Azure Communication SMS (Java)

Send SMS messages to single or multiple recipients with delivery reporting.

Installation

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.azure</groupId>
    <artifactId>azure-communication-sms</artifactId>
    <version>1.2.0</version>
</dependency>

Client Creation

import com.azure.communication.sms.SmsClient;
import com.azure.communication.sms.SmsClientBuilder;
import com.azure.core.credential.TokenCredential;
import com.azure.identity.AzureIdentityEnvVars;
import com.azure.identity.DefaultAzureCredentialBuilder;
import com.azure.identity.ManagedIdentityCredentialBuilder;

// Local dev: DefaultAzureCredential. Production: set AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod or AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=<specific_credential>
TokenCredential credential = new DefaultAzureCredentialBuilder()
    .requireEnvVars(AzureIdentityEnvVars.AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS)
    .build();
// Or use a specific credential directly in production:
// See https://learn.microsoft.com/java/api/overview/azure/identity-readme?view=azure-java-stable#credential-classes
// TokenCredential credential = new ManagedIdentityCredentialBuilder().build();

// With DefaultAzureCredential (recommended)
SmsClient smsClient = new SmsClientBuilder()
    .endpoint("https://<resource>.communication.azure.com")
    .credential(credential)
    .buildClient();

// With connection string
SmsClient smsClient = new SmsClientBuilder()
    .connectionString("<connection-string>")
    .buildClient();

// With AzureKeyCredential
import com.azure.core.credential.AzureKeyCredential;

SmsClient smsClient = new SmsClientBuilder()
    .endpoint("https://<resource>.communication.azure.com")
    .credential(new AzureKeyCredential("<access-key>"))
    .buildClient();

// Async client
SmsAsyncClient smsAsyncClient = new SmsClientBuilder()
    .connectionString("<connection-string>")
    .buildAsyncClient();

Send SMS to Single Recipient

import com.azure.communication.sms.models.SmsSendResult;

// Simple send
SmsSendResult result = smsClient.send(
    "+14255550100",      // From (your ACS phone number)
    "+14255551234",      // To
    "Your verification code is 123456");

System.out.println("Message ID: " + result.getMessageId());
System.out.println("To: " + result.getTo());
System.out.println("Success: " + result.isSuccessful());

if (!result.isSuccessful()) {
    System.out.println("Error: " + result.getErrorMessage());
    System.out.println("Status: " + result.getHttpStatusCode());
}

Send SMS to Multiple Recipients

import com.azure.communication.sms.models.SmsSendOptions;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

List<String> recipients = Arrays.asList(
    "+14255551111",
    "+14255552222",
    "+14255553333"
);

// With options
SmsSendOptions options = new SmsSendOptions()
    .setDeliveryReportEnabled(true)
    .setTag("marketing-campaign-001");

Iterable<SmsSendResult> results = smsClient.sendWithResponse(
    "+14255550100",      // From
    recipients,          // To list
    "Flash sale! 50% off today only.",
    options,
    Context.NONE
).getValue();

for (SmsSendResult result : results) {
    if (result.isSuccessful()) {
        System.out.println("Sent to " + result.getTo() + ": " + result.getMessageId());
    } else {
        System.out.println("Failed to " + result.getTo() + ": " + result.getErrorMessage());
    }
}

Send Options

SmsSendOptions options = new SmsSendOptions();

// Enable delivery reports (sent via Event Grid)
options.setDeliveryReportEnabled(true);

// Add custom tag for tracking
options.setTag("order-confirmation-12345");

Response Handling

import com.azure.core.http.rest.Response;

Response<Iterable<SmsSendResult>> response = smsClient.sendWithResponse(
    "+14255550100",
    Arrays.asList("+14255551234"),
    "Hello!",
    new SmsSendOptions().setDeliveryReportEnabled(true),
    Context.NONE
);

// Check HTTP response
System.out.println("Status code: " + response.getStatusCode());
System.out.println("Headers: " + response.getHeaders());

