Sender Name Management

Manage sender names (sender IDs) that appear on recipients' phones when they receive your SMS messages.

What is a Sender Name?

A sender name (also called sender ID or originator) is the text that appears as the sender when a recipient receives your SMS message. Instead of seeing a phone number, recipients see your brand name or custom identifier.

Examples:

YourBrand
ACME-Corp
ShopAlert
BankName

Important

Sender names must be approved by LightSMS administrators before use. The approval process typically takes 24-48 hours.

Sender Name Requirements

When registering a sender name, follow these rules:

Alphanumeric Senders

Length: 3-11 characters
Characters: Letters (A-Z), numbers (0-9), spaces, hyphens
Restrictions:
- Must start with a letter
- Cannot be only numbers
- Cannot contain special characters (!, @, #, etc.)

Numeric Senders

Length: Up to 15 digits
Format: Phone number format
Use case: When you want replies to go to a specific number

Carrier Restrictions

Some mobile carriers may replace alphanumeric sender names with a phone number. This is a carrier limitation and cannot be controlled by LightSMS.

Get Registered Senders

Retrieve a list of all sender names registered to your account and their approval status.

Endpoint:

GET https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/senders.php

Required Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`login`	string	Your LightSMS login
`signature`	string	MD5 signature
`timestamp`	integer	UTC timestamp (valid for 10 seconds)

Optional Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`return`	string	Response format: `json` or `xml` (default: plain text)

Example Request

Request (JSON):

curl "https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/senders.php?login=YourLogin&signature=generated_signature&timestamp=1732809600&return=json"

Response (JSON):

{
    "YourBrand": "completed",
    "ACME-Shop": "completed",
    "TestSender": "pending"
}

Response (XML):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<response>
    <senders>
        <sender sender="YourBrand" state="completed" />
        <sender sender="ACME-Shop" state="completed" />
        <sender sender="TestSender" state="pending" />
    </senders>
</response>

Sender Status Values

Status	Description
`completed`	Sender name approved and ready to use
`pending`	Sender name submitted, awaiting approval
`rejected`	Sender name rejected (doesn't meet requirements)
`suspended`	Sender name temporarily suspended

Code Examples

PHP

<?php
function getSenders($login, $apiKey) {
    // Get timestamp
    $timestamp = trim(file_get_contents('https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/timestamp.php'));

    // Prepare parameters
    $params = [
        'login' => $login,
        'timestamp' => $timestamp,
        'return' => 'json'
    ];

    // Create signature
    ksort($params);
    $signature = md5(implode($params) . $apiKey);
    $params['signature'] = $signature;

    // Make request
    $url = 'https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/senders.php?' . http_build_query($params);
    $response = file_get_contents($url);

    return json_decode($response, true);
}

// Configuration
$login = 'YourLogin';
$apiKey = 'your_api_key_here';

// Get all senders
$senders = getSenders($login, $apiKey);

echo "Registered sender names:\n";
foreach ($senders as $sender => $status) {
    echo "- $sender: $status\n";
}

// Check if specific sender is approved
if (isset($senders['YourBrand']) && $senders['YourBrand'] === 'completed') {
    echo "\n✅ YourBrand is approved and ready to use!\n";
} else {
    echo "\n⏳ YourBrand is not yet approved.\n";
}
?>

Python

import requests
import hashlib
from urllib.parse import urlencode

def get_senders(login, api_key):
    # Get timestamp
    timestamp_response = requests.get('https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/timestamp.php')
    timestamp = timestamp_response.text.strip()

    # Prepare parameters
    params = {
        'login': login,
        'timestamp': timestamp,
        'return': 'json'
    }

    # Create signature
    sorted_params = sorted(params.items())
    param_string = ''.join([str(value) for key, value in sorted_params])
    signature = hashlib.md5((param_string + api_key).encode()).hexdigest()
    params['signature'] = signature

    # Make request
    url = f'https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/senders.php?{urlencode(params)}'
    response = requests.get(url)

    return response.json()

# Configuration
LOGIN = 'YourLogin'
API_KEY = 'your_api_key_here'

# Get all senders
senders = get_senders(LOGIN, API_KEY)

print("Registered sender names:")
for sender, status in senders.items():
    print(f"- {sender}: {status}")

# Check if specific sender is approved
if senders.get('YourBrand') == 'completed':
    print("\n✅ YourBrand is approved and ready to use!")
else:
    print("\n⏳ YourBrand is not yet approved.")

