Send a utility message

Order confirmations, shipping updates, appointment reminders — messages you send, rather than codes you verify.

Managed Vodafone integrations differ

BYO SMS here describes an integration you build and own. If Akedly operates a managed Vodafone integration for your account, several of the capabilities described below are fixed by Akedly and are not yours to set — see Managed Vodafone.

Connecting a WhatsApp Business Account, approving a template, and sending.

This runs on your own WhatsApp account

Utilities send over your WhatsApp Business Account, not an Akedly-operated one, and SMS goes through your BYO provider. Connecting at least one of those is the first step, not an optional extra.

What you need

A WhatsApp Business Account you can connect, or a BYO SMS provider
Your utility pipeline's usk_ signing secret

Steps

1. Connect a channel. WhatsApp through your own Business Account, SMS through your own provider, or both.

View in dashboardChannels → Setup

Connect WhatsApp, or add and test a BYO SMS integration. (A managed Vodafone integration is built for you, but three setup steps are still yours — its credentials, its approved sender name, and acknowledging that Vodafone has whitelisted Akedly's outbound IPs — and it must then pass its activation test before it routes.)

2. Create a utility pipeline. Separate from your OTP pipelines. It holds your channel order, allowed countries, daily spend cap, and send settings.

3. Write a template and get it approved. Templates carry {{variable}} placeholders. Every one needs Akedly approval. That is the only approval an SMS template needs — once Akedly has approved it and it is marked usable on SMS, it can send. WhatsApp templates need Meta's approval as well, so those wait for both.

4. Send. One signed call to the send endpoint with the template and its variables. The full request shape is on the Send API page.

Requests to Akedly are signed with your usk_ secret, and webhooks from Akedly are signed with a different whsec_ one. Two secrets, opposite directions — the most common mix-up on this product.

When it breaks

UTILITY_SMS_REQUIRES_BYO — SMS is enabled but no usable BYO integration is connected.
UTILITY_SMS_COUNTRY_NOT_ROUTED — you have an integration, but nothing routes that destination. On one you built, add a country chain or an ALL catch-all. A managed Vodafone integration is fixed to Egypt and cannot be widened.
Template rejected by Meta — sending stops working and no webhook tells you. Account events are visible in the dashboard only, so check there.

Where to go next

Utility Webhooks — delivery updates, replies, and button taps (WhatsApp; SMS has one legacy exception)
Request Signing — signing your calls with usk_
End Users — associate your internal user IDs with phone numbers