# SMS senders & registration

Create the sender your SMS are sent with, and register it in the countries that require it.

**Language:** en
**Audience:** platform
**TLDR:** Before sending SMS you need a sender: an alphanumeric name (3–11 characters) or a number, created under Settings → Channels → SMS. Each country activates through its own registration: where none is required it is authorized as soon as the sender is created, and where it is (regulator or carrier registration) it must be approved before delivery. A sender can only send to a country once that country's registration is fully authorized.
**Translation key:** platform.channels.sms.senders-registration
**Search keywords:** sms sender, sender id, create sender, configure sms sender, alphanumeric sender, numeric sender, 11 character limit, sender registration, sender approved, sender in review, sender rejected, sender revoked, with regulator, register sender country, request country, request a country, needing your attention, approved countries, sender status, legal profile, regulatory status, effective status
**Related pages:** /platform/es/channels/sms/senders-registration, /platform/en/channels/sms/sms-essentials, /platform/en/channels/countries, /platform/en/channels/countries/spain
**Docs index (every page):** https://docs.instasent.com/llms.txt
**This zone's index:** https://docs.instasent.com/platform/en/llms.txt
**This page:** https://docs.instasent.com/platform/en/channels/sms/senders-registration/ (HTML) · https://docs.instasent.com/platform/en/channels/sms/senders-registration.md (Markdown)
**Other language (es):** https://docs.instasent.com/platform/es/channels/sms/senders-registration.md

Every SMS you send shows a **sender** — your brand name or a number. It's the first
thing your contact sees, so a project needs at least one sender before it can send
anything. And in some countries that sender has to be registered and approved before
it can deliver. This page walks you through the whole thing: creating a sender and
getting it cleared, country by country.

## Senders and registers

Two pieces get a sender to a destination: the sender itself, and its register in
each country.

- A **sender** is the alphanumeric name or number your messages are sent with.
  You create it once for the project.
- A **register** activates that sender for one specific country. Each country is
  handled on its own, so the same sender can be cleared in one while still under
  review in another. Where a country requires no registration, the register is
  cleared the moment you create the sender.

A sender can only send to a country once that country's register is fully
cleared.

## Sender types

A sender is either **alphanumeric** or **numeric**:

- **Alphanumeric** — **3 to 11 characters**, letters and digits (we recommend
  the GSM-7 set: A–Z, a–z, 0–9). This is usually your brand name. A sender made
  up of only numbers is not allowed as alphanumeric. Some countries replace an
  alphanumeric sender with a number on delivery — see
  [SMS essentials](/platform/en/channels/sms/sms-essentials#how-your-sender-appears-abroad).
- **Numeric** — a phone number as the sender. Where a country's rules allow
  numeric senders, registration is automatic.

> **Note**: A sender's text **can't be changed after you create it**. To use a different
> one, create a new sender.

## Create the sender

#### 1. Open the SMS channel

Go to **Settings → Project → Channels → SMS** and create a sender. When the project has
no senders yet, the empty state reads **There are no senders yet**; the
creation sheet is titled **Add Sender ID**.

#### 2. Enter the sender

Type the sender your messages will be sent with. The form reminds you: 3 to
11 alphanumeric characters, GSM-7 recommended, numbers-only not allowed.

#### 3. Save

The sender is created. Most destinations accept it immediately; countries
that require registration are handled in the next step.

![The Add Sender ID sheet on the SMS channel page](/platform/en/channels/images/senders-registration-1.png)
*Creating an SMS sender.*

## Register it per country

Some countries require a sender to be registered before it can deliver. Open the
sender and you'll see its countries split into two sections: **Needing your
attention** (countries it isn't cleared for yet, or where a registration needs you
to do something) and **Approved countries** (where it can already send).

To register the sender for a country, click **Request country** and fill in the
request:

#### 1. Choose country

Pick the country you want to reach. The rest of the form adapts to that
country's rules.

#### 2. Filing

Only appears when the country has a regulator. It sets how the request is
filed: **I'll file it myself** comes selected and is the recommended option,
for when you've already registered the alias yourself. The alternative is
**Instasent files for you**. Above it you'll see a card naming the country's
regulator and what it requires.

