What does the "Approaching Carrier Limit" warning message mean?

Have you received a warning message on your Sideline account which mentions that you are approaching the Carrier limit?

If so, please view the important information below which explains in further detail the regulations that are put in place in regards to A2P and P2P messaging and how it can impact messaging on your Sideline account. 

Issue Symptoms

• "Approaching Carrier Limit" warning message pops-up on your Sideline app
• "Unable to deliver message" error when trying to send a text message

Conditions

You may receive a warning message (as stated above) if:

• You have an active Sideline account 
• You've sent 750 messages or more per day
• OR have sent to 75 individual conversations per day

Why?

The warning message is to notify you that you are approaching the daily message limit (seen in the conditions above) and run the risk of having your messages blocked due to the CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association) regulations. These guidelines have always been in place, but CTIA is now strictly enforcing these messaging regulations.

Cause & Resolution 

The reason you are receiving the warning message is due to your high texting volume. CTIA's threshold for messaging is as follows:

• 1000+ messages sent per day 
• 100+ new conversations per day

If you exceed the daily limits stated above, some of your messages may not be delivered if the receiving carrier prevents them from being sent to their service.

For more details on the Service Provider restrictions and how they impact your messaging, please visit CTIA's "Messaging principles and best practices"

What you can do

If you receive the warning message:

This message helps to warn you that you have hit the daily message limit and are at risk for having your messages blocked for 24 hours. 

We suggest minimizing outgoing messages for the rest of the day after you receive the warning to prevent the chance of getting blocked. 

If your outgoing messages are being blocked:

This means that you have exceeded the threshold limit (as referenced in CTIA's threshold above), and thus you will be unable to send messages for 24 hours after the first notice of the error. 

To prevent your messages from being blocked:

• Adhere to our Fair Use Policy (which we have in place due to CTIA regulations)
• Use your Sideline account for everyday messaging only (not for mass marketing messaging)

If you are unable to send messages but are currently not in violation of CTIA's guidelines, please submit a request and we will further troubleshoot your messaging issues.