The rule for reviewing SMS failures: understand queued, sent, delivered and failed as four separate statuses, and match each failure with its own remedy. “The SMS did not go” is one sentence — inside it are four different problems with four different solutions.
What to verify: queued, sent, delivered and failed, kept apart
The status glossary and remedies:
| Status | Meaning | Remedy |
|---|---|---|
| Queued | in the queue, not yet sent | wait — provider slowness is normal |
| Sent | dispatched, arrival unproven | wait; if not delivered in 24h, verify the number |
| Delivered | reached the phone | nothing — arrival is not proof of being read |
| Failed | did not arrive | number off/wrong/out of network — verify the number or call |
The week-end reconciliation: look at the pattern in the failed list — the same number failing every week means the number is wrong or switched off; call, ask, correct the record.
A usable sample: the delivery review decision table
Fictional incident: 30 absence signals sent, 28 delivered, 2 failed:
| Number | Status | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 017XXXXXXXX | failed ×2 weeks | call, ask → number changed → record corrected |
| 018XXXXXXXX | failed first time | wait — a network exception is possible |
Rules: first failure = wait; second = verify; third = guardian call + number correction.
SMS failure review: workflow steps and limitations
- After every batch, look at the failed count — 1–2% is normal; a sudden 10%+ means provider/network trouble.
- Students behind failed numbers stay on the exception list — their exceptions will also come to verification, since the signal never arrived.
- Limitation: delivered proves arrival at the phone, not that the guardian read it — for urgent news, a phone check after delivery is still good practice.
Failure review: questions to ask before your demo
- Are all four statuses visible in reports?
- Can you jump from the failed list straight to number correction?
- Is the failure rate per batch visible?
See status reports in the communication module and the notification documentation; absence signals in the attendance module.
Failure review FAQ
Why do SMS fail?
Main causes: number off/invalid, out of network, DND-blocked — without verifying the number, no remedy is possible.
Does the credit for failed SMS return?
Providers usually return it [VERIFY: provider terms] — check the credit account at month-end.
Can an individual student’s SMS be stopped at the guardian’s request?
If the system has an opt-out, use it and note it; otherwise mark it in an office note.