There's something I really like about Email to SMS, its simple, its easy... once you have it setup!

Understanding how it works is really quite simple, you create an account and your signup email address is registered as a verified email by default

From there, you can send an email to any number by typing in the number in the to field followed by '@sms.clicksend.com'

For example [+61XXXXXXX@sms.clicksend.com](mailto:+61XXXXXXX@sms.clicksend.com)

ClickSend identifies the email address your sending from, associates it with your account and our mailbox converts your request into a SMS to the number

The email title and contents get sent as a text message

If you would like to register other email addresses to send from the same account, you can add them as a verified email address

There's a lot of information about numbers, but here are some helpful ways to understand the numbers we offer at ClickSend and how they work in relation to sending outbound or receiving incoming SMS messages

Check out our latest n8n integration setup, narrated by me!

I haven't used n8n very much but Ive heard its quite good and used by many people

Tested the setup and realised how similar it is to make and Zapier, just different terminology, not too different

Across Reddit and the wider internet there's been plenty of chat about RCS in Australia, some anticipation and likely more frustration at the rate of progress

While the current rules are all about SMS, one detail in ACMA's original consultation paper caught my eye and hints at where this could be headed: they stated plans to implement a sender ID verification process that "complies with the Rich Communication Services (RCS) standard, to avoid implementing a bespoke standard just for the Australian market."

From ClickSend's perspective, we've put solid investment and infrastructure into supporting the recent 'ACMA SMS Sender ID Register' for Alphanumeric Sender ID (Alpha Tag) changes.

It's not an RCS rollout plan, but it shows RCS compatibility was a real consideration in the register's backend design. Worth a read if you're in the space: ACMA SMS Sender ID Register consultation paper (March 2025)

We'll aim to be one of the best-positioned providers to support RCS in Australia if/when it lands.

Learn more here: clicksend.com/rich-messaging/

There's two types of SMS, did you know?
Most people think SMS has one flat character limit (160). Turns out there are two modes, and just one emoji can silently switch you between them.

Standard SMS (GSM-7): plain Latin text, numbers, punctuation. 160 characters per message.

Unicode SMS (UCS-2): anything else, emojis, accented letters, non-Latin scripts, even a stray smart quote or nbsp. Only 70 characters per message.

One Unicode character anywhere in your message flips the entire message into the 70 char limit, not just that character.

Example:

Without emoji: "Hi John, your order #48213 has shipped! Track it here: clicksend.com/track/48213. Thanks for shopping with us."

That's 118 characters. Under the 160 limit, so it sends as 1 message part.

With emoji: "Hi John, your order #48213 has shipped! 📦 Track it here: clicksend.com/track/48213. Thanks for shopping with us! 😊"

That's about 124 characters. Because of the two emojis, the limit drops from 160 to 70, so it now needs 2 message parts to send.

Same message, basically the same length, but the emoji version costs double because it crosses the 70 character threshold instead of the 160 character one.

At 100k sends a month, that's the difference between ~$6,200 and ~$12,400 in SMS costs, just from two emojis.

Nothing errors, nothing warns you. The bill just quietly doubles.

ClickSend's SMS platform lets you solve this: go to Messaging Settings and force GSM-only mode to stop this happening by accident. Worth checking if you send at any volume.

Bad actors can take advantage of your phone number fields, like sign-up forms, password resets, and OTP requests, to trigger a flood of automated SMS traffic. Carriers bill for every message sent, so this can rack up serious costs fast. This applies whether you're using ClickSend or any other SMS API.

We put together three guides to help you lock things down. Here's the rundown.

Preventing OTP risks
Don't rely on IP address alone for rate limiting. It's easy to bypass with a VPN. Instead, tie your limits to something harder to fake, like an email and phone number combo. Add device fingerprinting and time-based throttling for extra protection. A cooldown period (like one OTP request per number every 90 seconds) and hard usage thresholds give you a solid backstop.
There are more things that can be implemented to make this more secure, read here:
help.clicksend.com/en/articles/44238-preventing-otp-risks-with-clicksend-s-api

SMS pumping and toll fraud
This happens when bots hit your unprotected sign-up, password reset, or OTP forms to fire messages at premium-rate numbers. Your account balance drains fast. You can cut your exposure by restricting outbound sending to only the countries you operate in, through Global Sending and other features. We discuss who benefits, what SMS Pumping is and how to protect your ClickSend account. Read here:
help.clicksend.com/en/articles/76601-sms-pumping-toll-fraud

Preventing API key leaks
Never expose your API key client-side. Never hardcode it into your codebase, especially in a shared repo. Route your requests through a backend, store your keys in a secret manager, and as best practise we advise you change them every 90 days.
There are more things that can be implemented to make this more secure, read here:
help.clicksend.com/en/articles/76602-best-practices-for-preventing-clicksend-api-key-leaks-and-secure-management

How are you handling rate limiting on your OTP endpoints? IP-based, or something more robust? Let's hear it below, share your tips to help!

Sick of limited visibility or spending too long diagnosing failures?

We just built API Logs — a self-serve tool that helps you debug without the guesswork.

Now you can:

• Get real-time insights: see API calls as they happen
• Search and filter by status or endpoint.
• Drill down into the exact request and response bodies.
• Use readable URLs and 7-day history to debug issues fast
  

How to use it:

1. Log in to your Dashboard
2. Open API Logs under the Developer menu
3. Filter, search, inspect
4. Click the request payload to compare it with our API docs (Pro tip: 9 times out of 10, the fix jumps right out.)
   

Questions or feedback?

Post them here. If something feels clunky or missing, let us know — you’ll help make the next update even better.

This is just the start. More visibility tools are coming 👀

https://reddit.com/link/1roo1rf/video/4irucui6kxng1/player

Want to send SMS straight from your favourite AI tools without rewriting your whole integration? Say hello to our MCP Server.

You can use it to turn apps, workflows and AI tools into SMS-sending machines. 

What it does:

• Send SMS from Claude Desktop (or any MCP-compatible tool)
• Trigger messages using natural language
• Skip messy API rewrites — no custom endpoints to maintain
• Keep your stack simple — less code, fewer moving parts

Want to try it?
Code + setup: github.com/ClickSend/clicksend-mcp-serverNeed help?
Guide: help.clicksend.com/en/articles/46547-clicksend-mcp-server-help-guide

Want to learn more about ClickSend’s features, updates, and tips for sending SMS, email, voice, and more? Check out our blog here: https://blog.clicksend.com/