Guides
SMS guides for Malawi
Plain answers to the questions people ask before their first campaign, written for Malawi numbers, Malawi networks and messages in English or Chichewa.
All guides
How to send SMS in Malawi: four ways compared
How to send SMS in Malawi from a computer or your own system: the web dashboard, an Excel upload, the HTTP API or SMPP, and how to choose between them.
Malawi phone numbers for SMS: Airtel, TNM and the +265 format
How Malawi mobile numbers work for SMS: +265 format, Airtel and TNM prefixes, the leading zero, and the Excel mistakes that break a number list.
GSM-7 vs Unicode: why one character can double your SMS cost
GSM-7 fits 160 characters in one SMS part and Unicode fits 70. See which characters switch encoding, why Chichewa needs care, and test your own message free.
Sender IDs in Malawi: how to send from your own name
What a sender ID is, how to choose one for Malawi, the 11 character limit, why networks can treat senders differently, and how to request yours on SMS YANU.
How to send bulk SMS from Excel
Send bulk SMS from an Excel list in Malawi: set up your columns, avoid the number format traps, personalise each message and review errors before you send.
Looking for API and SMPP reference pages? They are in the documentation.
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