How to send an SMS with custom sender ID with Amazon SNS and Python and boto3

Question

The documentation suggests to use message attributes for that but I can't seem to figure out what attribute name to use.

This works so far:

sns = boto3.client('sns', region_name='eu-west-1')

sns.publish(
  PhoneNumber='+491701234567',
  Message='hi there',
  MessageAttributes={
    'AWS.SNS.SMS.SenderID': {
      'DataType': 'String',
      'StringValue': 'MySenderID'   
    }    
  }   
)

The SMS is delivered but with some (random?) value in the sender id field. So it seems my setting of message attributes is silently ignored. What is the correct way to set a custom sender id?

I have the same trouble trying to send message from the console. No matter what i write in Sender ID field i got `NEXMO_SMS` instead. Is it a bug? — Diligent Key Presser, Nov 11 '16 at 08:09
As workaround you can set 'DefaultSenderID' #!/usr/bin/env python import boto3 s = boto3.Session(profile_name='Godzilla') sns = s.client('sns') sns.set_sms_attributes( attributes={ 'DefaultSenderID': 'Godzilla', } ) response = sns.get_sms_attributes( attributes=[ 'DefaultSenderID', ] ) print(response) — tuxar, Nov 30 '16 at 19:27

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 18 '19 at 22:54

7

The sender id must be 1-11 alpha-numeric characters, no spaces; for example:

THISISME - ✅
TestForSO - ✅
StackOverflow - (too long. max 11 chars)
Some one - (no spaces)

As others mentioned, the sender id customization depends on the country / cellular provider so make sure to test it.

Example snippet

import boto3

access_key = '....'
secret = '....'
region = "us-east-1"

number = '+972...<your number>'

sender_id = 'TestForSO'
sms_message = 'Your code: 123456'

sns = boto3.client('sns', aws_access_key_id=access_key, aws_secret_access_key=secret, region_name=region)
sns.publish(PhoneNumber=number, Message=sms_message, MessageAttributes={'AWS.SNS.SMS.SenderID': {'DataType': 'String', 'StringValue': sender_id}, 'AWS.SNS.SMS.SMSType': {'DataType': 'String', 'StringValue': 'Promotional'}})

answered Mar 18 '19 at 22:54

Jossef Harush Kadouri

32,361
10
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Hi Jossef I tried to do that, and I get "Invalid parameter: PhoneNumber Reason: +97250******* is not valid to publish to". I put there my real phone number. Can you advise, please? – David Weinberg Nov 11 '19 at 22:36
Do we need to contact AWS support for enabling sender ID? – PRAVEEN KUMAR T Jun 23 '21 at 05:23
@PRAVEENKUMART not sure if its needs to be enabled by them. but give it a try – Jossef Harush Kadouri Jun 23 '21 at 16:09

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 26 '17 at 10:48

5

Check if your destination country supports sender IDs

http://docs.aws.amazon.com/sns/latest/dg/sms_supported-countries.html

answered Apr 26 '17 at 10:48

Adam Owczarczyk

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score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 06 '19 at 23:54

2

As noted by Adam Owczarczyk, some countries don't allow you to transmit a sender ID in a text message. The API will take your number and replace it with a string in this case to allow your message to get delivered. Attempting to work around it usually just gets the number blacklisted. You can test this by entering a short descriptive string for your tester ID, and seeing if that gets through.

edited Mar 06 '19 at 23:54

Cody Gray - on strike

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answered Mar 06 '19 at 23:01

JaminaBee

23
5

How to send an SMS with custom sender ID with Amazon SNS and Python and boto3

3 Answers3

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