#### 3. Legal profile

Pick the **Legal profile** that holds the legal-entity data submitted to the
regulator. The same profile is reused for SMS and RCS, and lives under
organization settings.

#### 4. Description of usage

Choose how you'll use this sender for the country — **OTP**,
**transactional**, **promotional** or **multi-use** — from the dropdown.

#### 5. Estimated traffic

Select your expected volume (messages per month).

#### 6. Message sample

Write a sample SMS you'll send with this sender. You can have it drafted for
you and edit the result.

#### 7. Submit

Instasent verifies your data and, where the country has a regulator, forwards
it on your behalf. You can't edit the request while it's being processed.

> **Note**: The **Filing** step appears for any country with a regulator — today that's
> **Spain**, with the **CNMC**. Picking **Instasent files for you** can also ask
> for extra details the regulator requires, in a second sheet. See
> [Spain](/platform/en/channels/countries/spain) for what that involves.

## Following your register's status

Each country on the sender shows a single **status** that tells you where the
register stands and whether the sender can send there:

| Status             | What it means                                                  | Clear to send? |
| ------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------- |
| **Accepted**       | Approved — the sender can send in this country.                | Yes            |
| **In review**      | The registration is being processed.                           | Not yet        |
| **With regulator** | Submitted to the country's regulator, awaiting their response. | Not yet        |
| **Rejected**       | The registration was declined, with the reason shown.          | No             |
| **Revoked**        | A previously granted authorization was withdrawn.              | No             |

The sender can only send to a country once its register reaches **Accepted**.
Approval times vary by country: most take a few business days, but in regulated
markets like Spain they can run to several weeks.

```mermaid
stateDiagram-v2
    state "In review" as InReview
    state "With regulator" as WithRegulator
    [*] --> InReview: create / submit register
    InReview --> Accepted: approved (no regulator)
    InReview --> WithRegulator: sent to regulator (if any)
    WithRegulator --> Accepted: regulator authorizes
    InReview --> Rejected: declined
    WithRegulator --> Rejected: regulator declines
    Accepted --> Revoked: authorization withdrawn

    class Accepted success
    class Rejected destructive
    class Revoked destructive
```

> **Note**: Under the hood this single status combines two layers — the **carriers** and,
> where the country has one, the **regulator** (in Spain, the CNMC). The sender
> can only send once both are clear; the status you see always reflects whichever
> is still in progress. **In review** covers any in-flight state; **With
> regulator** means the request is in the regulator's hands.

> **Note**: Each country is tracked on its own, so the same sender can show a different
> status in each destination.

You can later **archive** (retire) a sender from the SMS channel; archiving
applies to the sender itself, not to a register's status.

### Numeric (phone-number) senders

A sender backed by a **phone number** — a long number, a local or a toll-free
number — goes through a number-verification step with the carrier instead of an
alphanumeric registration. While that's in progress the status is **In review**,
and it becomes **Accepted** for the country once the number is approved for
sending.

## If a register is rejected

Instasent emails you the reason. Open the affected sender, review and fix the
details (often the legal profile), and resubmit so messages can flow again. For
the rules and rejection reasons specific to Spain, see
[Spain](/platform/en/channels/countries/spain).

> **Warning**: **Spain requires registration.** Alphanumeric senders to Spanish numbers must
> be registered with the CNMC, or carriers block the message. Set this up before
> sending — see [Spain](/platform/en/channels/countries/spain).

## Reaching more countries

To reach contacts in more destinations, register the sender for each one. Go to
**Settings → Project → Channels → SMS**, click the sender, and use **Request country** to
submit a fresh request per country — each is reviewed on its own. Per-country
specifics are covered in
[Countries & regulation](/platform/en/channels/countries), and Spain's CNMC
process in [Spain](/platform/en/channels/countries/spain).

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This is one page of the Instasent documentation. For the complete machine-readable index of every guide and API reference, fetch https://docs.instasent.com/llms.txt — start there for full context.