JavaScript (Node.js)

const crypto = require('crypto');
const axios = require('axios');

async function getSenders(login, apiKey) {
    // Get timestamp
    const timestampResponse = await axios.get('https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/timestamp.php');
    const timestamp = timestampResponse.data.trim();

    // Prepare parameters
    const params = {
        login: login,
        timestamp: timestamp,
        return: 'json'
    };

    // Create signature
    const sortedKeys = Object.keys(params).sort();
    const paramString = sortedKeys.map(key => params[key]).join('');
    const signature = crypto.createHash('md5').update(paramString + apiKey).digest('hex');
    params.signature = signature;

    // Make request
    const queryString = new URLSearchParams(params).toString();
    const url = `https://www.lightsms.com/external/get/senders.php?${queryString}`;
    const response = await axios.get(url);

    return response.data;
}

// Configuration
const LOGIN = 'YourLogin';
const API_KEY = 'your_api_key_here';

(async () => {
    // Get all senders
    const senders = await getSenders(LOGIN, API_KEY);

    console.log("Registered sender names:");
    for (const [sender, status] of Object.entries(senders)) {
        console.log(`- ${sender}: ${status}`);
    }

    // Check if specific sender is approved
    if (senders['YourBrand'] === 'completed') {
        console.log("\n✅ YourBrand is approved and ready to use!");
    } else {
        console.log("\n⏳ YourBrand is not yet approved.");
    }
})();

Registering a New Sender Name

To register a new sender name, use the LightSMS web interface:

Via Web Interface

Log in to LightSMS admin panel
Navigate to Lists → Senders
Click "Add Sender" or similar option
Enter your desired sender name
Submit for approval

Approval Process

Submission: You submit the sender name through the web interface
Review: LightSMS administrators review your request (24-48 hours)
Verification: They may verify you have rights to use the name
Approval/Rejection: You receive notification of the decision
Active: Once approved, the sender appears with completed status

Pro Tip

Submit sender names well in advance of your campaign launch to account for the approval time.

Using Approved Senders

Once a sender name is approved (completed status), you can use it in your SMS sending requests:

// Check sender is approved first
$senders = getSenders($login, $apiKey);
$senderName = 'YourBrand';

if ($senders[$senderName] === 'completed') {
    // Send SMS with approved sender
    $params = [
        'login' => $login,
        'phone' => '37061234567',
        'text' => 'Hello from YourBrand!',
        'sender' => $senderName,  // Use approved sender
        'timestamp' => $timestamp
    ];

    // ... create signature and send
} else {
    echo "Error: Sender '$senderName' is not approved yet.\n";
}

Common Issues

Error 8: Invalid Sender Name

Problem: Sender name doesn't meet format requirements

Solutions:

✅ Check sender name length (3-11 characters)
✅ Ensure it starts with a letter
✅ Remove special characters
✅ Verify it's not all numbers

Error 9: Sender Name Not Registered

Problem: Trying to use a sender that hasn't been registered

Solution: Register the sender name through the web interface first

Error 10: Sender Name Not Approved

Problem: Sender name is registered but not yet approved

Solutions:

✅ Wait for approval (24-48 hours)
✅ Check status with /senders.php endpoint
✅ Contact support if approval is taking longer

Fallback Strategy

Implement a fallback for when sender names are replaced by carriers:

function sendWithFallback($phone, $text, $preferredSender) {
    // Try with preferred sender
    $result = sendSMS($phone, $text, $preferredSender);

    // Log if carrier might replace sender
    $internationalNumber = substr($phone, 0, 3) !== '370';
    if ($internationalNumber) {
        logWarning("Carrier may replace sender '$preferredSender' with a number for international messages");
    }

    return $result;
}

Next Steps

Send SMS with custom sender
View FAQ for common sender name questions
Contact support for sender name approval inquiries

Need Help?

For questions about sender name registration and approval:

Email: [email protected]
Phone: Contact Information
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00-20:00 (EET)

What is a Sender Name?​

Sender Name Requirements​

Alphanumeric Senders​

Numeric Senders​

Get Registered Senders​

Example Request​

Sender Status Values​

Code Examples​

PHP​

Python​

JavaScript (Node.js)​

Registering a New Sender Name​

Via Web Interface​

Approval Process​

Using Approved Senders​

Common Issues​

Error 8: Invalid Sender Name​

Error 9: Sender Name Not Registered​

Error 10: Sender Name Not Approved​

Fallback Strategy​

Next Steps​

Need Help?​