SMS update: The SMS template has been updated for SMS messages sent to Chinese phone numbers

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Tl;dr Due to a regulation change in China, SMS messages with non-Chinese content and those that do not include a Chinese Character Signature are being blocked from being delivered. To ensure SMS notifications are delivered to Opsgenie and Jira Service Management users with Chinese phone numbers, we have updated the SMS message template. Read on below for the details on this change.

Due to a new regulation, all SMS messages sent to Chinese phone numbers must be in Simplified Chinese or they will be blocked from being delivered. We have created new templates for sending SMS messages to Chinese phone numbers and you can see an example in the screenshot below. The new templates are live as of Nov 14th, 2023. This change is only for SMS messages to Chinese phone numbers; all other SMS notification templates remain unchanged.

The new template includes the SMS signature as the phonetic Equivalent of Atlassian in Simplified Chinese: 亚特拉斯安

Because the new regulations require all content to be in Simplified Chinese or the message may be blocked from being delivered, we have removed fields that can not be accurately translated from English to Simplified Chinese. These fields include customer name, on-call schedule name, alert links, and alert message.

Fields including alert ID, alert count, and alert tiny ID and numerical fields (eg aggregated SMS) wherever applicable will continue to be shown.

We understand that all users, regardless of their location, rely on SMS to receive detailed messages about issues that affect their work and the services and applications they manage. Removing alert details from the SMS notification template makes SMS a less useful notification channel for those users who are impacted. Our product teams are working closely with our SMS delivery partners in China on this issue. If the regulations improve in the future and we can accurately deliver SMS messages with alert detail fields included, we will add these fields back in and notify all users of this update.

Suggested action for users with Chinese phone numbers

Make sure you have set up alternative notification channels for voice, email, and mobile push alert notifications so you can continue to receive all of the context and details of every alert if you have a Chinese phone number.

We are sending an email to Opsgenie and Jira Service Management customers who have subscribers with a Chinese phone number receiving SMS alerts to notify them of this change.

Customers do not need to change any settings as they will continue receiving SMS notifications delivered to them via the new template.

Please leave your questions and comments below regarding this new SMS template, and we will jump in and answer them.