Email-to-MMS Not Working Reliably

[tomcu18]

We used to be able to send a SMS or MMS message from email to a Verizon phone.
For SMS the email address of any Verizon customer was number @ vtext.com and for MMS the email address was number @ vzwpix.com 

These are the same email addresses that show up if you send an SMS or MMS message from a Verizon phone to ema

In the last few months the ability to send MMS messages to Verizon phones has become extremely unreliable.  Even worse, when an email is unsuccessfully sent to the customer's vzwpix.com email address it never generates any return error message, so there is no way for the sender to know if the message actually went through.

There are several threads in the forum from customers who have experienced and reported this problem.  Most of those threads were based on the impression that it was a problem with the software being used to send the message, but when you realize that each of the customers is having the same problem despite using different software, it becomes obvious that the problem isn't the users' software - the problem is obviously the Verizon server processing emails sent to vzwpix.com

None of the other threads have received any useful response from Verizon support -- perhaps because those threads mistakenly thought the problem was something outside Verizon.

[akanem_vzw]

tomcu18, thanks for your detailed description of the email to SMS/MMS sending issue. Seeing how handy this feature is, I am committed to investigating this thoroughly for you. I can see how you were able to come to the conclusion with the feature being the main issue, but I want to make sure all assumptions are avoided. Let's get started on collecting more clues. What device are you using to send out the messages? From the messages that you know for certain that did not send, please shed light on how long the message is. Please note that the maximum length of one standard SMS message is up to 160 characters. Please shed clarity on how frequently and how many people are impacted when sending out the SMS/MMS.

AkaneM_VZW

Follow us on TWITTER @VZWSupport

If my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[DHFUSSELL]

I am noticing the same thing currently. Have been using number@vzwpix.com to receive monitoring alerts from work systems, but have noticed it has quit working. When adjusting to vtext.com it works fine, but our messages are cut short without all the details required. I can agree with the original poster after troubleshooting this issue, there is something wrong with the server side relay processing @vzwpix.com messages.

[tnichols44]

I can add a few answers to your questions to the other Tom:

The app sending to Verizon in my case is a custom app. It simultaneously sends the exact same message to my personal e-mail, which is 100% reliable. My alarm messages range from about 50 characters to a very short 10 character message. The message length doesn't seem to matter at all, and the vtext and vzwpix addresses are showing the same unreliable behavior.

Also, these same apps have been sending messages via vtext and vzwpix for over a year without any issues until recently. It's not the users. It's the Verizon system.

[Gdgdad]

I've experienced the same problem recently and again today I attempted SEND 3 small pictures via "number@VZWPIX" and the recipient is not getting anything. Any solution yet? This used to work fine and seems to have gone a awry.

[vzw_customer_support]

We understand the importance of ensuring your pictures are delivered Gdgdad. We are happy to help. To clarify, did you attempt to send all 3 pictures in one message or were there 3 separate messages? What is the format and size of the picture files?

RashadM_VZW

[Reederm]

I am having very similar issues and have been for at least a few months.

I'm sending single email to text SMS messages (not group messages).  When they are not received at #@vtext.com or #@vswpix.com  no error message is sent back to the sender.

I have access to a few email accounts from different domains so I ran an experiment.  I sent a very short text message and these are the current results:

From two different email accounts hosted at Dream Host:

No SMS text messages received at either #@vtext.com or #@vswpix.com

From an email account hosted at Tucows:

No SMS text messages received at either #@vtext.com or #@vswpix.com

From an email account hosted at 4securemail.com:

SMS text messages successfully received at both #@vtext.com and #@vswpix.com

From an email account hosted at MD OfficeMail:

SMS text messages successfully received at both #@vtext.com and #@vswpix.com

This is getting very tiresome and I see similar issues going on for 5 years on this forum...

Thanks for any and all help to resolve.

[vzw_customer_support]

Reederm, we greatly appreciate the details you have provided in the tests you ran with vtext. We're sorry to hear you have been running into troubles with this feature for so long. As you are having success with some servers and failure with others do you know if any of your firewalls or restrictions are set up differently? 

MelissaP_VZW
Follow us on TWITTER @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[Reederm]

Hi MelissaP_VZW:

Thanks for your response.

I don't believe security is any different for the email addresses and domains involved.  I have not modified my laptop firewall to treat these differently or the firewall on my router.

On Saturday 2/2 (when original message was written) I was accessing Internet across a T-Mobile broadband connection via a wireless router.

Today Monday 2/4 I just tried the same tests again from the same laptop and same email accounts but via my Verizon smartphone hotspot -- and *ALL* SMS email-to-text messages made it through.

However, I then tried all the same tests again across my T-Mobile connection (duplicate of Saturday conditions) and *ALL* SMS messages again made it through.

So -- yeah -- today all is working... But this leaves it a total puzzle as to why its working today, not on Saturday, and when this will next happen again... Or who else out on Internet might try to reach me this way via SMS message and not be able to...

So what can be done if this is an intermittent problem??

