Overview
BulkSMS is a South African SMS gateway, popular for high-volume A2P SMS in ZA + the broader African region. The Automize BulkSMS connector covers sending, delivery reports, two-way messaging, blocked numbers, and webhook config.
- Regions: SA-headquartered, global SMS reach. Best deliverability for ZA + sub-Saharan Africa. International routes cost more than local.
- Plans: Pay-per-SMS, credit-based. No monthly fees.
Setting up the connection
Auth type: HTTP Basic.
- Sign in to bulksms.com → Settings → API Credentials → Create.
- Pick username + generate a token-id + token-secret pair (recommended over your account password).
- In Automize, open Settings → Connectors → BulkSMS → Add connection. Username = token-id, password = token-secret.
Find your credentials at https://www.bulksms.com/account/settings/api-credentials/.
Rate limits
Per-account daily caps + credit balance. Inbound 429 means hourly burst hit. Connector retries with backoff.
Data model
Phone-centric:
Account ─┬─ Sent Messages
├─ Received Messages (incoming, via assigned numbers)
├─ Blocked Numbers (auto-unsubscribed)
└─ Webhooks (status callbacks + incoming hooks)Available operations
8 operations available. Click any row to jump to its detail.
| Operation | Category | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Block Number | General | Block a phone number from receiving messages |
| Get Message | General | Get message details and delivery status |
| Get Profile | General | Get account profile and credit balance |
| List Blocked Numbers | General | List blocked phone numbers |
| List Messages | General | List sent messages |
| List Received Messages | General | List incoming/received messages |
| List Webhooks | General | List configured webhooks |
| Send Message | General | Send an SMS message to one or more recipients |
Operations
Block Number
Block a phone number from receiving messages
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Phonenumber phoneNumber | Yes | text |
Tips
- Mark a number as blocked – they won't receive future SMS from this account.
- Used for STOP/UNSUBSCRIBE compliance.
Get Message
Get message details and delivery status
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Message Id message_id | Yes | text |
Tips
- message_id from Send response. Returns status: ACCEPTED, SENT, DELIVERED, FAILED, REJECTED.
Get Profile
Get account profile and credit balance
No input parameters.
Tips
- Returns credit balance + account info. Use for low-balance alerts.
List Blocked Numbers
List blocked phone numbers
No input parameters.
Tips
- Returns currently blocked numbers.
List Messages
List sent messages
No input parameters.
Tips
- Sent messages. Filter by date range, status.
List Received Messages
List incoming/received messages
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Message Id message_id | Yes | text |
Tips
- Inbound messages to your assigned numbers. Pages via cursor.
List Webhooks
List configured webhooks
No input parameters.
Tips
- Configured webhooks for delivery reports + incoming messages.
Send Message
Send an SMS message to one or more recipients
| Parameter | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
To to | Yes | text | |
Body body | Yes | textarea | |
From from | Yes | text | |
Encoding encoding | Yes | text |
Tips
- to: E.164 (+27821234567) – or array for bulk. body: message text (160 chars per SMS segment).
- from: alphanumeric sender ID (some countries) or a number you own.
- encoding: text (GSM-7) or unicode (UTF-16 – for emoji / non-Latin scripts).
- Use webhook for delivery reports – polling Get Message is rate-limit-heavy.
FAQ
- GSM-7 vs Unicode – which?
- GSM-7 (text encoding) fits 160 chars per segment, cheaper. Unicode (UTF-16) fits 70 chars per segment, needed for emoji or non-Latin scripts. Use text whenever possible.
- Why is delivery_status stuck at SENT?
- Carrier-side delays. SA networks usually deliver within seconds; international can take minutes. Set up a webhook to receive status push notifications instead of polling.
- Sender ID – alphanumeric?
- Some countries (incl. SA) allow up to 11 alphanumeric chars as sender. Some require pre-registration (US 10DLC, India DLT). Test before bulk-sending.