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Belio Messaging lets you send outbound notifications and customer messages over two channels:
  • SMS for broad reach and simple, fast delivery to Safaricom and Airtel mobile numbers. Supports both plain messages and pre-approved templates.
  • WhatsApp for richer, template-based messaging through a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA), including structured content and better branding.
Both channels are designed for programmatic sending at scale, with optional delivery tracking via callbacks (delivery receipts).

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Choose a messaging channel

Use SMS when you need maximum reach (OTP, alerts, short updates) and want the simplest integration: pick an SMS service, provide recipients, and send. SMS also supports templates for pre-approved, reusable message formats. Use WhatsApp when you need template-driven messaging (transactional updates, customer engagement, and branded communication) and you already have:

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Common Concepts

Across SMS and WhatsApp, you will typically work with:
  • Authentication: All requests use Bearer token authentication.
  • Authorization scopes: Your API Client must include the appropriate scope for the channel you are using:
  • SMS → message.sms.send.oneway
  • WhatsApp → message.whatsapp.send
  • Recipients: Use phone numbers in international format (E.164), e.g. +254712345678.
  • Delivery receipts (callbacks): Optionally include receiptRequest with a correlator and callbackUrl to receive asynchronous status updates.

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Next Steps

Choose a messaging channel to get started:

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SMS

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WhatsApp