Troubleshooting

Sender ID registration is stuck or was rejected

Short answer

Most registrations that seem stuck are waiting for your authorized representative to confirm them in ACMA Assist, from an email with the subject "SMS Sender ID Register: request to confirm your application", which doesn't expire. A rejected registration shows its reason in the Console, so fix that and submit a new one.

Applies to
Cloud SMS, SMS Marketing
Who can do this
Whoever registered the sender ID, and the business's authorized representative

Check for a known incident first. If there is one, we're already working on it, and there's nothing to change on your side.

Checking Enfonica system status…

Status page
On this page
  1. What are you seeing?
  2. The status has been Submitted to ACMA for days
  3. Your representative can't get into ACMA Assist
  4. The status is still Pending Verification
  5. Your registration was rejected
  6. You need to change or cancel a registration
  7. Can I keep sending while I wait?
  8. What to send us
  9. Related

What are you seeing?

The status has been Submitted to ACMA for days

Submitted to ACMA means that Enfonica has lodged your registration, and ACMA has emailed your authorized representative to confirm it. Nothing moves until they confirm. Most registrations wait at this step, and the cause is almost always one of these.

The confirmation request doesn't expire, so you don't need to resubmit because time has passed. We can see in ACMA Assist that a registration is waiting. We can't see whether ACMA's email arrived or was opened, so the next step is with your representative.

Your representative hasn't seen ACMA's email

ACMA sends the request to the email address that you entered for the representative when you registered. It can get lost among everything else they receive.

Check

Ask your representative about ACMA's email. If they don't remember it, or nobody told them to expect it, this is the likely cause.

Fix

Ask them to search their inbox, including junk and spam folders, for this subject:

SMS Sender ID Register: request to confirm your application

Ask them to use the link in that email, because it opens the right registration in ACMA Assist. If they can't sign in, see Your representative can't get into ACMA Assist.

They signed in but didn't finish confirming

Signing in to ACMA Assist, or setting up your organization's account on the Register, doesn't confirm the sender ID by itself. There's one more step.

Check

Look at the status a day after your representative says they're done. If it's still Submitted to ACMA, this is the cause. After they confirm, ACMA usually marks the application as under review within a few hours. Most approvals arrive within 1 business day, and they can take up to 10 business days.

Fix

Ask them to open ACMA Assist again, select the checkbox next to the sender ID, and then select Confirm registration of Sender ID application.

The wrong person was nominated

Only the person named on the registration can confirm it. They have to pass ACMA's check against your ABN's record on the Australian Business Register (ABR).

Check

Look at who you nominated. This is the cause if that person has left, doesn't act for the business, or isn't connected to the email listed on the ABR.

Fix

Contact support, and we'll withdraw the registration. Then submit a new registration with the right person. You can't change the representative on a registration. You also can't submit the same sender ID again in the same project while the first registration is still in progress, which is why we withdraw it first.

If a registration waits a long time without being confirmed, we'll check with you whether it's still needed. If we don't hear back, we'll withdraw it. You can submit it again at any time.

Your representative can't get into ACMA Assist

ACMA Assist uses two government systems. Your representative signs in with myID. ACMA then checks them against the authorized contact or service-of-notice email listed for your ABN on the ABR. These steps are on the government side, so only someone at your business can complete them.

They don't have a myID

Check

Ask them to sign in. If they can't sign in at all, or ACMA Assist asks them to set up a Digital ID, this is the cause.

Fix

Ask them to set up myID on their phone. A Standard myID is usually enough, and it generally needs two Australian identity documents. A myID belongs to a person, not a business, so they use their own.

Their email isn't the one on the ABR

After they sign in, ACMA compares their email address with your ABR record. One of three things happens:

  • Their myID email is on the ABR record. ACMA matches it automatically, and they can confirm.
  • A different email address that they control is on the ABR record. They enter that address, receive a verification code there, and continue.
  • No email address that they can open is on the ABR record. This is where they get stuck.

Check

Ask what ACMA Assist does. If it won't let them act for your organization, or it sends a code to an inbox that nobody can open, this is the cause.

