What is an email-to-SMS gateway and does it still work?
An email-to-SMS gateway is a carrier service that turns an email sent to a special address, like 4165550123@txt.bell.ca, into a text on that phone. Alarm systems relied on these free addresses for years. Bell retired its gateway at the end of 2025, and the big US carriers are closing theirs.
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How a carrier gateway address works
Each carrier ran its own mail domain. You wrote the phone number, an @ sign and that domain, and the carrier sent the email body on as a text.
The sender had to know which carrier each phone used. When someone switched from Rogers to Telus, say, their alarms quietly stopped. Nothing checked who was sending, either, so spam filtering by carriers grew tighter over time.
Gateway addresses you may still find in old settings
Check the contact list in your alarm system. Addresses in this shape mean it depends on a carrier gateway.
4165550123@txt.bell.ca Bell (retired)
4165550123@txt.bellmobility.ca Bell (retired)
6045550142@msg.telus.com Telus
5551234567@vtext.com Verizon (US)
5551234567@txt.att.net AT&T (US)Which carrier gateways have shut down
Bell retired its Text via Email service on December 31, 2025, and called the gateway a smishing channel. Rogers and Fido users reported their gateway stopped around June 2023, while Telus was still reported working in 2025. In the US, AT&T switched off texts sent by email on June 17, 2025, as its support article states (read October 5, 2026). Verizon says the vtext.com phase-out should finish by March 31, 2027, and some senders may lose access sooner, per Verizon support.
Verizon says the vtext.com phase-out should finish by March 31, 2027, per Verizon support. T-Mobile's gateway reportedly stopped delivering reliably around December 2024, as SigSpan reported. The carrier gateway list tracks the rest.
Email-to-SMS gateway vs alert texting service
Welco is not a gateway. It replaces one: your system emails one Welco address, and Welco texts the staff who joined and replied YES.
Texts come from verified toll-free numbers, not a carrier's mail domain. You no longer need to know anyone's carrier, and only senders you approve can trigger a text.
An alert service like Welco sends to mobile numbers in Canada, the US, the UK and the Netherlands. Weigh the two side by side in gateway vs alert service.
What to do if your alarms still use a gateway
Swap each gateway address in the alarm system for your Welco address, then send a test alarm. The carrier email-to-text shutdown overview has the steps by carrier. Related number terms are in the SMS alert glossary.
Frequently asked questions
Is an email-to-SMS gateway the same as an SMS gateway?
How do I know if my alarm system uses a Canadian carrier gateway?
Why did alarms on some phones stop while others kept working?
Do staff need a certain carrier to get Welco alerts?
Swap your old gateway address for one that works
Change one email address in your alarm system and texts flow again.
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