

Your messages take time to deliver if your network is poor and the receiver has switched off their device. 

3. Does a message not delivered mean blocked?

No, a message not delivered does not mean blocked. Your message may not be delivered when your signal is weak, if your messages have been flagged as spam, if you are sending bulk messages at once, or if you are sending to a landline number.

4. What are the factors that affect the message in communication?

Some factors that affect the message in communication include the tone of the message, message structure, language in which the message has been written, message length, title, etc.