How to Effortlessly Receive SMS Notifications from Your Website's Contact Forms

There may be times when you want a text message as soon as someone completes a contact form on your website. For years the usual shortcut was to send the form notification email to a mobile carrier's "email-to-text" gateway address. That shortcut is no longer dependable, so this guide explains what changed and what to use instead.

Updated 3 October 2026: the original version of this guide told readers that every mobile carrier supplies a free email-to-SMS gateway and listed gateway addresses. We removed that list because carriers have been retiring these gateways.

Why carrier email-to-text gateways are no longer dependable

An email-to-text gateway is an email address on a carrier's domain that turns an incoming email into a text message to one phone number. Carriers designed them for occasional person-to-person messages, not for automated website alerts, and they are being withdrawn:

• AT&T: AT&T's support page states that its email-to-text and text-to-email service was shut down on 17 June 2025 (page last updated 14 August 2025). Addresses such as txt.att.net should no longer be used. Source: AT&T support.
• Verizon: Verizon's customer notice says it is shutting down email-to-text for Vtext.com and VZWPix.com, anticipates completing this by 31 March 2027, and warns that some senders may lose access earlier and that messages may already be blocked by spam filtering. For businesses it points to its enterprise messaging product. Source: Verizon notice.
• Other carriers and resellers: we have not verified the current status of every other carrier's gateway, and we are not publishing a gateway list because any such list goes out of date. Check the carrier's own help pages before relying on one.

Even where a gateway still accepts mail, delivery can be silently filtered, so a missed lead alert may not produce any error on your side. A text-alert system that fails without telling you is worse than none, which is why we do not recommend building new notifications on this method.

A more dependable approach: an SMS provider API

The supported way for a website to send a text message is through an SMS provider that exposes an API. Your site (or your form plugin) sends the provider a request containing the destination number and the message text, and the provider delivers it over the carrier network and reports whether it was accepted. For example, Twilio's documentation describes sending a message with a single HTTPS request to its Messages endpoint with To, From (or a messaging service) and Body parameters (see the Twilio Message resource documentation). Other providers work in a similar way. We name Twilio only as one documented example, not as a recommendation or a price comparison.

The general setup looks like this:

1. Choose a provider and create an account. Compare current pricing, country coverage and the registration steps on the provider's own site, because these change and differ by country.
2. Complete any sender registration the provider requires. For example, messaging to US numbers from a business application generally has to be registered with the provider before delivery is reliable. Your provider's documentation will say what applies to you.
3. Connect your form to the provider. Depending on your form plugin this can be a native SMS add-on, a webhook that calls the provider's API, an automation platform, or a small piece of custom code on your server. Keep API keys out of public code, themes and page content.
4. Send a short alert, not the whole enquiry. A message such as "New website enquiry from the contact form, check your email" is enough. Text messages are not a secure channel, so avoid putting names, phone numbers, addresses, health details or other personal data in the SMS itself.
5. Keep the email notification as well. The email remains your full record of the enquiry, and it is your backup if a text is delayed.
6. Test and monitor delivery. Submit a test form after setup and after any plugin, hosting or provider change. Check the provider's delivery logs and set up an alert for failed sends.

Things to check before you switch on SMS alerts

• Who receives the texts. If the numbers belong to staff, make sure they know their numbers are being used and who can change them.
• Consent and local rules. Messaging rules vary by country. If you ever message customers (rather than alerting your own team), get legal advice on consent requirements for your location.
• Cost control. Provider pricing changes, so check it on the provider's site and consider limiting how many alerts a spam-heavy form can trigger, for example by protecting the form against bot submissions.
• Alternatives to SMS. If your goal is only to be alerted quickly, a mobile push notification or a team chat notification from your email or form tool may be simpler and cost nothing per message.

If you would like help connecting a WordPress form to an SMS provider and testing it, you can contact us, or see our WordPress work for the wider site setup.