# What is outbound SMS?

> Outbound SMS — also called mobile-terminated (MT) SMS — is a message your business sends to a person's phone, such as an OTP, alert, notification, or marketing message. It is submitted through an SMS API or SMPP, routed to the recipient's operator, and confirmed by a delivery receipt. Most A2P traffic is outbound; pairing it with inbound SMS creates two-way conversations.

- Canonical URL: https://www.broadnet.me/answers/what-is-outbound-sms
- Language: en
- Last reviewed: 2026-07-22
- Publisher: BroadNet (https://www.broadnet.me)

## How it works

Your application submits the message over REST or SMPP; the platform routes it to the destination operator, which delivers it to the handset and returns a delivery receipt. See /answers/what-is-sms-api and /answers/what-is-dlr.

## Outbound vs inbound

Outbound (MT) is business-to-person; inbound (MO) is person-to-business. A one-way sender ID sends outbound only; a two-way number does both. See /answers/what-is-mo-vs-mt and /answers/what-is-inbound-sms.

## Making it reliable

Outbound delivery depends on route quality, registered sender IDs, correct encoding, and DLR monitoring. See /answers/how-to-improve-sms-delivery-rates.

## Related

- [All answers](https://www.broadnet.me/answers)
- [Glossary](https://www.broadnet.me/answers)
- [MO vs MT — what's the difference?](https://www.broadnet.me/answers/what-is-mo-vs-mt)
- [What is inbound SMS?](https://www.broadnet.me/answers/what-is-inbound-sms)
- [What is an SMS API?](https://www.broadnet.me/answers/what-is-sms-api)
- [What is a DLR (Delivery Receipt)?](https://www.broadnet.me/answers/what-is-dlr)
- [A2P SMS](https://www.broadnet.me/products/a2p-sms)
- [SMS API](https://www.broadnet.me/products/sms-api)