SMS sending platform to
Colombia

Take advantage of all the benefits of SMS communication with the best platforms in the market. In this post we will give you all the information you need about the LabsMobile platform to send SMS in Colombia and its main features.

Platform for SMS delivery to Colombia

LabsMobile is an SMS delivery platform that best reaches all your clients in Colombia because:

• Its reliability and quality of delivery
• Great pricing
• Every feature included
• Personalized support

LabsMobile offers coverage to every cell phone operator like Claro, Movistar, Tigo or Avantel and it's also possible to send SMS to users or subscriptors of virtual operators that do not own a network like ETB or other MNVOs (Virgin, Exito, Suma móvil, Flash Mobile).

LabsMobile coverage in Colombia is 100%, so you won't have any problems sending SMS to any receiver or database.

Some of the most frequent usages of SMS in Colombia

In Colombia, using SMS is similar to the rest of the world when it comes to communicating effectively with clients:

• Using transactional messages. One of the main usages is to notify others and to let them know about package delivery, of purchases made, appointment reminder, etc.
• Collection management. These are reminders of pay dates or direct links to the payment methods.
• Marketing. Promotions, coupons, invitations to events, inventory, discounts are just some other marketing options to get to your clients. It's very important that in this type of messages the files (images, web landing pages, videos, etc) can be sent through a URL or a link in the body of the message.
• Satisfaction polls. Satisfaction polls also allow you to quickly know the opinion of your users or clients. In this way, it's possible to obtain any information or data with a quick and simple action.
• Participating in raffles. Thanks to the increase in the number of mobile phones in Colombia and the frequent use of SMS in people of all ages, SMS have been a great instrument when participating in raffles and giveaways.
• Bank alerts. To inform of an order, payment, or purchase. It's also useful for bank transfers or any type of economic transaction.

Sending format of SMS to Colombian cellphones and other characteristics

The valid format of cell phone numbers in this country when sending SMS is this one: Prefix + 3 + (9 digits).

The first number has to be a 3 followed by 9 digits of a phone number. In total, there have to be 10 digits plus the Colombian prefix (57).

Examples are: 573135965932, 573502806621, 573163168522.

Concatenated messages are linked SMS. Usually, an SMS has 160 characters, but if it's linked, it can be much longer.

Colombian operators admit messages with more than 160 characters. This is important because it allows you to transmit more information in a more structured way.

The Colombian phone network also supports Unicode or UCS2 messages, which are the ones that can include symbols, accents, or emojis. They allow for any character, which means you can emphasize certain points in your messages. However, keep in mind they allow for fewer characters: only 70.

Certified messages in Colombia

Certified SMS are messages with a legal validity (same as a burofax). In Colombia, you can send certified SMS and phone operators in the country will admit them. When sending this type of message through SMS, you will obtain a certificate of delivery of the message and its content. This certificate is valid in any administrative or legal process.

To know more about the price of this service, you have to contact us at info@labsmobile.com.

The double service in Colombia is not possible (which means sending and receiving this type of SMS). So, you cannot hire a number to receive SMS or appear as a sender for bidirectional communication.

Routing and the types of routes in Colombia: sending URLs

Routes are the transmission channels of SMS and in LabsMobile they are of great quality. All of our routes are direct with the operators, which means that they are very reliable when sending an SMS and with minimal delivery times.

LabsMobile launched a monitoring system this spring that works with the many services it hsa for clients to always be informed of the reliability of the LabsMobile platform. In this way, the client can see if the routes fail at some point.

Sending a URL to Colombia through SMS sent with LabsMobile is possible. This service has the capacity of sending links within the SMS message. The LabsMobile platform also has a feature that allows you to shorten URLs and monitor clicks made in this link.

The sender in SMS to Colombia

The sender in Colombia is a shortcode, which means that any delivery will be done with a short number of 5 or 6 digits. This is not personalizable, so you cannot have a dynamic or alphanumeric sender.

The regulations and operators in Colombia do not allow for this feature. So, you cannot choose the type of sender you want to have. Last but not least, you don't have to pre-register your sender before sending messages because they will always be sent with a shortcode hired by LabsMobile.

Type of traffic supported by SMS in Colombia and delivery confirmations

The traffic allowed in LabsMobile's route for Colombia is promotional or transactional.

No phishing or fraud is allowed. LabsMobile monitors in automatic and manual ways all the traffic sent and any attempt at sending messages not allowed or included within bad practices will be penalized with the elimination and permanent ban of the account and communications with the competent authorities.

LabsMobile is very committed to maintaining SMS free of fraud and bad practices. That is why we ask our clients to obtain the authorization of communication (opt-in) of every contact in their databases.

You also have the possibility of asking for a unique transactional traffic account (notifications, alerts, reminders, passwords, codes, etc) that will have a priority in delivery time inside the platform.

The delivery confirmation of SMS in Colombia is done through a network, which means that the local operator is responsible for the delivery and accepts the message as valid.

Some authorized strategies for creating a list when sending SMS

If you want to create a contact list for sending SMS without having legal problems in Colombia, here are some of the strategies you can adopt:

• Send an email asking for authorization
• Call your current clients and ask them for permission to send them an SMS
• Create a list of people who did not authorize these SMS and eliminate them from your archive.
• Create a system of subscription in your web or blog to incorporate these authorizations.
• Do not buy legal or illegal databases for mass sending of SMS. The damage of these actions can be very serious for the brand or company.
• Remember that sending text messages SMS is a powerful communication and marketing strategy but so long as you have permission to send these messages.

Payment methods available in Colombia for SMS in LabsMobile's platform

There are many payment methods available for clients or users in Colombia. Some of these methods include:

• Credit and debit card
• Bank transfer to an entity in the UK in euros or USD.
• Baloto
• Eft
• Nequi
• Efecty

LabsMobile's support in Colombia

LabsMobile has an array of resources to give support to clients in Colombia. This support does not extra, that is, is included in the price of sent messages.

The platform has the following channels: Chat support (web and WebSMS) during working hours and days of 8 hours 5 days a week. A Support Center that works 24/7, which is useful to solve issues, technical problems, account settings, urgent questions, or technical doubts. You can access this using your own account or through our email support@labsmobile.com.

LabsMobile's WebSMS for Colombia

Our WebSMS is a web app to manage your sent SMS and its monitoring afterwards. This app does not cost extra and is included within the cost of sent messages.

In the WebSMS, you will find tools and apps adapted to the mobile phone configuration in Colombia: for example, you can import valid numbers in the country and eliminate duplicate ones, land lines, or invalid formats. You will also be able to access a review process and will receive a warning of invalid numbers before sending out the campaign (this also includes those numbers which have generated errors in the past).

The features of WebSMS are many, so we recommend that you take a look at all the functions and services here: https://www.labsmobile.com/en/websms-application.

Using LabsMobile's API in Colombia

It's possible to integrate the LabsMobile SMS platform with any software from Colombia with our SMS API.

It's easy and fast and you can integrate it with any app or programming language. This does not cost extra and it is included within the pricing of messages sent.

Other things to consider

There is a prohibition of commercial mailings between 10pm and 8am by the Colombian Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (CRC). It is also mandatory to inform about the origin (emiros or sender) of any commercial or marketing communication either at the beginning or at the end of the message. It is also mandatory to cease any commercial communication when the user sends the word SALIR or CANCELAR.

You will need to have the permission or explicit consent of others to be able to send them an SMS. Besides, it's advisable to have an always updated phone database to improve the efficiency of these campaigns and to avoid problems when it comes to privacy issues.