Sending an SMS to an Iridium Phone
How to send SMS Messages to an Iridium® Satellite Phone:
- For most Iridium phone models, there is a 160-character maximum length on SMS messages. Some phone models support long SMS messages of up to 1000 characters which are billed as a series of separate SMS messages of 160-character maximum length.
- There is no charge to receive an SMS message on an Iridium phone. There is a charge for outbound SMS messages sent from the Iridium phone (see your airtime contract for details).
- Undeliverable SMS messages sent from the Iridium phone that are undeliverable due to errors unrelated to the Iridium network such as problems with mail filters, mailbox overflows, or incorrect addresses remain billable.
- Outfitter Satellite recommends the use of the SMS web portal which can be accessed by clicking the above button, but you also can send an SMS message to an Iridium phone directly from your cellular or terrestrial email service by sending the email to the following address: 8816[number]@msg.iridium.com.
Troubleshooting SMS:
- If you are unable to send and receive SMS messages, one common problem is that the SMS Service Center number is not set to 00881662900005 or +881662900005. Typically, it can be done from the handset. For example, on the Iridium 9575 Extreme, starting from the main menu, look for Messages : Settings : Service Center. Instructions to update the Service Center number on other Iridium products can be found in the product's User Manual.
- If the message storage space on your SIM card is full, you cannot store a message for later retrieval. See your phone's User Manual for instructions on how to "Delete a Message".
- If your phone is not registered with the network when an SMS message is sent to it, the message will be queued for 192 hours (by default). During this 192 hour Expiry Period the system will repeatedly attempt to resend the SMS message to your phone. After this Expiry Period elapses, if the SMS message has still not been sent successfully to your phone, it will be deleted. Warning: It is possible to reduce the default Expiry Period setting from your handset (see User Manual), but we recommend leaving the 192 hour (8 day) default setting.