Validity period

A message may be given a time frame for which it is valid by setting the validity period parameter. This parameter takes an amount of time in minutes relative to the time at which the message was received by our gateway. The default validity period is 1440 minutes (24 hours).

This parameter is very useful if there are delays or queues on the Clickatell gateway. After the message has been routed to the receiving network (i.e., it has left the Clickatell gateway), this setting is no longer used and will not be enforced.

For example:

If you set a validity of five minutes and the gateway is unable to route the message within that amount of time, the message will be stopped by the gateway. You will not be charged if the gateway stops the message.

Specifying validity periods for batch message sending

When sending large volumes of messages, you must ensure that a sufficient validity period is set so that all messages can be delivered.

For example:

If you send a batch of 50 000 messages and you set a validity of five minutes, you may find that the majority of your messages will be stopped as most would still be queued at that point by the gateway. It is recommended that a minimum of four hours be set on a batch size of 50 000 messages.

You can view the Parameters list page to see the name of the parameter for the API you are using.