Overview

When you send an SMS, the sender ID is what shows up on the recipient's phone — either a virtual mobile number or your brand name. It's a small detail that does a lot of work: it tells the recipient who's getting in touch and shapes whether they trust the message enough to open it.

In CX Platform, sender IDs are managed centrally through our SMS gateway provider, Esendex. That means you don't need to set up numbers or alphanumeric IDs yourself — provisioning, compliance, and carrier registration are handled for you. What you can do is see which sender IDs are available to your business and apply them to your campaigns.

This guide walks you through how sender IDs work, where to find yours, and when you'll need to get in touch for changes.

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You'll need System Administrator access
‍Configuring (adding or removing) mobile numbers and sender IDs is restricted to users with the System Administrator role. If you don't have access and need a change made, reach out to your System Administrator or contact CX Platform support.

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How sender IDs work

CX Platform uses Esendex as its SMS gateway. All sender IDs — whether they're virtual mobile numbers or alphanumeric IDs — are provisioned through Esendex and centrally managed on your behalf. That keeps everything compliant with carrier rules and country-specific regulations, so you don't have to worry about the fine print.

You've got two main options for how your SMS appears to recipients:

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How sender IDs are set up

All sender IDs are configured during onboarding based on your business needs and the regulatory requirements of the countries you're sending to. Once they're in place, they're ready to use across your Applications.

If you need to change an existing sender ID, add a new one, or set up a different identity for a specific campaign, you'll need to get in touch with CX Platform support. The team will provision it through Esendex, handle any carrier registration that's required, and update your platform configuration. This isn't something you can do directly in the admin interface — and that's deliberate, since carrier compliance and number provisioning need to be managed carefully to avoid delivery issues.
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Australia — SMS Sender ID Register from 1 July 2026
‍The way businesses and organisations send branded text messages in Australia is changing. From 1 July 2026, new rules mean texts sent with an organisation's name at the top of the message (known as a branded sender ID) will need to have the sender ID registered. If you're using an alphanumeric sender ID like ACMECORP, this applies to you. Find out about the changes and how they affect your sends on the ACMA SMS Sender ID Register page.

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View your available sender IDs

You can see which sender IDs are configured for your account inside any Application:

1. In the secondary navigation menu, click Applications to view a list of all available Applications.
2. Open the Application you want to check.
3. Click the Gateway settings tab.
4. Scroll to the SMS section to see the sender IDs available for this Application.

From here, you can view the sender IDs in use and pick which one applies to messages sent from this Application. You won't be able to add or edit the IDs themselves — those changes come through CX Platform support.

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Need a sender ID changed or added?
Contact CX Platform support with the details — what you need, which Application it's for, and any campaign context. The team will handle the Esendex provisioning and let you know once it's live in your platform.

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Best practices

A few things worth keeping in mind as you plan your SMS communications:

• ‍Use recognisable sender IDs. Whether it's your brand name or a consistent mobile number, recipients are far more likely to trust and open a message from a sender they recognise. It also reduces spam complaints and lowers the chance of being filtered by carriers.
• ‍Plan for replies where they matter. If you want recipients to be able to reply — for confirmations, opt-outs, or two-way conversations — you'll need a reply-capable virtual mobile number. Chandler will provision this through Esendex when you let us know it's needed.
• ‍Get in touch early for new campaigns. If a new project needs its own sender identity, reach out ahead of go-live. Provisioning and carrier registration can take a bit of time depending on the country, so giving us some lead time keeps things smooth.

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What's next

Now that you know how sender IDs work, you might want to take a look at Gateway settings in more detail to see how your SMS configuration sits alongside email, or explore how channel selection rules decide when SMS gets used versus other channels. Each of these has its own guide.

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