SMS signature quick guide for beginners
An SMS signature identifies the sender of a text message. This guide helps first-time applicants decide which signature to apply for and confirm whether an approved signature is ready to use.
This guide provides recommendations for common scenarios and answers the following questions:
Which signature should you apply for?
Should you select For personal use or For third-party use?
What should you check before you submit a signature?
How do you know whether your approved signature is ready to use?
What should you know about using or modifying an existing signature?
For complete rules, console operations, and carrier filing requirements, follow the links in this guide to the corresponding reference topics.
Which signature should you apply for?
SMS signatures primarily support Enterprise or public institution name and Registered trademark name. The following table describes the recommended choice for each situation.
| Situation | Recommendation |
| You want to use your company name | Use the full enterprise name or a qualifying enterprise abbreviation |
| The full enterprise name is too long | Use an enterprise abbreviation that follows the signature naming rules |
| You want to use a brand name that has a registered trademark | Use the trademark name as shown on the trademark registration certificate |
| You want to use an app, website, or product name | If the name has a registered trademark, use the trademark name. Otherwise, use the enterprise name, because an app, website, or product name alone is not accepted |
| You want to use the name of a customer, partner, or other enterprise | Apply under the For third-party use scenario and prepare the corresponding qualification and authorization materials |
Do you already have a complimentary signature?
If your account has received a complimentary enterprise signature from Short Message Service and the signature meets your business needs, use the complimentary signature instead of applying for a new one.
A complimentary signature is generated based on the identity verification entity of your account. This reduces the effort of entering an enterprise abbreviation, selecting a signature source, and preparing application materials. It also lowers the risk of rejection due to an incorrect signature name or insufficient materials.
If the complimentary signature does not meet your business needs, apply for a new signature based on the guidance in this section.
How do you determine whether an enterprise abbreviation is appropriate?
For example, if the full enterprise name is Hangzhou Xinghe Network Technology Co., Ltd., the following table shows which abbreviations are acceptable.
| Signature example | Recommended | Reason |
| Hangzhou Xinghe Network | Yes | Contains geographic information and uses consecutive characters from the full enterprise name |
| Xinghe Network | No | Missing geographic information |
| Hangzhou Xinghe Technology | No | Characters are not consecutively taken from the full enterprise name |
| Hangzhou Xinghe APP | No | Contains content that does not appear in the enterprise name |
What are the requirements when you use a registered trademark name?
The signature must match the trademark registration information. Do not abbreviate, add to, or remove content from the trademark name.
References:Apply for a signature — detailed signature rules.
Should you select For personal use or For third-party use?
You only need to answer one question: does the entity that owns the signature match the identity verification entity of the current Alibaba Cloud account?
| Situation | Selection |
| Entities match | For personal use |
| Entities do not match | For third-party use |
The following scenarios are easy to misjudge.
| Scenario | Selection |
| Company A's account applies for Company A's own enterprise name | For personal use |
| Company A's account applies for Company A's own registered trademark | For personal use |
| Company A's account applies for a signature owned by Company B (a customer) | For third-party use |
| A subsidiary's account applies for the parent company's signature | For third-party use |
| A service provider uses its own account to apply for a signature on behalf of a customer | For third-party use |
| The same group, but the signature entity differs from the identity verification entity of the account | For third-party use |
Whether the entities belong to the same group or have a business partnership or agency relationship does not determine the selection. The deciding factor is always whether the entities match.
When you select For third-party use, you must also prepare the qualification documents and letter of authorization from the signature owner.
References:Apply for a signature — detailed selection rules.
What should you check before you submit a signature?
Many signature review issues can be avoided before submission. Check the following items.
| Check item | Key points |
| Signature name | Whether the enterprise abbreviation meets the naming requirements; whether the trademark signature matches the registration information |
| Source | Whether supporting materials are available for the enterprise name or trademark |
| For personal use or For third-party use | Whether the identity verification entity of the account matches the signature owner entity |
| Associated qualification | Whether the qualification entity matches the actual signature owner entity |
| Letter of authorization | For third-party scenarios, whether the authorization relationship and materials are complete |
| Business scenario | Whether the intended use and SMS types are clearly described |
| Special industries | Some industries (such as government units, gaming, logistics, and finance) have additional signature requirements. Even with standard qualification and authorization materials, your application may be rejected if industry-specific requirements are not met. For details, see Signature rules |
If your signature application is rejected, review the rejection feedback, correct the signature name, signature source, associated qualification, or authorization materials, and resubmit.
