The Frustration of Fake SMS Delivery Receipts

Introduction

The Telecom Compass by TCXC is a monthly publication that offers insights and analysis on telecom industry challenges and developments. Our first issue will focus on fake SMS DLRs and their impact on businesses. Sign up now to receive your first issue and stay informed on the telecom industry.

If you've ever worked with SMS messaging, you know that one of the most important aspects is ensuring that your messages are delivered successfully to the intended recipients. To help with this, many SMSCs (short message service centers) offer delivery receipts, also known as DLRs, to confirm that a message has been delivered to the recipient's handset.

However, as a company who has worked with building SMS solutions for telecom operators , we can attest to the frustration of receiving fake DLRs from telecom operators SMSCs not only from SIM routes ! These fake DLRs indicate that a message has been delivered, when in fact it has not. This can be incredibly frustrating, as it can lead to misunderstandings and wasted time and resources.

Why do telecom operators send fake DLRs and how can they be prevented?

In many cases, fake DLRs are sent because the SMSC is unable to determine the true delivery status of a message. This can happen for a number of reasons, such as if the recipient's handset is turned off or if the message is sent to an invalid number. In these cases, the SMSC may send a fake DLR to indicate that the message has been delivered, even though it has not.

In conclusion, fake DLRs from telecom operators SMSCs can be incredibly frustrating for all parties involved in the transaction. To prevent these fake DLRs and ensure the success of your SMS messaging, it's important to work with reliable and transparent telecom provider and implement measures to verify the accuracy of DLRs.

Here are five effective strategies that businesses can use to avoid fake delivery receipts (DLRs) in SMS messaging:

1. Work with reliable and transparent SMS Provider that offer high-quality messaging services and are upfront about their delivery receipts.
2. Implement measures to verify the accuracy of DLRs, such as sending a follow-up message to the recipient to confirm that they received the initial message.
3. Request that telecom operators' technical teams disable fake DLR generation in their SMSCs to improve the accuracy and transparency of delivery status.
4. Monitor and track DLRs to identify and address any potential issues or inconsistencies.
5. Use SMS messaging services that offer real-time delivery reports and notifications to provide accurate and up-to-date information on the status of messages.

Businesses can request that mobile network operators disable the generation of fake delivery receipts in their SMSCs to improve the accuracy and transparency of delivery status for SMS messages. This can help ensure the success of SMS messaging and improve the overall customer experience.

We call on the community to join us in requesting that operators disable fake DLR generation to prevent fake DLRs and improve the effectiveness of SMS messaging for businesses.

Here are five reasons why fake DLRs configuration can be bad for telecom operators' reputations:

1. Increased support and customer service costs, as businesses may contact the telecom operator to inquire about fake DLRs and other issues.
2. Negative impact on the telecom operator's brand and reputation, as fake DLRs can be seen as a sign of poor quality and reliability.
3. Loss of trust and credibility with businesses and customers, as fake DLRs can make the telecom operator appear untrustworthy and unreliable.
4. Increased competition, as businesses may switch to other telecom operators that offer more accurate and transparent messaging services.
5. Regulatory issues and penalties, as fake DLRs may be considered a violation of industry standards and regulations.

How TCXC Platform handles DLRs

TelecomsXChaneg (TCXC), as an SMS exchange and marketplace developer, resolves the issue of UnTrue DLRs by only acting as a proxy when it comes to delivery receipts. This means that the SMSC will never generate its own DLR, and will only pass on the DLR to the client if it is received from the mobile network operator (MNO). If the DLR is not received from the mobile network operator, the status of the message will remain undelivered.

Code sample:

The code sample below is part of a function that handles a DeliverSM PDU (SMPP Protocol Data Unit) in a program using the Go programming language. The code logs a message saying "Detected DeliverSM", retrieves the DeliverSM PDU from a context (presumably a struct or other object that contains the PDU), logs the PDU, attempts to retrieve a session ID from the PDU's options and logs the ID if it is found, and then creates a new DeliverSM PDU with the same data as the original.

By only proxying the received DLRs, TCXC ensures that the delivery status of messages is accurate and transparent. This helps businesses trust the reliability and quality of TCXC's messaging services, and ensures that they have the most up-to-date information on the status of their messages. Additionally, by not generating fake DLRs, TCXC protects its own reputation and avoids any potential regulatory issues or penalties.

Overall, TCXC's approach to DLRs helps to improve the accuracy and transparency of SMS messaging, and provides valuable benefits to both businesses and the SMS provider. However, It is important to ensure that mobile network operators (MNOs) always send accurate delivery receipts (DLRs) to third-party message centers (TCXCs) in order to provide accurate information to clients who are sending messages. If an MNO sends a fake DLR to a TCXC, it will be proxied as well, so it will still be inaccurate for the client. This is why it is important to always ensure that MNOs send true DLRs when they are available.

Thank you for reading this article. We hope that it was informative and helpful. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to reach out or leave a comment. We would love to hear from you. Thank you again for your interest in this topic.