// Process results
for (SmsSendResult result : response.getValue()) {
    System.out.println("Message ID: " + result.getMessageId());
    System.out.println("Successful: " + result.isSuccessful());
    
    if (!result.isSuccessful()) {
        System.out.println("HTTP Status: " + result.getHttpStatusCode());
        System.out.println("Error: " + result.getErrorMessage());
    }
}

Async Operations

import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;

SmsAsyncClient asyncClient = new SmsClientBuilder()
    .connectionString("<connection-string>")
    .buildAsyncClient();

// Send single message
asyncClient.send("+14255550100", "+14255551234", "Async message!")
    .subscribe(
        result -> System.out.println("Sent: " + result.getMessageId()),
        error -> System.out.println("Error: " + error.getMessage())
    );

// Send to multiple with options
SmsSendOptions options = new SmsSendOptions()
    .setDeliveryReportEnabled(true);

asyncClient.sendWithResponse(
    "+14255550100",
    Arrays.asList("+14255551111", "+14255552222"),
    "Bulk async message",
    options)
    .subscribe(response -> {
        for (SmsSendResult result : response.getValue()) {
            System.out.println("Result: " + result.getTo() + " - " + result.isSuccessful());
        }
    });

Error Handling

import com.azure.core.exception.HttpResponseException;

try {
    SmsSendResult result = smsClient.send(
        "+14255550100",
        "+14255551234",
        "Test message"
    );
    
    // Individual message errors don't throw exceptions
    if (!result.isSuccessful()) {
        handleMessageError(result);
    }
    
} catch (HttpResponseException e) {
    // Request-level failures (auth, network, etc.)
    System.out.println("Request failed: " + e.getMessage());
    System.out.println("Status: " + e.getResponse().getStatusCode());
} catch (RuntimeException e) {
    System.out.println("Unexpected error: " + e.getMessage());
}

private void handleMessageError(SmsSendResult result) {
    int status = result.getHttpStatusCode();
    String error = result.getErrorMessage();
    
    if (status == 400) {
        System.out.println("Invalid phone number: " + result.getTo());
    } else if (status == 429) {
        System.out.println("Rate limited - retry later");
    } else {
        System.out.println("Error " + status + ": " + error);
    }
}

Delivery Reports

Delivery reports are sent via Azure Event Grid. Configure an Event Grid subscription for your ACS resource.

// Event Grid webhook handler (in your endpoint)
public void handleDeliveryReport(String eventJson) {
    // Parse Event Grid event
    // Event type: Microsoft.Communication.SMSDeliveryReportReceived
    
    // Event data contains:
    // - messageId: correlates to SmsSendResult.getMessageId()
    // - from: sender number
    // - to: recipient number
    // - deliveryStatus: "Delivered", "Failed", etc.
    // - deliveryStatusDetails: detailed status
    // - receivedTimestamp: when status was received
    // - tag: your custom tag from SmsSendOptions
}

SmsSendResult Properties

Property	Type	Description
getMessageId()	String	Unique message identifier
getTo()	String	Recipient phone number
isSuccessful()	boolean	Whether send succeeded
getHttpStatusCode()	int	HTTP status for this recipient
getErrorMessage()	String	Error details if failed
getRepeatabilityResult()	RepeatabilityResult	Idempotency result

Environment Variables

AZURE_COMMUNICATION_ENDPOINT=https://<resource>.communication.azure.com  # Required for all auth methods
AZURE_COMMUNICATION_CONNECTION_STRING=endpoint=https://...;accesskey=...  # Alternative to Entra ID auth
SMS_FROM_NUMBER=+14255550100  # Required for the sender phone number
AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod  # Required only if DefaultAzureCredential is used in production

Best Practices

1. Phone Number Format - Use E.164 format: +[country code][number]
2. Delivery Reports - Enable for critical messages (OTP, alerts)
3. Tagging - Use tags to correlate messages with business context
4. Error Handling - Check isSuccessful() for each recipient individually
5. Rate Limiting - Implement retry with backoff for 429 responses
6. Bulk Sending - Use batch send for multiple recipients (more efficient)

Trigger Phrases

• "send SMS Java", "text message Java"
• "SMS notification", "OTP SMS", "bulk SMS"
• "delivery report SMS", "Azure Communication Services SMS"