3CX SMS: send and receive business texts in 3CX with everymessage

How the integration works

3CX sends each outgoing text to everymessage as a simple request with your API key. We send it to the mobile networks and track delivery. When the message is delivered, or a customer replies to your number, we post it straight back to your 3CX system, which shows it in the right conversation.

What you need

• A 3CX system that supports SMS through a generic provider
• An everymessage account with an API key
• An SMS-enabled number from everymessage for customers to text and reply to, set up in 3CX
• Your 3CX webhook URL, which 3CX shows when you add the SMS provider

Setting it up

1. Get your API key. We provide your everymessage API username and password. Your API key is username:password, Base64-encoded.
2. Add the SMS provider in 3CX. In your 3CX SMS settings, choose the generic provider, enter the everymessage messages URL below, and paste in your API key.
3. Add your number. Set up your everymessage SMS number in 3CX and choose which users or queues handle its texts.
4. Send us your webhook URL. Copy the webhook URL 3CX shows for the provider and send it to us. We set it against your number in the 3CX / Yeastar (PBX) format, for both replies and delivery reports.
5. Test. Send a text from 3CX, check it arrives and shows as delivered, then reply from the mobile and check the reply appears in 3CX.

Picture messages (MMS)

When someone sends a picture, video or document from 3CX, everymessage delivers it as an ordinary SMS with a personal, secure link. The link opens a page showing the message and the media, so it works on every phone and network. MMS itself is still patchy on many UK phones and networks.

• Up to 10 files per message, each up to 5 MB: images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, HEIC), video (MP4, MOV, 3GP, WebM), audio (MP3, M4A, AAC, AMR, OGG, WAV), PDF and contact cards (vCard).
• Private by default. Files are copied to UK storage and only shown through the recipient’s own link, which can’t be guessed. Links stay live for 30 days.
• Text is optional. If a message has no text, we add a short line such as “You’ve been sent a picture. View it here:”.
• Delivery reports work as normal, because the message itself is an SMS.
• Simple pricing. A picture message is charged as an SMS plus a media hosting fee.

If any file can’t be fetched or isn’t a supported type, nothing is sent and 3CX gets error 10003 with the reason.

Sending from your company name

3CX always sends from the number set on the extension. If you’d rather customers see your company name, you can set a sender name of up to 11 characters on that number, for example BrightDent, in the everymessage portal (Numbers → edit the number → PBX sender name), or ask us and we’ll set it for you. Texts sent from that number then go out from the name instead, and 3CX keeps the conversation under your number.

• One-way only. Customers can’t reply to a name, so use it for numbers that send notifications, not conversations.
• UK sender ID rules apply. Letters, numbers and spaces, at least one letter, and no restricted generic names such as Verify or OTP. See UK SMS sender ID rules.
• Per number. Your other numbers keep sending from the number, so two-way conversations carry on as normal.

API reference

You don’t need this to use 3CX, but it shows exactly what 3CX and everymessage exchange, which helps if you’re testing or troubleshooting. The full reference, with code examples, is in our developer docs: Phone systems (PBX) API.

Send a message

3CX posts each text as JSON, with your API key as a Bearer token. from, to and text are all required, and numbers are in E.164 format.

curl -X POST "https://api.everymessage.com/v1/pbx/messages" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"from": "+447700900456", "to": "+447700900123", "text": "Your engineer is on the way."}'

Errors return a JSON errors list with a code, title and detail; the codes are listed under common problems below. A successful request returns HTTP 200 with the message details. The id is the everymessage message id, which 3CX uses to match the delivery report:

{
  "data": {
    "record_type": "message",
    "direction": "outbound",
    "id": "123456",
    "type": "SMS",
    "from": { "phone_number": "+447700900456" },
    "to": [ { "phone_number": "+447700900123", "status": "queued" } ],
    "text": "Your engineer is on the way.",
    "encoding": "GSM-7",
    "parts": 1
  }
}

Send a picture message

Add media_urls with up to 10 public file URLs. text is optional when media is included. The response is the same as for a text message.

{"from": "+447700900456", "to": "+447700900123", "text": "Here's the quote you asked for.",
 "media_urls": ["https://files.example.com/quote-1042.pdf"]}

Replies

Customer replies are posted to your 3CX webhook as a message.received event:

{
  "data": {
    "event_type": "message.received",
    "record_type": "event",
    "payload": {
      "id": "123789",
      "direction": "inbound",
      "type": "SMS",
      "from": { "phone_number": "+447700900123" },
      "to": [ { "phone_number": "+447700900456" } ],
      "text": "Thanks, see you soon",
      "received_at": "2026-10-13T09:15:04.511Z"
    }
  }
}

Delivery reports

When a message is delivered or fails, a message.finalized event is posted to the same webhook. payload.id is the id returned when the message was sent, and to[].status is delivered or delivery_failed.

Common problems and fixes

Why use everymessage for 3CX SMS

Using Yeastar? The same everymessage PBX API works with it too: see Yeastar SMS. Using a different phone or contact centre platform? See NetSapiens SMS, Amazon Connect and every other way to connect on our Business SMS page.

Frequently asked questions