​
Overview

Get instant SMS notifications when critical issues are detected. SMS alerts ensure you never miss important incidents, even when you’re away from your computer or phone is on silent.
SMS notifications are available on Team and Stack plans. Monthly quotas: Free (0), Solo (0), Team (50), Stack (200). SMS alerts are charged based on usage.

​
Setup

Setting up SMS notifications requires phone number verification first:

Add Phone Number

Go to Settings → Profile and add your phone number with country code (e.g., +1 555-123-4567)

Verify Number

Enter the verification code sent to your phone to confirm it’s your number

Navigate to Monitor

Go to your monitor’s detail page

Open Notifications Tab

Click the “Notifications” tab

Enable SMS

Check the “SMS” checkbox under channels
Important: You must add and verify your phone number in Settings → Profile before you can enable SMS notifications for any monitor. Without verification, the SMS checkbox will not be available.

​
Phone Number Format

Always include the country code with your phone number:
CountryFormat ExampleCountry Code
United States+1 555-123-4567+1
Canada+1 416-555-0123+1
Turkey+90 532 123 4567+90
Currently, SMS notifications are only available for United States, Canada, and Turkey phone numbers. More countries will be added soon.
Make sure to include the + symbol and country code. Without it, messages may fail to deliver.

​
Alert Configuration

​
Severity Filtering

Choose which severity levels trigger SMS:

Critical Only

Receive SMS only for critical outages (recommended to avoid SMS fatigue)

Critical + Warning

Get notified for both critical issues and warnings

All Alerts

Receive SMS for all alert types (not recommended - high SMS volume)

Custom Rules

Set up custom conditions for when to send SMS

​
Quiet Hours

Prevent SMS notifications during specific times: 
Quiet Hours: 11:00 PM - 7:00 AM (Local Time)
Days: Monday - Friday
Action: Hold SMS alerts, send summary email instead
Critical alerts can override quiet hours if configured. This ensures you’re notified of emergencies even during sleep hours.

​
SMS Message Format

SMS alerts are concise due to character limits:

​
Down Alert

🚨 CRITICAL: example.com is DOWN
Time: 2:34 PM EST
View: https://app.watchmantower.com/m/abc123

​
Recovery Alert

✅ RESOLVED: example.com is UP
Downtime: 12 minutes
View: https://app.watchmantower.com/m/abc123

​
Performance Warning

⚠️ WARNING: api.example.com is SLOW
Response: 3.2s (threshold: 2s)
View: https://app.watchmantower.com/m/abc123

​
Multiple Phone Numbers

Add multiple phone numbers for your team:
  1. Primary on-call number
  2. Backup engineer
  3. Manager escalation
  4. 24/7 operations center
Each number can have different alert rules and severity filters.

​
SMS Delivery

SMS messages are typically delivered within 5-10 seconds. In rare cases, carrier delays may extend this to 1-2 minutes.
We track delivery status for each SMS. Failed deliveries are retried up to 3 times and you’ll see the status in your alert log.
SMS works worldwide. Delivery times may be slightly longer for international numbers (10-30 seconds).
SMS messages are limited to 160 characters. Longer messages are split into multiple SMS automatically.

​
Pricing

SMS costs vary by destination:
CountryCost per SMS
United States$0.0075
Canada$0.0085
Turkey$0.0105
Your plan includes a monthly SMS credit allowance (Team: 50, Stack: 200). Additional SMS are billed at the rates above.

​
Best Practices

Use for Critical Only

Limit SMS to critical alerts to avoid notification fatigue

Set Quiet Hours

Configure quiet hours unless you need 24/7 alerting

Verify Numbers

Always verify phone numbers after adding them

Monitor Usage

Keep track of SMS usage to avoid unexpected costs

​
Troubleshooting

​
SMS Not Received

  1. Check phone number format - Must include country code with +
  2. Verify number is active - Check verification status in settings
  3. Check carrier blocking - Some carriers block automated SMS
  4. Review quiet hours - SMS may be suppressed during configured times

​
Delayed Messages

  • Carrier issues - Check your mobile carrier’s status
  • International routing - May take up to 30 seconds
  • Network congestion - Rare but can cause delays

​
Wrong Time Zone

Update your account timezone in Settings → Profile → Timezone to receive SMS at the correct local time.

​
Alternative Options

If SMS doesn’t work for you, consider these alternatives:

Push Notifications

Free mobile app notifications with rich content

Phone Calls

Voice call alerts for critical incidents (Enterprise)

Slack

Team notifications via Slack channels

Email

Detailed email alerts with full incident information

​
Next Steps

Alert Overview

Learn about all notification channels

Push Notifications

Set up free mobile app notifications

Alert Rules

Configure custom alert conditions

Pricing Details

View SMS pricing and plan details