Masking SMS in Bangladesh: send as your brand name

In a normal SMS, the recipient sees a phone number as the sender. With masking SMS, that number is replaced by a short alphanumeric name, usually your brand. A customer receives a message from "ShopNow" or "CityClinic" rather than from an unfamiliar number.

That small change has real effects:

• Customers are more likely to open and trust a message from a name they know.
• Messages from the same brand are grouped together in the inbox, so your order updates and alerts are easy to find.
• It is harder for scammers to blend in, because your customers learn what your genuine sender looks like.

Masking SMS is the standard choice for banks, e-commerce stores, hospitals, schools and any business that sends regular messages to its own customers. If cost matters more than branding, non-masking SMS is the cheaper alternative.

A masking sender ID is limited to 11 characters. This is a technical limit of the GSM standard for alphanumeric senders, not a GotiSMS policy, so it applies everywhere.

Keep in mind:

• Use letters. Your sender ID should be a recognisable form of your brand name.
• Spaces count towards the limit, and some handsets display them oddly, so many brands avoid them.
• If your brand name is longer than 11 characters, pick a clear short form, for example "GreenValley" instead of "Green Valley Real Estate".

The sender ID cannot be changed per message once approved, so choose something you will be happy with for the long term.

Each masking sender ID has to be approved before you can send with it. Operators and Bangladeshi regulations require that a sender name genuinely belongs to the business using it, which protects customers from impersonation.

1. Request the sender ID from your GotiSMS dashboard.
2. Provide supporting details if asked, showing that the name relates to your business.
3. Wait for approval. You can follow the status of the request in your dashboard.
4. Start sending. Once approved, the sender ID appears in your list of senders on the compose screen and in the API.

While you wait, you can keep sending with your account's default non-masking sender, so your communication does not stop.

Masking SMS is delivered through the recipient's own operator. A message to a Grameenphone number goes through the Grameenphone route, a Banglalink number through Banglalink, and so on. That is why masking is priced differently from non-masking and why approval can involve each operator.

Occasionally a masking sender ID may not be able to reach a particular network. In that case, GotiSMS can fall back to non-masking for those recipients, so the message still gets delivered from a regular number instead of failing. For time-sensitive messages such as delivery updates and appointment reminders, that fallback can matter more than the sender name.

You can always check what happened to each message in the delivery reports on the Campaigns page.

Masking SMS is indicatively priced from ৳0.40–0.60 per SMS, with a minimum purchase of 20,000 SMS and sender ID approval required. The exact rate depends on your traffic volume, route and operator mix.

Remember that billing is per SMS part. A Bangla message over 70 characters, or an English message over 160, is split into parts and each part is charged. Keeping masking messages concise is the easiest way to control cost.

See the pricing page for current details, or read masking vs non-masking SMS for a side-by-side comparison of when each is worth it.

A sender ID is part of your brand. A few practical tips:

• Match what customers already call you. If people know you as "Rahim Store", use "RahimStore", not a legal company name they have never seen.
• Keep it readable. Mixed case such as "CityClinic" is easier to read than "CITYCLINIC".
• Avoid generic words. Names like "INFO" or "ALERT" do not tell anyone who you are and are less likely to be approved.
• Stay consistent. Use one sender ID for all customer messages so people learn to trust it.
• Think long term. A campaign-specific name will confuse customers once the campaign ends.

Once approved, use the sender ID for both transactional messages and approved promotional campaigns.