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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 5551234567@vtext.com, into a text on that phone. Alarm systems relied on these free addresses for years. The big US carriers have now shut theirs down or are phasing them out.

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Email-to-SMS gateway: an alert email is sent to 5551234567@vtext.com, and the gateway delivers it to the phone as a text message.
Illustration of Email-to-SMS gateway.

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 carriers, 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.

Common carrier gateway addresses
5551234567@vtext.com      Verizon
5551234567@txt.att.net    AT&T
5551234567@tmomail.net    T-Mobile

Which carrier gateways have shut down

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.

T-Mobile's gateway reportedly stopped delivering reliably around December 2024, with no formal notice, 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 the US, Canada, 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?

Not quite. A carrier email-to-SMS gateway was a free address on one network. An SMS gateway is usually a paid service or a modem that a business sends texts through.

How do I know if my alarm system uses a carrier gateway?

Look at its notification contacts. Any address made of a phone number, an @ sign and a carrier domain is a gateway address. Each one is a phone that may already be missing alarms.

Why did alarms on some phones stop while others kept working?

Each carrier closed its gateway on its own timeline. Phones on AT&T stopped first, while some Verizon phones may still get texts for now. Mixed results usually point to a gateway problem.

Do staff need a certain carrier to get Welco alerts?

No. Welco texts any mobile number in the US, Canada, the UK and the Netherlands, whatever the network. Each person joins with their own phone and confirms with YES.

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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