SMS alerts

SMS texts a short alert to your phone when a check goes down and when it recovers. It reaches any mobile without an app, which makes it a dependable fallback. Like WhatsApp, SMS is metered and draws on the shared message-credit pool.

Prerequisites

A plan that includes premium alerts, and a mobile number that can receive texts. Your plan comes with a monthly pool of message credits, shared with WhatsApp, and top-up packs add more. Note that SMS delivery to some countries, and especially the United States, depends on carrier registration that PingArk completes before the channel goes live in that region.

Setup

Open Channels, click Add channel, and pick SMS. Enter the number in the Phone number field in international E.164 format, for example +15551234567. Save, and PingArk texts a verification code to the number.

Config fields

• Phone number. The mobile number to text, in E.164 format (a plus sign, country code, then the number).

Verify before it can alert

SMS channels are verified before they can alert. PingArk texts a six-digit code to the number, and you enter it in the dashboard to arm the channel. Until then the channel never texts an alert and never spends a credit. Codes expire after a few minutes, and you can request a new one from the channel's menu.

What an alert looks like

A down text reads like "PingArk alert: nightly-backup is DOWN. Your scheduled job has not checked in." A recovery reads "PingArk: nightly-backup has recovered and is back UP." Messages are kept to a single segment where possible.

Credits and limits

Each delivered text costs one message credit, shared with WhatsApp and drawn from your monthly bundle first, then any top-up balance. Bundled credits reset each billing period; top-up credits never expire. If the balance runs out, PingArk stops texting premium alerts and flags it rather than billing past your balance. A per-check limit caps how many premium alerts a single check can send in a short window. See the pricing page for the message credits each plan includes.

Troubleshooting

If the code does not arrive, confirm the number is a mobile in E.164 format and that SMS is available in your region, then resend from the channel's menu. If texts stop, check your credit balance and that the number is still verified. Failed texts are surfaced in the dashboard.