Send SMS with Python

Getting started

To start sending SMS with python you need to do the following:

1. Create a 46elks account
2. Purchase some credits. (The minimum purchase is 10 EUR, which is more than enough to get started.)
3. Locate your API-credentials

Write your Python code

An example using Python 3 and the requests library:

An example using Python 2:

Now you can run your code. If you are using the terminal it will look like this:

If successful, you should expect a result similar to this:

Some tips on SMS parameter formatting

The basic API request to send an SMS must contain these three key:value pairs which are to, from and message.

to - Who you want to send an SMS

The "to" parameter should be the E.164 formatted number of the recipient.
Example: "to":"+46766861004"

from - Who you want to send the SMS from

The "from" parameter should be either an E.164 number or a string. That string is often called a "Text sender" or an "alphanumeric sender ID".
Example: "from":"+46766861004"
Example: "from":"+ElkCo"

message - The content of the message itself

Fun fact about the "message" string - you can even send emojis!
Example: "message":"How was this interview, 👌🏽 or 👎🏽 ?"

Here is a full data packet:

Next step

You’ve just sent a text message with a text sender (i.e. not from a phone number). By doing this you can use SMS to remind customers of reservations, send confirmations of new orders, etc.

To send an SMS is the easiest way to get started with 46elks, but you can do so much more. For example you can receive SMS, automatically respond to an incoming SMS or handle voice calls. There are more Python code examples at GitHub.

If you have any questions then get in touch, we love talking to our users!