Setting Up a Messaging Profile

Here we will explain how to get SMS ready with Messaging Profiles on Telnyx.

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Written by Telnyx Sales
Updated over a week ago

Video Walk-through for Setting up a Messaging Profile

Are you ready to start sending SMS with Telnyx? Follow the video below to learn how to set up a Messaging Profile

What is a messaging profile?

A Messaging Profile is a configuration that you can use to manage your inbound and outbound messaging settings. It is the simplest way to configure how you send and receive messages on your phone number. An SMS-capable phone number is SMS-enabled by assigning it to a Messaging Profile.

Where can I create a messaging profile?

Click on Messaging in the navigation menu on the left-hand side of the Telnyx Mission Control Portal. As you can see below, there is a list of messaging profiles on our test account where you can see the profile names, the associated webhook urls and have the ability to toggle the status of the profile off if it's not in use, click the pencil icon to edit the profile settings or the thrash icon to delete the messaging profile if you no longer need it.

The telnyx mission control portal.

Click Add new profile on the top right hand side.

Profile Information

Enter a name for your Messaging Profile, by default the API version 2 is selected as this is our latest and most up to date API.

Messaging profile creation tab.

Inbound Settings

Configure any other desired settings, such as webhook URLs as your Inbound Settings.

Inbound settings credential field.

You can read more about webhooks here. A webhook url is required in order to deliver inbound messages to your messaging application.

Outbound Settings

Outbound settings section.

Alphanumeric Sender ID

You can assign an Alpha Numeric Sender ID value which can be used for one way outbound international messages, generally these would be your clients business names.

International destinations

You can set a list of international destinations that you want to allow this profile to send messages to, restrict countries to minimise any fraudulent abuse.

Enable number pooling to deliver messages from a pool of multiple phone numbers that are associated with your messaging profile to handle higher volume. Read more information here.

International destinations sections.

MMS Fallback

Enable this toggle to send MMS messages to any destination, even to those where MMS isn't supported, by converting them to SMS with the media URL appended to the body of the message.

MMS Transcoding

Enable this toggle to compress MMS media files (images and videos) to meet carrier size restrictions, allowing you to send MMS up to 5MB in size.

Click Save to create the messaging profile!

Where to find messaging profile ID?

Once you've created the messaging profile successfully, you can go back into the settings to identify the Unique ID.

Messaging profile ID tab.

Do I need to assign the messaging profile to my numbers?

Yes! Once you’ve created a messaging profile, you’ll need to associate the profile with the number so our API can deliver inbound messages and except outbound messages from your number.

  1. Click on My Numbers in the navigation menu on the left-hand side of the portal.

  2. Click the My Numbers tab and find the number you want to add to your messaging profile.

  3. For your number, click on the “Select profile to send messages” box in the “Messaging Profile” column.

  4. In the window that opens, select your messaging profile from the dropdown menu under “SMS Messaging”.

  5. Click Save Changes.

  6. The changes may change your monthly recurring charge (MRC) for the number. Click Accept if you approve the change.

What next?

Your messaging profile should now show an updated count under “# of phone numbers” column on your Messaging Profiles page. If the count has not changed, refresh your page to update.


You are now ready to send and receive messages using our API.

Don't forget, you'll need an API Key to authenticate your outbound API requests.

Messaging Profile Updates - 1st March 2024

Existing customers who use our programmable messaging services will have received an email on the 8th of February 2024 with the following subject March 1st 2024: Important: New Security Controls for Messaging.

In order to improve the security of Telnyx’s Messaging platform for end users, we will be implementing two changes effective March 1st, 2024:

  • Editing / Creating a Messaging or Verify Profile via the Portal and API will require users to configure whitelisted destination countries for outbound termination.

    • Existing profiles will not be affected unless edited.

  • When attempting to send to non-US destinations, Telnyx now requires a default Alphanumeric sender ID to be named on the Messaging Profile. In the past, this was not required.

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