Sending SMS messages using Azure Communication Service

Question

Sending SMS messages using Azure Communication Service

Kris Hahn 20

I have created an Azure Communication Service and I got a toll free phone number, but to be able to use that I need to do a submission to activate the SMS option.

At this point I'm in the development of my system and working out the details and workflow for using the SMS option and I'm looking to see how I get it configured so I can use it for sending test messages to my personal phone during the development testing phase. The next step will be to get it set up so I can do some UAT testing.

Any help guiding me in the correct direction would be greatly appreciated.

Praneeth Maddali 12,670 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-27T16:49:41.2866667+00:00
Hi @Kris Hahn

Thanks for reaching out and explaining your situation — I understand you're in the development phase and want to start testing SMS with your new toll-free number from Azure Communication Services.

Unfortunately, toll-free numbers in ACS require Toll-Free Verification (TFV) before you can reliably send SMS messages. This is a mandatory carrier requirement for US/Canada numbers to help prevent spam and improve deliverability. Until the verification is submitted (and ideally approved), SMS sending is usually blocked.

Recommended Next Step:

Go to your Azure Communication Services resource in the Azure Portal.

In the left menu, navigate to Regulatory Documents.

Click Add > Toll-Free Verification, and complete the application wizard.

Be sure to provide clear details about your use case (e.g., transactional notifications for testing/UAT), sample message templates, and your company information. The more complete and compliant the submission, the smoother the process goes.

Timeline: Once submitted, it typically takes 5–6 weeks for review and approval (sometimes longer depending on volume).

While waiting, you can still use the number for voice calls (if enabled) and prepare your code for sending SMS. Once the status changes to Pending Verification or Approved, you should be able to start sending test messages to your personal phone.

Reference :

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/communication-services/quickstarts/sms/apply-for-toll-free-verification

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/communication-services/concepts/sms/toll-free-verification-guidelines

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/communication-services/concepts/sms/sms-faq#toll-free-verification

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/communication-services/quickstarts/sms/send?tabs=windows&pivots=platform-azcli

Kindly let us know if the above helps or you need further assistance on this issue.

Please "upvote" if the information helped you. This will help us and others in the community as well.
Kris Hahn 20 Reputation points

2026-05-27T18:21:06.2666667+00:00

Is there a way to get a non toll free phone number to use for development testing with SMS? It seems odd that I can not do simple SMS messages using my personal phone as the from phone number for testing.
Praneeth Maddali 12,670 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-27T18:30:16.8066667+00:00
Hi @Kris Hahn

Yes, you can get a local 10-digit number (10DLC) instead of a toll-free number. These are generally a better fit for development/testing and most business use cases because they appear more local to recipients.

How to proceed:

In your Azure Communication Services resource, go to Phone numbers > Get.

Choose Local number type (instead of Toll-Free) and select an available area code.

Once you acquire the number, you’ll need to complete Brand Registration and Campaign Registration (via The Campaign Registry - TCR) to enable SMS.

This process is usually faster than Toll-Free Verification — often completed in 1–3 weeks total, depending on how quickly you submit the details.

Important note: Unfortunately, it’s not possible to use your personal phone number as the "From" sender in Azure Communication Services. SMS must be sent from a number you acquire and register through Azure for compliance and carrier delivery reasons. This is standard across all major messaging platforms.

Reference :

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/communication-services/quickstarts/sms/apply-for-ten-digit-long-code

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/communication-services/concepts/sms/sms-number-types

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/communication-services/quickstarts/telephony/get-phone-number?tabs=windows&pivots=platform-azp-new

Kindly let us know if the above helps or you need further assistance on this issue.

Please "upvote" if the information helped you. This will help us and others in the community as well.
Kris Hahn 20 Reputation points

2026-05-27T18:44:59.47+00:00

There are no Local or Mobile numbers available for sending and receiving SMS messages.

What do I do about asking for verification to use either the Local or Toll Free number when I do not yet have process design completed and I have no privacy or terms documentation completed as of yet?
Praneeth Maddali 12,670 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-27T23:41:25.2366667+00:00
hi @Kris Hahn

Thank you for the update — I completely understand your situation.

Why no Local/Mobile numbers are showing:

Local (10DLC) and Mobile numbers for SMS are primarily available for US and select other countries. Since your Azure subscription is likely billed from India, US local numbers may not be available to purchase right now. Toll-free numbers (US/Canada) are usually easier to acquire from most regions.

Regarding Verification without full documentation:

You don’t need your final process design, privacy policy, or terms of service completed before submitting the verification. Many customers start the process during the development phase.

Here’s what you can do:

Submit the Toll-Free Verification now with your planned information.

In the application, you can describe your use case as “Development and UAT testing of transactional SMS notifications” (or whatever best matches your workflow).

For privacy/terms: You can mention that these are in progress or provide a high-level overview of how you plan to handle consent, opt-outs, and data privacy.

Use sample message templates that reflect realistic test/UAT messages.

The review team understands that early-stage projects may not have everything finalized yet. Submitting with clear, honest details (even if preliminary) is much better than waiting.

Next Steps I recommend:

Acquire the Toll-Free number if you haven’t already.

Go to Regulatory Documents >Submit Toll-Free Verification as soon as possible.

Once submitted, you’ll get a “Pending Verification” status, which often allows basic testing while the full review is ongoing.

