SMS Dashboard: Status and troubleshooting – Futurae Support

Overview

The SMS Dashboard in Command & Control (formerly Futurae Admin) provides real-time delivery status information for messages sent to end users. This article explains the technical meaning of each SMS status, and offers clear guidance for troubleshooting common SMS delivery issues.

Understanding Delivery Status

Here’s a summary of each delivery status, its technical meaning, and customer impact:

Status	Technical Meaning	Customer Impact
DELIVERED	Successfully received. The user’s device confirmed receipt of the message.	Successfully received.
ENROUTE	Message has been sent to the mobile network and is on its way to its final destination. This may occur if the phone was either turned off, out of network coverage, or not currently roaming at the time of the delivery attempt. However, SMS delivery is usually retried for up to 1–2 days, depending on the network operator.	Pending The message is on its way but not yet received.
REJECTED	The message was rejected by the mobile network, often due to filters, country restrictions, or recipient settings.	Not delivered
UNDELIVERABLE	The message is undeliverable. Most likely an invalid or inactive MSISDN or the handset unreachable. This status can also be caused by device memory or capacity issues, or carrier configurations.	Not delivered
EXPIRED	The message exceeded its validity period without delivery confirmation. No further attempts will be made.	Not delivered

Typical Delivery Time

Under normal conditions, SMS messages are delivered within a few seconds.

However, depending on the user’s mobile network, if the user is on roaming, destination country, and device availability, delivery may occasionally take up to several minutes.

Messages that remain in ENROUTE status for an extended period may indicate a temporary network irregularity or connectivity issue.

Troubleshooting Undelivered Messages

If the message was not delivered or shows a status other than “DELIVERED,” Please ask the user to follow these steps. These instructions will help identifying and resolving common issues that may prevent the SMS from reaching the recipient:

Restart the device.
Ensure there is enough storage space to receive SMS.
Enable airplane mode for 5–10 minutes, then disable it.
Test the SIM card in another device.
Verify that SMS from other providers are being received.
If roaming, ensure that roaming is active and stable.

For messages with “REJECTED” status:

Check if the user’s carrier blocks SMS from international senders.
Verify whether the destination country requires specific sender registration. Futurae Support can help with that.

What if the status is DELIVERED, but the end user didn’t receive the message?

In some cases, an SMS may show the status DELIVERED, even though the end user reports not seeing it on their device. This typically occurs when the network has confirmed delivery to the handset, but the message is not displayed to the user due to device- or app-level issues.

Possible causes include:

Spam filtering / blocking: Some handsets or pre-installed apps may silently block or redirect SMS messages flagged as spam or promotional content.

On iOS and Android, each SMS is evaluated individually by the operating system. As a result, even messages from the same sender may be treated differently. A message may be delivered to the device but still be moved to Spam, or shown without a notification. Adding the sender as a contact can help ensure future messages appear normally.

For more information on how SMS filtering works on iOS and Android, please refer to the official Apple and Google documentation.

Memory or storage limitations: If the SMS inbox or SIM storage is full, the device may acknowledge receipt but fail to display the message.

Handset-specific software quirks: Certain device models or OS versions may confirm receipt but fail to display the SMS correctly due to firmware bugs or compatibility issues.

Roaming or compatibility issues: In rare cases, particularly with roaming or older handsets, a delivery receipt may be returned even though the SMS fails to render correctly on the device.

Third-party applications: Some messaging apps that replace the native SMS client may intercept or hide messages, preventing them from appearing in the default inbox.

Temporary network interruptions

Occasionally, temporary network irregularities on the mobile operator's side may affect SMS delivery. These issues are rare, outside our provider’s control and usually resolve themselves without any action. If you still don’t receive your message after following the troubleshooting steps, please contact Futurae Support.

If the user still doesn’t receive the SMS

For further assistance, please contact Futurae Support at support@futurae.com.

To help us investigate efficiently, include the following details in your request:

The Futurae User ID
The timestamps of the affected delivery attempts
A brief summary of the troubleshooting steps already performed