Glossary

Definitions of terms and concepts used throughout the TeamMessage documentation and portal.

A

Alphanumeric Sender ID: A sender name consisting of letters and numbers (max. 11 characters) instead of a phone number. For example, 'ALERT' or 'MyCompany'. Recipients cannot reply to messages sent with an alphanumeric sender ID.
API (Application Programming Interface): A programming interface that allows software systems to communicate with TeamMessage directly. TeamMessage offers a REST API and a Legacy HTTP API for sending SMS programmatically.
Authorized Sender: An email address that is permitted to send messages to a team list. When a team list is configured as a 'closed group', only authorized senders can trigger SMS delivery.

Carrier: A mobile network operator (e.g., Telekom, Vodafone, o2) that delivers SMS messages to mobile phones. TeamMessage routes messages through various carriers to reach recipients.
Closed Group: A team list setting that restricts who can send messages. Only email addresses listed as authorized senders can trigger SMS delivery from a closed group.

Delivery Report: A confirmation from the mobile carrier indicating whether an SMS was successfully delivered to the recipient's phone. TeamMessage receives these reports and updates the message status accordingly.
DLR (Delivery Receipt): See Delivery Report. A technical term for the carrier's confirmation of message delivery status.

Event List: A collection of scheduled events associated with a team list. Each event can trigger an automatic SMS reminder at a configured time before the event.

Flash SMS: A special type of SMS that displays immediately on the recipient's screen without being stored in the inbox. Useful for urgent alerts but may not be supported by all phones.

Gateway: The delivery method for a team list. Options include SMS (standard), SMS-to-Voice (phone call), and SMS-to-Fax. The gateway determines how messages reach recipients.
GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications): The standard mobile communication system. GSM 7-bit encoding allows 160 characters per SMS. Messages using special characters require Unicode encoding, which reduces the limit to 70 characters.

IP Whitelist: A security feature that restricts API access to specific IP addresses. Only requests from whitelisted IPs are accepted. Supports single IPs, CIDR notation, and subnet masks.

Keyword: A secret code required to authenticate API requests or email messages to a team list. Acts as a simple password to prevent unauthorized sending.

Member: A recipient in a team list who receives SMS messages when the list is triggered. Members are identified by their phone number and can have additional contact channels (email, Pushover).
MO (Mobile Originated): An SMS sent from a mobile phone to a server (inbound SMS). TeamMessage can receive MO messages and forward them via email.
MSISDN: Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number – the technical term for a mobile phone number in international format (e.g., +4917012345678).
MT (Mobile Terminated): An SMS sent from a server to a mobile phone (outbound SMS). Standard TeamMessage messages are MT messages.
Multipart SMS: A long message that exceeds the single SMS character limit and is split into multiple segments. Each segment is billed as a separate SMS. The recipient's phone reassembles the segments automatically.

Portal: The TeamMessage web interface where you manage your account, team lists, members, SMS logs, and settings.
Prepaid: A billing model where you purchase SMS credit in advance. Messages are deducted from your balance as they are sent. See also: EASY tariff.
Pushover: A third-party notification service that delivers push notifications to mobile devices. TeamMessage can send messages to Pushover as an alternative to SMS.

Reason Code: A numeric code providing detailed information about why an SMS delivery failed. For example, code 107 indicates the recipient's phone was turned off. See Status Codes for a complete reference.
REST API: The modern TeamMessage API using JSON format and Bearer token authentication. Recommended for new integrations. See the API documentation for details.

Sender ID: The name or number that appears as the sender on the recipient's phone. Can be alphanumeric (e.g., 'ALERT') or numeric (a phone number).
SIP (Session Initiation Protocol): The protocol used for voice calls. TeamMessage uses SIP to deliver SMS-to-Voice messages as phone calls with text-to-speech.
SMSC (Short Message Service Center): The network component that stores and forwards SMS messages. When a recipient is unavailable, the SMSC buffers the message and delivers it later.
sms2account: A TeamMessage feature that lets you receive SMS messages on a virtual phone number. Incoming messages are forwarded to your email.
sms2mail: A service that forwards incoming SMS messages to email. Available in free (shared number) and exclusive (dedicated number) variants.
sms2team: A TeamMessage feature where incoming SMS to a gateway number can be distributed to all members of a team list. Useful for group communication and alerts.
SMS-to-Voice: A delivery method that converts SMS messages to phone calls. The message text is read aloud using text-to-speech technology. Ideal for urgent alerts that must not be missed.
Status Code: A numeric code indicating the delivery state of an SMS message. Common codes: 0 (delivered), 1 (buffered), 2 (failed). See Status Codes for a complete reference.

Tariff: Your billing plan. TeamMessage offers three tariffs: PAUSCHAL (flatrate with monthly quota), EASY (prepaid), and PROFI (postpaid with monthly billing).
Team: Your TeamMessage account. A team can have multiple team lists, members, and administrators. Each team has a unique customer number (Team ID).
Team ID: Your unique customer number used to identify your account in API requests. Also called 'tm' parameter in the Legacy HTTP API.
Team List: A distribution list with an email address (e.g., alerts@tmsg.de). Sending an email to this address triggers SMS delivery to all members of the list.
TTS (Text-to-Speech): Technology that converts written text to spoken audio. Used in SMS-to-Voice to read message content aloud during phone calls.

Unicode: A character encoding standard that supports special characters, emojis, and non-Latin scripts. Unicode SMS messages are limited to 70 characters (67 in multipart messages) compared to 160 for standard GSM encoding.

Validity Period: The time window during which the carrier will attempt to deliver an SMS. Default is 48 hours. If the message cannot be delivered within this period, it expires with status code 512.

Webhook: An HTTP callback that notifies your server about events (e.g., message delivery, incoming SMS). TeamMessage calls your configured URL with event data in real-time.