What is Sender ID?

What is a Sender ID?

A Sender ID is a unique name or regular phone number that appears as a Sender of your text messages.

Instead of getting messages from a random number, you can use an 11 character Alpha Tag, a dedicated number, or your own personal number.

Using Sender ID helps your customers quickly know who sent the SMS text messages.

What are the options for Sender ID?

Here in ClickSend, we have 4 Sender IDs you can use.

• A shared number (default) - we assign a number to the outgoing SMS so the user can reply. You can setup inbound rules for incoming SMS. Shared number is currently not available on US and in Canada. More info
• Your own number - A registration is required before using your own number. Once registration is approved, you can use your own number as the Sender ID of your outgoing text messages. Replies are directly sent to your own number and will not show on ClickSend SMS History.
• Alpha tags - Alpha tags are a way for you to give your SMS messages a unique 'sender name'. In ClickSend, we support 11 character Alpha Tag without spaces. Unfortunately, Alpha tag does not support 2 way messaging.
  Examples of Alpha Tag sender IDs are “MyBusiness” (10 characters) “242WOW” (6 characters)
  To get your alpha tags registered, follow this guide.
• Your dedicated number - you can purchase a ClickSend dedicated number. You can setup rules for incoming SMS and inbound SMS is always guaranteed.

Does ClickSend allow customising Sender ID?

Yes. We allow full Sender ID customisation provided that the networks support it. You can view specific restrictions for each country here: Country specific restrictions

For example:

• Australia - allows full alpha tag customisation with no pre-registration.
• USA/Canada - you can only set a ClickSend purchased TFN number as the Sender ID. TFNs must be registered to the networks. Contact Support for assistance.
• New Zealand - All messages will be sent via a 4-digit shortcode. If you need to send to New Zealand you should speak to your Sales team to discuss your requirements.

How can I setup a Sender ID?

Via the Dashboard

On your ClickSend dashboard, open Sender IDs menu and register your alpha tag or own number or purchase a dedicated number.

When sending messages, you only need to select the Sender ID you registered under From field.

Via the API

Registration is still required via ClickSend dashboard.

Once registration has been approved for your Sender IDs, simply set the 'from' parameter.

E.g. 'from=MyCompany'. If you want to use a shared number, leave from blank or null.

Email to SMS

Using Authenticated email to SMS allows you to supply the from with an alpha tag in the email subject line. More info