Fix

Do one of these:

  • Get the right email address onto the ABR.
  • Ask someone who's already an authorized contact, such as a director or public officer, to grant them access in ACMA Assist.

To update the ABR, see Update your ABN details. To do it online, you need a myID and authorization in Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM). If nobody at your business has those set up, your accountant, tax agent, or a senior finance person often does.

ACMA doesn't check RAM for the Register. Being authorized in RAM helps you update the ABR, but it doesn't let someone confirm a sender ID on its own.

When an existing authorized contact grants someone access, ACMA sends that person a link that lasts 24 hours. It's the only part of the process with a time limit.

Fix

Ask the authorized contact to grant access again. Then use the new link the same day.

The status is still Pending Verification

Pending Verification means that Enfonica is reviewing your registration before we lodge it with ACMA. This usually takes 1 to 3 business days.

We've asked you for more information

We check the organization name against the ABR, the trademark against IP Australia, and the domain's registration details against the organization. If something doesn't match, we ask for evidence before we lodge the registration. Otherwise, ACMA would reject it.

Check

Look for an email from Enfonica Support about the registration. Check the inbox of whoever submitted it, including junk folders.

Fix

Reply with what we've asked for, such as a trademark certificate or proof that the business uses the domain. We lodge the registration after it checks out.

If it's been more than 3 business days and you haven't heard from us, contact support. Include the details in What to send us.

Your registration was rejected

does not appear to meet the valid use-case rules

Enfonica or ACMA rejects a registration when the sender ID can't be clearly linked to the organization. To see the reason, select the sender ID on Cloud SMS > Sender IDs. When ACMA rejects a registration, it lists each check that failed, such as the company name, registered business names, trademarks, and domain.

The sender ID doesn't match the organization on the registration

ACMA compares the sender ID only with the names, trademarks, and domain of the ABN you entered. It doesn't follow corporate structures. So a brand owned by a subsidiary won't match its parent company's ABN.

Fix

Do one of these:

  • Register again with the ABN of the entity whose name, trademark, or domain the sender ID comes from.
  • Choose a sender ID that matches the ABN you have.

It's based on a name that isn't registered

An informal trading name doesn't count. The sender ID has to come from a registered business name, a company name, a registered trademark, or a domain you use.

Fix

Register the name as a business name first. Then submit the sender ID again.

It's a generic word on its own

A word such as Survey or Reminders describes the message, not who's sending it, so it can't be linked to your organization. Some words, such as Alert, Info, and Support, are restricted. The form won't accept them on their own at all.

Fix

Combine the word with your name, for example ACME Survey.

The government exception didn't apply

The Government agency exception covers government messages about an emergency, or about a matter of public health, safety, or security. A .gov.au domain doesn't qualify a sender ID on its own.

Fix

Register a sender ID that matches the agency's name, such as its acronym, under one of the standard use cases.

To try again, select Register Sender ID, and submit a new registration with the corrected details. For the full rules, see Register an alphanumeric sender ID for SMS in Australia.

You need to change or cancel a registration

You can't edit or withdraw registrations in the Console, so contact support. We make the change for you. Wherever ACMA needs to know, we make it in ACMA Assist as well as the Console, so the two stay in step.

It's in the wrong project

Enfonica checks registrations per project, so a sender ID registered in one project can't send from another.

Fix

Tell us the sender ID and both project names, and we'll move it. You don't need to start again.

A detail or the representative is wrong

Fix

Look at the status. If the registration isn't Active yet, we'll withdraw it so that you can submit a new one. If it's already Active, the representative doesn't need updating, because ACMA uses them only for the approval.

You don't need it anymore

Fix

Ask us to revoke it. Its status changes to Revoked. From then on, messages from it to Australian numbers are blocked.

Can I keep sending while I wait?

Yes, from a phone number. Messages from an SMS-enabled number in your project don't need a sender ID registration. So you can switch your sending to a number until the sender ID is Active. For a Genesys Cloud integration, select the number in the integration under Cloud SMS > Apps. For more information, see SMS from your sender ID won't send to Australian numbers.

What to send us

Include these so we can check the registration.

  • The sender ID, exactly as you registered it.
  • The project it's registered in.
  • Its status in the Console, and any message shown with it.
Contact support

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