A short code in the United States is the phone number that is 5 to 6 digits long and is used to send and receive text messages. In most cases, the shortcode is used by organizations or businesses to facilitate text message marketing campaigns.
Some common short code applications include reservation reminders from hotels, prescription refill alerts from a pharmacy and digital coupons and promos sent by a retailer. Shortcodes are getting more common today. If you are not getting them, you need to enable short code texting on iPhone.
It’s an account setting and not a device setting
If your burning question is how do I unblock short code texting on my iPhone, the first thing you need to understand is that this is not a device setting but rather an account setting.
T-Mobile, for example, has disabled short codes for all their customers regardless of their type of plan. As a result of this, if you can’t receive short code SMS, the first thing you should do is check with your wireless carrier if short code messaging is supported.
Confirm the short code is active
If your carrier does allow you to text short codes on iPhone, you need to start by double checking that you are entering the correct short code number. You also need to confirm that the short code campaign you are trying to interact with is still active.
If the campaign is still active and the number is correct, start by sending the word ‘HELP’ to the short code. This is the first step to enable short code texting on iPhone. With most marketing software, sending the word ‘HELP’ resets the short code associated with your phone number.
If you receive a message back after sending the word ‘HELP’, it means you can now use the short code messages from that short code.
Checking if your carrier has blocked shortcode
If you don’t get a message after sending the word ‘HELP’, you need to test if shortcode is enabled on your device. To do this send the word ‘HELP’ to another active short code. If you still don’t get a response, you can’t text 5-digit numbers on your iPhone. The reason for this is because your wireless plan doesn’t support short code messaging. To unblock short code SMS on iPhone at this point you need to contact your wireless phone provider to enable the shortcode text messaging.
Check this also: Best apps to print text messages from iPhone
How do I enable short text codes on Sprint?
You simply need to text the word ‘Allow’ and the shortcode you are trying to unlock to 9999. For example, you can send ‘Allow 54321’ to 9999. You will now be able to receive messages from 54321. That is all you need to do to learn how to turn on short code messaging on iPhone. Alternatively, you can log into your Sprint account and allow a number to text. The process on how to enable short text codes is similar with most carriers.
These are the simple steps you need to take if you want to learn how to send short code text on iPhone. If you are not able to enable short code texting on iPhone, always remember that the problem is not with your device but with your carrier. Only your carrier can resolve the issue.
Alex is an IT technician who shares his experiences with Apple devices occasionally. He has a collection of Apple devices (from iPhone 4) and has recently started trying out Android.
IG: @I M_Alex