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Delayed Text Messages: Common Causes and Its Solutions

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Text messages are the fastest and most important means of communication. According to Reach Interactive, sending and receiving a text is ten times faster than placing a voice call. It also takes an average of five seconds to read a text, but sometimes SMS gets delayed by hours or even days.


Many individuals experience delays while sending or receiving SMS messages. Several factors lead to text message delays, from weak signals to device performance. In many of these cases, we can solve these problems.


What Does a Delayed Text Message Mean?

A message that takes way longer to send than the usual one is known as a delayed text message. The text usually reaches the recipient’s inbox instantly, but sometimes, there is an issue due to which text messages get delayed. Delayed text messages can occur when texting both officially and personally in SMS and MMS messages.

Why Are My Text Messages Being Delayed?

A text message can be delayed because of network congestion, weak signal, and device error. Below are listed a few reasons for delayed text messages.

1. Network Congestion

Network congestion is one of the great causes of delayed text messages. When many users the same network simultaneously, the system becomes overloaded. During peak usage times, such as national emergencies and holidays, SMS delays occur. This happens because too many users send text at the same time.

2. Technical/Server Issues

During communication, technical issues can occur at any moment, which impacts message routing, processing, and delivering of text, leading to delayed SMS messages. It can result from software bugs and interconnection issues with the server.

3. Network Failure

Messages are delivered from one device to another through different mobile carriers, but once in a while, the carrier system contributes to the delay. Different carriers have diverse functions and ways of processing text message traffic accordingly, and when there is a failure in the network, your messages could be delayed. Some network providers do have limitations on the number of messages you send per day to manage the risk of network failure.
 

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4. Weak Signal

Text messages can be delayed in areas with weak network signals, such as solid walls and remote areas. Your phones cannot catch the network in such places. Thus, the text is delivered late or fails to be sent. In some cases, environmental factors and network congestion lead to network fluctuation. In such conditions, the phone attempts to resend the SMS afterward when the signal is stable and strong.

5. Device Performance

In some cases, your device could be the reason for delayed text messages. Your mobile phone could have several problems, such as a mobile phone switch-off, out of service, airplane mode, a full SMS inbox, text messaging blocking, standard SMS messaging turned off, and more.

There are several messaging apps and settings that interrupt the usual functioning of SMS on your device. Sometimes, using a third-party app may also cause the issue of text message delay in your phone.

6. Carrier Issues

Mobile carriers perform the actual task of sending and receiving messages, but sometimes, the carrier itself has issues with internal infrastructure.

Different carriers handle text message traffic in various ways, and malfunction in their system can cause text message delays. Due to maintenance, upgrades, or sudden obstacles, there could be complications in messaging systems. Some carriers do limit the number of messages that can be sent or processed in a particular time period internationally or during mass messaging.

How to Solve the Delayed Text Message Issue?

1. Resend the message

The easiest way to fix delayed text problems is to resend the message. If there is a temporary bug, network issue, or other minor issue, it can block delivery. Selecting the original message in your chat history and resending it can solve this. Delivery failure can also be caused if the user switches their device or carrier.

2. Using other means of communication

If your text message is delayed, then using other means of communication like Email or other applications can help you reach the recipient quicker. This helps you deliver your message successfully. You can check if your text is delivered or not by direct calls or social media. This lets you know whether the problem is within the network provider or your device.

3. Contacting Support Team

If you realize the messages are not being delivered, there could be a problem with the carrier, so reaching out to the support team is very essential. The customer support team can assist you in the overall problem-solving process and ensure you do not get problems further. They do provide export advice and solutions.

Sometimes, the technical support team may provide valuable information about potential network or server issues, ensuring your communication issues are resolved appropriately.

4. Scheduling Message

Scheduling messages can overcome the chances of delayed text messages by allowing you to send the text at any time. Many message-scheduling platforms let users plan messages for later, helping them reduce issues like network delays or poor timing.

It is mostly useful for communicating overseas in different time zones, ensuring your messages are delivered to the recipient without any delays.

Conclusion

In personal as well as official work, a text message is a common and simplest means of communication until delays occur. Delays are caused due to network issues, technical glitches, or weak signals, and its really annoying.

It is really important to understand the causes of delayed text messages on your device and take further steps to solve them. Ensuring a stable network connection and optimizing your phone settings are crucial for delay-free text messaging.

With Calilio, you can eliminate the typical challenges of traditional SMS. Our phone system allows you to call, and send and receive SMS over the Internet. You only need a reliable internet connection—no network disruptions or carrier limitations to worry about. You can either purchase a new phone number or port your existing number for your communication needs on Calilio. Sign up today!!!

Frequently Added Question

Can You Delay Text Messages on Purpose?

We can delay text messages on purpose. On several devices, there is a built-in feature for scheduling messages in different ways, or else you can use different third-party apps like SMS Scheduler, Textra, or Scheduled.

Why are text messages delayed on iPhones?

Text message delays can be caused by heavy traffic on the carrier network during several events like Christmas, where many messages are sent.

Is there a delay while texting internationally?

When text messages are sent across international networks, delays might occur in global commercial and technical collaboration.


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