Alchemy’s policy is to directly connect with mobile operators so that we may offer, as far as possible, a first tier A2P service to our clients. Mobile operators charge for their messages which provides them with revenue to invest in infrastructure and communication technologies.

By directly connecting with operators and reputable aggregators our traffic uses white routes, not grey routes. Grey routes can originate outside authorised networks and also use P2P channels, thus exploiting the lower cost per SMS. This traffic cheats operators out of termination fees, puts strain on networks and is not reliable.

The costs for legal white routing are higher than grey routes. However, SMS sent via grey routes are less secure, which exposes corporate data to potential breaches. With banks and financial institutions being primary users of A2P messaging, this must be a major concern, as is fraud. For companies who regularly send password recovery messages, 2FA notices and reminders the need for legal, real-time, automated messaging is greater than ever. These messages are also unreliable as they often take the route of multiple hops which means messages are delayed or sometimes never delivered at all. They are in fact an expensive way for businesses to save money and create problems with timely customer services.

Below is a description of several types of route:

Economy Routing

Low cost route and lacking in the special features (Sender ID, delivery status reports, local time stamps, unicode messaging, etc) that users require for effective business communication.

The speed of delivery is low priority, and are often sent through SIM farms and indirect routes.

Standard Routing

Often this is the standard default routing option for aggregators, features do include Sender ID, delivery status reports, unicode messaging but local time stamps are not always available.

Premium Routing

Unless we specify this is the type of route that Alchemy uses because it offers all the features mentioned above together with superior delivery and reliability.

Please note: Some routing options may have different specifications depending on which country the messages are being sent to, for example limited routing options.