Reference :

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/communication-services/quickstarts/sms/apply-for-toll-free-verification

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/communication-services/concepts/sms/toll-free-verification-guidelines

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/communication-services/concepts/sms/sms-faq#toll-free-verification

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/communication-services/quickstarts/sms/send?tabs=windows&pivots=platform-azcli

Kindly let us know if the above helps or you need further assistance on this issue.

Please "upvote" if the information helped you. This will help us and others in the community as well.
Praneeth Maddali 12,670 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-28T19:33:41.7266667+00:00

Hi @Kris Hahn

Just following up to see if your issue has been resolved or if you had a chance to review my earlier comment?

1 answer

Your answer

Kris Hahn 20 Reputation points

2026-05-27T18:21:06.2666667+00:00

Is there a way to get a non toll free phone number to use for development testing with SMS? It seems odd that I can not do simple SMS messages using my personal phone as the from phone number for testing.
Praneeth Maddali 12,670 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-27T18:30:16.8066667+00:00

Hi @Kris Hahn

Yes, you can get a local 10-digit number (10DLC) instead of a toll-free number. These are generally a better fit for development/testing and most business use cases because they appear more local to recipients.

How to proceed:

In your Azure Communication Services resource, go to Phone numbers > Get.

Choose Local number type (instead of Toll-Free) and select an available area code.

Once you acquire the number, you’ll need to complete Brand Registration and Campaign Registration (via The Campaign Registry - TCR) to enable SMS.

This process is usually faster than Toll-Free Verification — often completed in 1–3 weeks total, depending on how quickly you submit the details.

Important note: Unfortunately, it’s not possible to use your personal phone number as the "From" sender in Azure Communication Services. SMS must be sent from a number you acquire and register through Azure for compliance and carrier delivery reasons. This is standard across all major messaging platforms.

Reference :

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/communication-services/quickstarts/sms/apply-for-ten-digit-long-code

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/communication-services/concepts/sms/sms-number-types

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/communication-services/quickstarts/telephony/get-phone-number?tabs=windows&pivots=platform-azp-new

Kindly let us know if the above helps or you need further assistance on this issue.

Please "upvote" if the information helped you. This will help us and others in the community as well.
Kris Hahn 20 Reputation points

2026-05-27T18:44:59.47+00:00

There are no Local or Mobile numbers available for sending and receiving SMS messages.

What do I do about asking for verification to use either the Local or Toll Free number when I do not yet have process design completed and I have no privacy or terms documentation completed as of yet?
Praneeth Maddali 12,670 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-28T19:33:41.7266667+00:00

Hi @Kris Hahn

Just following up to see if your issue has been resolved or if you had a chance to review my earlier comment?

Answer 1

To send test SMS messages from Azure Communication Services (ACS) to a personal phone using a toll-free number, two main pieces must be in place:

Toll-free number verification/activation for SMS
For new toll-free numbers, SMS verification is mandatory for sending SMS traffic to US and Canada. Until the number is fully verified, SMS traffic to US/CA is blocked. Use the toll-free verification process described in the SMS quickstarts:
- Follow the guidance in Quickstart for submitting a toll-free verification (linked from the SMS quickstarts as “Quickstart for submitting a toll-free verification”).
- Only fully verified toll-free numbers are authorized to send SMS traffic; any SMS traffic from unverified toll-free numbers to US and CA phone numbers is blocked.
Relevant notes from the docs:
- “To use a new toll-free number for sending SMS messages, you must complete a toll-free verification process.”
- “Only fully verified toll-free numbers are authorized to send out SMS traffic. Any SMS traffic from unverified toll-free numbers directed to US and CA phone numbers are blocked.”
While the detailed portal steps are not in the provided context, another tutorial notes that verification is done from the ACS resource under Telephony and SMS → Regulatory Documents, where the required validation documentation is added.
Configure sending SMS from ACS for dev/test
Once the toll-free number is verified, configure a simple sender to test to a personal phone: Option A – Use a Logic App / Power Platform flow
1. Create a workflow (Logic App or Power Automate flow).
2. Add the Send SMS (or SMS) action/connector.
3. Configure the connector with:
  - The ACS connection string for the resource.
  - From: the verified ACS toll-free number.
  - To: the personal mobile number for testing.
  - Message content: e.g., “Hello from Logic Apps!”
4. Save the workflow and run it manually to send a test SMS.
  The quickstart describes: specify source and destination phone numbers and message content, then select Save and Run to test.
Option B – Use an SDK (Java, .NET, JavaScript, Python)
1. Ensure prerequisites for the chosen language (SDK, runtime, ACS resource, SMS-enabled number) are in place.
2. Use the corresponding “Send an SMS message” quickstart for that language to configure:
  - ACS connection string.
  - From: ACS toll-free number.
  - To: personal mobile number.
  - Message text.
3. Build and run the sample as described (for example, with Java: mvn compile, mvn package, then mvn exec:java ...).
Troubleshooting delivery during dev/UAT
If messages do not arrive:
- Confirm the toll-free number is fully verified; unverified numbers will be blocked for US/CA.
- Enable delivery reporting with Event Grid to capture delivery details, as described in the SMS quickstarts under troubleshooting.
Scaling from dev to UAT
After basic dev testing to a personal phone works:
- Reuse the same ACS resource and toll-free number.
- Point the “To” numbers at UAT test users’ phones.
- Optionally, add workflow logic (e.g., via Logic Apps/Power Automate) to integrate SMS into the application’s UAT flows.

References: