An SMS or phone-call channel sends your monitors' alerts to a mobile or phone number. You add the number yourself, and nothing is sent to it until you confirm it with a code.
What you receive
- SMS alerts are short texts about the monitors the channel covers: a site going down or partly down, coming back, and the reminders while it stays down. Each text has the monitor's name, its status, the domain and the time in UTC, and no link. When AI explanations are on for the account, a down alert may end with a one-sentence reading of the incident, marked «AI:».
- Phone-call alerts ring for outages only: down, partly down, and their reminders. The call reads the alert out twice in English, and you can press 1 to acknowledge the outage, which stops the reminders. Recoveries do not call. Calls come from +44 7897 022430, a number that cannot take calls back; save it in your contacts if your phone silences unknown callers.
- Where. SMS and calls go to numbers in the EU and the UK. The form shows which countries each one reaches and what it costs there.
- We send no marketing, offers or newsletters to these numbers. They get alerts and the confirmation code only.
Adding and confirming a number
- Go to Alerts → Channels → Add channel and pick SMS or Phone call.
- Pick the country, then enter the number as you dial it at home. Add only a number that is yours or that you may add for your team.
- Read the line under the form: by adding the number you ask PingWise to send automated SMS and phone-call alerts to it, the frequency depends on your monitors, and message and data rates may apply. It links to the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy.
- We send a 6-digit code: by SMS for an SMS channel, or read out in a call for a phone-call channel. Enter it on the channel's page within 15 minutes. You can ask for a new code there.
- Alerts start once the code is confirmed.
An account can have at most 2 numbers. We keep a record of the request: who added the number, when, from which IP address, the wording of the line they saw, and when the code was entered.
How often
How often you hear from us depends on your monitors: how many the channel covers, how often they go down, and your reminder settings. An account receives at most 50 SMS and calls in 24 hours; after that, alerts still go to its other channels. Message and data rates may apply.
Replies and help
Replies to our texts are not read. To stop them, remove the number as described below. For help, write to [email protected] or see Support.
Removing a number
Open the channel under Alerts → Channels and remove it. Nothing more is sent to that number, from that moment.
What it costs
SMS and calls are paid from SMS units, which are bought separately from credits. An SMS costs 1 to 3 units, and a call 3 to 13 units a started minute, depending on the country. The confirmation code costs 1 unit by SMS; the confirmation call costs the same as any call to that number; unanswered, busy or failed calls cost nothing. The price for each country shows when you add the number. See the SMS and calls section of the pricing page.
Terms and privacy
The Terms of Service cover SMS and calls in §5.6. The Privacy Policy explains what we keep about a number and who delivers the messages.
Last change: 7 November 2026.