The Messages and Groups tabs in Fortress Communicator handle SMS and MMS — the same kind of text messages your phone’s stock Messages app sends, delivered over the carrier network through Telnyx, our SMS wholesale partner. Use these tabs when you need to reach somebody who is not a Fortress user.
Private Chat vs SMS
If you are messaging another Fortress user, Private Chat is better in every measurable way: end-to-end encrypted, free, no carrier involvement. SMS is the right call for everyone else — your bank, your auto repair shop, your kid’s school, anyone whose number you have but who is not on Fortress.
10DLC compliance — what business SMS requires
If you are using a Fortress phone number for business messaging in the United States, you are subject to the 10DLC (10-Digit Long Code) rules. These are carrier-level rules, not Fortress rules, but we enforce them to keep your messages flowing and your sender reputation intact:
- The Campaign Registry (TCR). Every business phone number sending SMS at meaningful volume has to be registered with TCR — a clearinghouse the major US carriers use to identify legitimate senders. We file the TCR registration on your behalf when you provision a Basic or higher tier with business intent.
- Sender verification. The brand and the campaign (what you are texting people about) are registered. Trying to send messages about a campaign that is not on file results in carrier filtering — the message goes nowhere.
- Opt-in records. You must have meaningful consent from the recipient before sending non-transactional messages. The carriers spot-check; we cannot defend you against a complaint if you do not have opt-in.
STOP / HELP / START keywords
US carriers require that every business sender honor STOP (opt-out), HELP (explain who you are), and START (re-enable). Fortress Communicator honors these automatically — you do not have to code it yourself.
- A recipient texts STOP to your number → we send the carrier-required confirmation, block all outbound messages to that number from your account, and log the opt-out.
- A recipient texts HELP → we send a default response with your business name and a support contact. You can customize this in Settings.
- A recipient texts START → the block is cleared and messages resume.
Anti-spam — per-account thresholds
Fortress runs an automatic anti-spam system on outbound SMS. If your account exceeds the messaging thresholds (high volume in a short window, large fraction of recipients who never replied, multiple STOP messages in quick succession), your outbound SMS is temporarily paused and we email you to investigate. This protects your sender reputation with the carriers; once a carrier flags your number as spam, recovery takes weeks.
Most users never hit the thresholds — they exist to catch compromised accounts and accidental misuse, not normal business communication.
Carrier delivery quirks
SMS is not instant. A message bound for an AT&T phone may arrive in two seconds; the same message to a T-Mobile phone may arrive in twenty. The difference is the receiving carrier’s queueing and filtering, not anything Fortress can control. MMS (messages with attachments) usually adds a few more seconds while the carrier transcodes the image.
Delivery to landline or VoIP numbers is sometimes silently dropped by the receiving carrier — the SMS protocol does not guarantee delivery confirmation. If a critical message did not arrive, call instead.
Per-segment cost outside the bundle
| Item | Retail rate (overage) |
|---|---|
| SMS — per segment (160 characters) | $0.05 |
| MMS — per message | $0.10 |
| International SMS | Varies by destination — see live rate table |
Long SMS messages are split into multiple segments by the carrier; the per-segment rate applies to each.
Bundle allotments by tier
| Tier | SMS segments / month | MMS / month |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 (in-network Private Chat only) | 0 |
| Basic | 500 | 50 |
| Pro | 2,500 | 250 |
| Premier | Unlimited US/Canada | Unlimited |
| Team / Business / Enterprise | Unlimited US/Canada per seat | Unlimited per seat |
We switched to SMS notifications for court reminders last year and the compliance piece is what tripped us up initially — good to see the 10DLC rules laid out clearly here. One question: does Fortress handle the campaign registration process on your behalf, or is that something our agency has to set up independently with the carrier? That part was a headache with our last vendor.
Really glad someone finally laid out the 10DLC compliance piece clearly — we’ve had ongoing confusion about which messages need to be registered under a campaign versus what’s considered conversational. Quick question: does Fortress track per-message costs per facility separately, or is it rolled up into one billing account for the whole county?
We switched to Fortress about eight months ago and the 10DLC registration piece was honestly the most confusing part of our onboarding — glad to see it explained clearly here. Quick question though: does the per-message cost get billed per recipient when you send a mass notification to a large inmate family list, or is it a flat batch rate? That distinction matters a lot for our monthly budget tracking.
We switched to a 10DLC-registered number last spring after getting flagged for filtering issues and it made a huge difference in deliverability to family members. One thing I’d add — make sure your staff understands that MMS costs add up fast if they’re sending photos without thinking about it. Good breakdown here though, especially the anti-spam section.
We’ve been on Fortress about eight months now and the 10DLC registration piece tripped us up at first — good to see it spelled out clearly here. One question though: does the per-message cost show up as a line item in the monthly billing summary, or do we need to pull a separate usage report to track it for budget purposes?
We’ve been using SMS for court date reminders for about six months now and the 10DLC registration process was definitely the biggest hurdle getting started — glad you laid that out clearly here. One thing I’d add for anyone reading: make sure your message templates go through legal review before you register them, it saved us a headache with the carrier approval. Does Fortress allow different sender IDs for different facility departments, or is it one registered number per agency?