Introduction to Routes – User Guide

In order to communicate with contacts on mobile phones or landlines, your Telerivet project needs a route between the Telerivet servers and the telecom operators.

Telerivet supports multiple types of routes, including Android phones, virtual numbers, alphanumeric sender IDs, SMS shortcodes, and chat apps. The best option depends on your location, message volume, usage pattern, and budget.

Each type of route enables Telerivet to connect to mobile networks, but different types of routes may support different message types (such as SMS, MMS, voice calls, USSD sessions, and chat app messages), support for incoming or outgoing messages, have different capabilities, geographic reach, and cost, and may be best suited for certain message volumes or specific types of content.

Android phones work in any country and are suitable for sending up to a few thousand SMS messages per day (per Android phone). Many mobile networks offer discounted SMS bundles that make this the most affordable way to send messages. However, it requires an up-front investment to purchase an Android phone, as well as ongoing maintenance to keep the Android phone charged, connected to the internet, and (for prepaid users) topped up with credit to send messages. Android phones can receive notifications of incoming calls, but Telerivet cannot use Android phones to send or receive voice (IVR) calls.
Virtual numbers are convenient and do not require a large up-front investment or ongoing maintenance, and are also typically suitable for sending up to a few thousand messages per day. Depending on the country, virtual numbers may support SMS, voice calls, or both. However, virtual numbers are not available in every country, and some mobile networks are more aggressive about blocking/filtering messages from virtual numbers that send certain types of content or more than a certain volume of messages.
SMS shortcodes are suitable for organizations sending or receiving several thousand SMS messages per day or more. However, they require a very high up-front investment (over $1000), and can often take months to set up.
Alphanumeric sender IDs make SMS messages appear to originate from your organization's name, instead of a phone number. However, recipients cannot reply to your messages because there is no phone number; and some mobile networks block/filter messages or change the sender ID.
Chat app routes allow communicating with mobile phone users that have a particular chat app installed, such as WhatsApp or Viber. These integrations allow sending and receiving text messages with the chat app's users in any country, as well as sending and receiving media files. For users don't have the chat app installed, you can configure Telerivet to automatically fall back to sending SMS messages via another route.
USSD routes are invoked when a mobile phone user dials a special access code ending with the # key, such as *123#. The USSD service can display text to the user or prompt the user to enter a menu option, PIN, or another numeric input. A single USSD session can contain multiple prompts and user responses. USSD routes are only available in certain countries.

While many Telerivet users only need one route for their mobile messaging system, Telerivet supports connecting multiple routes (including multiple different types of routes) in order to handle higher message volumes, support multiple geographic areas, message types, or use cases, or make your system more robust by adding redundancy.

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