Thanks,

Michael

[matvzn]

Melissa, clearly you dont understand what he is saying. Those domains he identified, are not within his control. they are merely domains which he has an email account with to do this test. Therefore, firewalls are not in play here. email and sms are very basic systems and the folks here are often network administrators with a high degree of reliance on cellular SMS to provided status updates. Many of us do configuration of firewalls, email servers, or whatever server you want to name; for a living and can diagnose who's fault it is as well. I too am having the same problem. I have used my same mail settings using ATT @TXT.att.net for about 10 years and have 10's of thousands of status texts over the last 10 years.   Now, nothing. but an occasional text. It has the behavior of having a firewall, designed to identify (in this case incorrectly) behavior which may look spammy, Text messages sent very frequently which recieve no relys from the recipient might appear bogus to VZ's firewall / security systems. While this is very good for verizon and its customers to have somethign in place like this, there also needs to be a whitelisting mechanism for tech admins to use to prevent critical text mesages from being not forwarded by the verizon system.  This problem is either an engineering problem, or a security policy issue with verizon. Either VZ doesnt know what to fix, (unlikely), or it is a Sec policy that they are not willing to change.

[vzw_customer_support]

I understand this feature is important for you, matvzn. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. NatashaR_VZW in a previous post provide additional information on this Vtext feature. She stated this feature is not intended to be used for large volumes of commercial messages or emergency messages. We recommend using Enterprise Messaging which supports XML, SNPP, WCTP and SMTP protocols. You can find more information on Enterprise Messaging using this link. https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/enterprise-messaging-faqs Have you attempted to use Enterprise Messaging as an alternative?

GersonG_VZW

[GBUNDERSEA]

I am having the same problem. My home alarm system can send email alerts, either with or without an attached JPEG. The JPEG has a maximum size of only 250K.

If the alarm sends it to any one of my email addresses, it works fine with or without the attachment.

If I send it to my [NUMBER at vzwpix] address, it WILL NOT show up, either on my phone or the VZ webpage, if the JPEG is attached.

Without the JPEG, the text-only version of the same message comes through EVERY time on [NUMBER at vzwpix].

I believe there is some security filter or setting in VZ's system which is rejecting these emails.

FYI, the alarm is set to use my Gmail server settings and From address. I am not getting any bounce messages, etc. The emails simply disappear and are not delivered.

If I send the email to my Gmail account, even with the attachment, I can then forward it to [NUMBER at vzwpix] and it will go through, every time.

I tried using a forwarder on one of my domains to redirect the email to [NUMBER at vzwpix]. Those do not go through either.

So, as of now my choices are to send alerts without pictures to my phone so that I get them immediately, or send much more helpful alerts with images to my email, where they may sit unnoticed.

[GBUNDERSEA]

UPDATE: I just saw that Gmail DID receive an undeliverable message from VZ, but it was hidden in the spam folder.

Here are the details:

From: MMSC NDR Administrator [email address removed per the Verizon Terms of Service] via txslspamp11.vtext.com

Message could not be delivered to mobile.
Error: Wap Encoding Error

So, it seems that a Wap Encoding Error is causing this.

I looked up this error, and found an old thread about this on the Verison forum:

https://community.verizonwireless.com/t5/Verizon-Messages/VZWPIX-wap-encoding-error/td-p/13664

Maybe this will shed some light on the issue.

[vzw_customer_support]

GBUNDERSEA,

I appreciate all of your efforts to help track down the issue with sending SMS/MMS messages via email. I was taking a closer look into this, and I do see that there may be some instances where messages are being denied by a spam filter due to ta missing Sender Policy Framework(SPF). Since these messages are automated, I can see where a spam filter may catch them. Here is a tool to ensure that your email carrier has an SPF record, and to check to make sure it is valid: http://spr.ly/660613BXg

Let me know if this helps. JosephE_VZW

[Bruce2]

MMS stopped working.  Have attaments to original e-mail.  SMS working.

[vzw_customer_support]

Bruce2, we definitely want to ensure that your messages are working. Help is here. What happens when you try to text? Are you able to provide additional details about the attachment that you're referring to?

LorenzoP_VZW

[fix_it_verizon]

Neither the @VTEXT.com or @vzwpix.com email-to-text services have worked for the last 3 or 4 days, they are no longer forwarding media or text sent from Gmail or Sendgrid to my Verizon number @VTEXT.com or @vzwpix.com . This has worked fine for months and I can confirm several Verizon customers have had the same issue for the same amount of time, please fix this ASAP.

[vzw_customer_support]

Thank you very much for sharing all these important details. Please tell us, what messaging app are you using on your devices? Is the software and all your apps currently up to date on your devices? Is this happening when receiving messages from specific senders? 

GeovannJ_VZW

[roognation]

As a point of information, I have used GMX email and failed to both [number]@VTEXT.COM and [number]@VZWPIX.COM.  Testing with Gmail, it worked.  Please fix GMX email.

Side note: a response email when failed or rejeted would be nice (maybe a summary at the end of the day to prevent a storm of emails)

[vzw_customer_support]

Thanks Roognation. When did you start noticing this with GMX email? Are you a current Verizon Wireless customer? What zip code are you in and what are your nearest cross streets?

JoeL_VZW

[roognation]

I think started at end of December 2019 or early January 2020.  Yes, I am a customer, zip code 95831.  Cross streets = Highway 5 and 43rd Avenue.