References:Apply for a signature — detailed requirements and application steps.
How do you know whether your approved signature is ready to use?
After your signature passes the Alibaba Cloud review, you must also complete carrier filing. Carrier filing is the real-name registration of the signature with carriers, and it is the process described in the Signature real-name registration topic.
Do not rely on the signature review result alone. Monitor both of the following items.
| Item | Description |
| Signature status | Whether the signature is available on the Alibaba Cloud side |
| Carrier filing status | The filing status of the signature with carriers such as China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom |
Carrier filing progress and results may differ across carriers. To determine whether you can send messages to a specific phone number, check the signature status together with the filing result for that number's carrier.
The following table gives the recommended action for each combination of signature status and carrier filing status.
| Status | Recommendation |
| Signature Available - Normal and carrier Filing Successful | You can send messages to numbers of that carrier |
| Signature Available - Normal and carrier Filed and Pending Verification | You can send messages. (Recommended) Run a small-batch test first |
| Signature Available - Normal and carrier Filing | Wait for the carrier to process the filing and monitor the result |
| Signature Available - Abnormal | Check the specific cause and follow the on-screen instructions |
| Signature Unavailable | The signature cannot be used. Resolve the signature issue first |
| Carrier Not Filed | Complete the filing as prompted |
| Carrier Filing Failed | Check the failure cause, resolve the issue, and re-submit the filing |
| Carrier Filing Expired | Re-complete the filing as prompted |
Do you need to wait for Filing Successful when the status shows Filed and Pending Verification?
No. When the signature status is Available - Normal, you can send SMS messages even if the carrier filing status is still Filed and Pending Verification.
Filed and Pending Verification means the carrier has completed the filing but still needs to verify it through actual message delivery. Before you send messages at scale, run a small-batch test with numbers from that carrier to confirm delivery.
Therefore, do not determine whether a signature is ready to use based solely on the filing status. Instead, evaluate the signature status, carrier filing result, and actual test results together.
Why can you send messages to some carriers but not others?
China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom process filings independently. The same signature may have a successful filing with China Mobile, a pending filing with China Unicom, and a failed filing with China Telecom.
If messages are delivered successfully to some numbers but fail for others, check the filing result for each carrier and resolve issues with the affected carrier. If the status is Filing, Filing Failed, or Filing Expired, resolve the issue based on the status and then run a test.
References:
Manage SMS signatures — full signature status and management operations.
Signature real-name registration — carrier filing, test verification, and exception handling.
What should you know about using or modifying an existing signature?
Can you change the signature name directly?
No. To use a different signature name, apply for a new signature.
For information about whether other fields such as the associated qualification and signature source can be modified, and how to modify them, see Manage SMS signatures, which also covers signature editing, freezing, and other management operations.
What should you check before you reuse a historical signature?
Before you reuse a historical signature that has been inactive for a long time, check the current signature status and the filing results for China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom.
If the carrier filing status shows Filing Expired, re-complete the filing as prompted before you use the signature. For the recommended action for each status combination, see the status and recommended action table in the preceding section.
References:Signature real-name registration — filing exception handling.
Reference topics by issue
The following table maps common issues to the reference topic that covers them.
| Issue | Reference topic |
| You do not know which signature to apply for, whether your enterprise abbreviation meets the requirements, whether to select For personal use or For third-party use, or which qualification and authorization materials to prepare. Your signature application was rejected, and you need to correct it based on the rejection feedback and resubmit. | Apply for a signature |
| You want to modify signature information or change the associated qualification. You do not know whether your signature is ready to use. | Manage SMS signatures |
| Your signature is approved but the carrier filing is still in progress, has been pending for a long time, failed for a carrier, shows Filed and Pending Verification, or expired and you need to use the signature again. Messages are delivered to some carrier numbers but not others. | Signature real-name registration |