How do I send SMS messages to mobile phone numbers in China using Amazon SNS or Amazon Pinpoint?

Short description

To send SMS messages within China you must first preregister your message template for each type of message that you plan to send. Then, you must send your SMS messages using one of your preregistered templates.

Important: If you don't meet these requirements, the SMS messages that you send within China will be blocked by the mobile phone carrier.

Resolution

Create an SMS message template for each type of message that you plan to send

For Amazon SNS

Follow the best practices outlined in Adding personalized content to message templates in the Amazon Pinpoint user guide.

SMS template example:

[Service] Your one-time password is {OTP}. This code will expire in 10 minutes.

For Amazon Pinpoint

Follow the instructions in Creating SMS templates in the Amazon Pinpoint user guide.

Note: For information about the size quotas for SMS messages, see Publishing to a mobile phone.

Preregister your SMS message templates in China

Note: To preregister your SMS message template in China, you must open a support case in the AWS Management Console.

For Amazon SNS

Follow the instructions in Open an Amazon SNS SMS case. When you open your support case, make sure that you do the following:

• Under Case classification, for Quota type, choose Pinpoint SMS.
• For Provide a link to the site or app which will be sending SMS messages, enter the website or application that will send your SMS messages.
• For What type of messages do you plan to send, choose the type of message that you plan to send (transactional, promotional, or one-time password).
• For Which countries do you plan to send messages to, enter China.
• Under Case description, for Use case description, enter the following:
  The SMS message template that you plan to use.
  The number of messages that you plan to send each recipient each month.
  Information about how your customers opt in to receiving messages from you.
  The name of your company or organization.
  The address associated with your company or organization.
  The country where your company or organization is based.
  A phone number for your company or organization.
  The URL of the website for your company or organization.

For Amazon Pinpoint

Follow the instructions in Open an Amazon Pinpoint SMS case. When you open your support case, make sure that you do the following:

• Under Case details, for Limit type, choose Pinpoint SMS.
• For Provide a link to the site or app which will be sending SMS messages, enter the website or application that will send your SMS messages.
• For What type of messages do you plan to send, choose the type of message that you plan to send (transactional, promotional, or one-time password).
• For Which countries do you plan to send messages to, enter China.
• For How do your customers opt to receive messages from you, provide details about your opt-in process.
• For Please provide the message template that you plan to use to send messages to your customers, enter the template that you plan to use.
• Under Case description, for Use case description, enter the following:
  The SMS message template that you plan to use.
  The number of messages that you plan to send each recipient each month.
  Information about how your customers opt in to receiving messages from you.
  The name of your company or organization.
  The address associated with your company or organization.
  The country where your company or organization is based.
  A phone number for your company or organization.
  The URL of the website for your company or organization.

Send your SMS messages using your preregistered templates

Important: If the message you send doesn't match the SMS message template that you preregistered, the message will be blocked by the mobile phone carrier. Also, don't attempt to send SMS messages within China that include a Sender ID. China doesn't support Sender IDs.

For Amazon SNS

Follow the instructions in either Publishing to a topic or Publishing to a mobile phone, based on your use case. For more information, see Mobile text messaging (SMS) in the Amazon SNS developer guide.

For Amazon Pinpoint

Follow the instructions in Sending a test SMS message in the Amazon Pinpoint user guide. For more information, see Getting started with Amazon Pinpoint.