Haiti SMS Guide - sms-compliance -

Frequently Asked Questions

Use the E.164 format (+509) for phone numbers and send messages through providers like Twilio, Sinch, MessageBird, or Plivo, which offer APIs with Haiti support. Remember to handle opt-outs, monitor delivery rates, and support both French and Haitian Creole in your messages.
Haiti's mobile market is dominated by Digicel and Natcom. While OTT apps are growing, SMS remains crucial, especially in rural areas with limited internet access, making it vital for personal and business communication.
Haiti currently only supports one-way A2P (Application-to-Person) SMS messaging. This means applications can send messages to users, but users cannot directly reply to those messages via SMS.
Adhere to Eastern Time (ET/UTC-4) and send messages between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM local time. Avoid sending during religious holidays and national celebrations unless it's an urgent communication like a security alert.
Alphanumeric sender IDs are partially supported, except for Natcom (37203). No pre-registration is needed, and sender ID preservation is generally upheld, which helps businesses be more identifiable.
Concatenated messages are supported, following standard length limits (160 characters for GSM-7, 70 for UCS-2). Both GSM-7 and UCS-2 encodings are supported, affecting how messages are split and rejoined.
Support opt-out keywords like STOP, ARRET, and RETE in French and Haitian Creole. Responses should be immediate and free. Maintain your own suppression list and honor requests within 24 hours, keeping records for compliance.
Avoid political, religious, gambling, adult content, cryptocurrency promotions, and unsolicited marketing messages. Carrier filtering blocks messages with restricted keywords and scrutinizes URLs, so use clear language and avoid URL shorteners when possible.
Keep messages concise, include clear calls to action, identify your business, personalize thoughtfully, limit frequency, consider local events, localize content, manage opt-outs effectively, and test thoroughly across Digicel and Natcom.
Popular providers like Twilio, Sinch, MessageBird, and Plivo offer SMS API integrations for Haiti. Each requires specific credentials and provides documentation for setup and usage.
Default rate limits vary by provider. Implement exponential backoff for retries, use queue systems (Redis, RabbitMQ) for high volume, and batch messages to optimize throughput and avoid exceeding limits.
Sending SMS to landlines in Haiti is not supported. Attempts will result in a 400 response error (code 21614), no message logging, and no charges.
Obtain explicit opt-in consent, document consent collection, support HELP/STOP commands, maintain suppression lists, respect time zones, and follow content restrictions. Consult CONATEL's resources for updated guidelines.
While short codes are unavailable, alphanumeric sender IDs and international long codes are supported. Alphanumeric IDs offer branding opportunities, while long codes are ideal for transactional messages and alerts.
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