Sending Premium SMS

Premium SMS messages are sent to subscribers of a premium short code. Unlike bulk SMS, recipients are billed for receiving these messages. Use this for subscription services, content delivery, and opt-in campaigns.

Basic Example

use SamuelMwangiW\Africastalking\Facades\Africastalking;

$response = Africastalking::sms('Your weekly horoscope: The stars are aligned in your favour.')
    ->to(['+254712345678', '+256706123567'])
    ->premium()
    ->send();

Full Method Reference

Method	Description
to(string|array $numbers)	Recipient phone number(s)
as(string $shortCode)	Override the short code / sender ID
premium()	Required — designates this as a premium message
bulkMode(bool $bulk)	true sends in bulk mode; false sends as individual premium messages
retry(int $hours)	Number of hours to retry delivery if the message is not delivered
keyword(string $keyword)	Keyword associated with the premium subscription
linkId(string $id)	Link ID for premium message delivery tracking
send()	Dispatch the request

Full Example

use SamuelMwangiW\Africastalking\Facades\Africastalking;

$response = Africastalking::sms('Your premium content update for this week.')
    ->as('90012')
    ->to(['+254712345678', '+256706123567'])
    ->premium()
    ->bulkMode(false)
    ->retry(2)
    ->keyword('WEEKLY')
    ->linkId('msg-link-id-abc123')
    ->send();

The Response

send() returns a SentMessageResponse object. Per-recipient results are in the ->recipients collection, each a SentMessageRecipient:

foreach ($response->recipients as $recipient) {
    echo $recipient->number->number; // +254712345678
    echo $recipient->status->value;  // "Success" | "InvalidPhoneNumber" | etc.
    echo $recipient->cost;           // "KES 5.0000"
    echo $recipient->id;             // AT message ID
}

WARNING

Premium SMS requires a registered short code and premium service approval from Africa's Talking. This is not available in the sandbox by default — contact support to enable it.