How to Send SMS Programmatically with PHP in 2026

Why Send SMS Programmatically?

Automating SMS sending through code (programmatically) allows your application to trigger SMS notifications automatically — order confirmations, appointment reminders, verification codes, marketing campaigns, and more — without manual intervention.

Prerequisites

• PHP 7.4 or higher with cURL extension enabled
• API credentials from Digital Services Center
• A basic understanding of PHP and HTTP requests

Basic PHP Function

<?php
function sendBulkSMS($api_key, $username, $password, $recipients, $message, $dlrurl = '') {
    $url = 'https://bulksms.schooldream.co.rw/api/v2/sms/send';
    $data = [
        'api_key'    => $api_key,
        'username'   => $username,
        'password'   => $password,
        'recipients' => is_array($recipients) ? implode(',', $recipients) : $recipients,
        'message'    => $message,
    ];
    if ($dlrurl) $data['dlrurl'] = $dlrurl;

    $ch = curl_init($url);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, http_build_query($data));
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 30);

    $response = curl_exec($ch);
    $httpCode = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
    $error = curl_error($ch);
    curl_close($ch);

    if ($error) {
        return ['status' => 'error', 'message' => $error];
    }

    return json_decode($response, true);
}

// Example usage:
$result = sendBulkSMS(
    'your_api_key',
    'your_username',
    'your_password',
    ['250782589800', '250782589801'],
    'Your order #1234 has been shipped!',
    'https://yourdomain.com/dlr-handler'
);

if ($result['status'] === 'success') {
    echo "Sent " . $result['totalmessages'] . " messages!";
} else {
    echo "Error: " . $result['message'];
}
?>

Error Handling

Always check the response status and handle errors appropriately. Common error codes include invalid credentials (401), daily limit reached (429), and invalid phone numbers (400).

Best Practices

• Store API credentials in environment variables, not in source code
• Implement retry logic for transient failures
• Log all API requests and responses for debugging
• Use the dlrurl parameter to track delivery status asynchronously
• Test thoroughly with free testing mode (15 SMS/day) before going live

Full API Documentation → · Interactive Playground →