Sending SMS Notifications with Azure Communication Services in Python

Introducing Azure Communication Services

In our previous article, we discussed how to extract text from images using Azure OCR and cross-check it with an Excel database. Now, we will take it a step further by utilizing Azure Communication Services to send SMS messages. This integration allows us to seamlessly communicate with individuals based on the data obtained from the cross-checking process.

To better understand this use case, we recommend reviewing the previous article if you haven’t already. Additionally, we have uploaded the complete source code of this use case for your reference.

Step 1. Installing the Azure Communication SMS Package

pip install azure-communication-sms

Step 2. Importing the necessary libraries

from azure.communication.sms import SmsClient
from azure.core.credentials import AzureKeyCredential

Step 3. Retrieving the phone number from the Excel file

phone_number = matching_rows.iloc[0]['Phone Number']
    print("Phone Number:", phone_number)

Step 4. Authenticating to the Azure Communication service

key = 'YOUR-KEY'
endpoint="YOUR-END-POINT"

Replace 'your-key' and 'your-end-point' with your actual endpoint URL and subscription key obtained from Azure Communication Service.

Step 5. Initializing the SMS client

credential = AzureKeyCredential(key)
sms_client = SmsClient(endpoint, credential)

• Create an AzureKeyCredential object using the provided key value. This credential will be used to authenticate the SMS client.
• Initialize the SmsClient using the endpoint and credential parameters.
• This step sets up the SMS client, enabling you to send SMS messages using the Azure Communication Services API.

Step 6. Composing and sending the message

message = "Hello! This is a test message."
sms_response = sms_client.send(
from_="YOUR_PHONE_NUMBER",
to=[phone_number],
message=message

• Assign a string value to the message variable, representing the content of the message you want to send (e.g., “Hello! This is a test message.”).
• Call the send method of the sms_client to send the message.
• The send method takes the following parameters:
• from_: Specifies the sender’s phone number. Replace “YOUR_PHONE_NUMBER” with the actual phone number from which you want to send the message.
• to: Specifies the recipient’s phone number. It should be provided as a list and, in this case, contains the phone_number variable extracted from the Excel file.
• message: Specifies the content of the message, stored in the message variable.
• The response received from the API after sending the message is stored in the sms_response variable.
• This step composes and sends the message using the Azure Communication Services API.

To get a number to send from Azure Communication Services,

Click on the Phone Number option in the left pane of Azure Communication Services.

Note: To access this feature, you need to have a pay-as-you-go subscription.

Step 7. Checking if the message was sent successfully

if sms_response.successful:
        print("Message sent successfully!")
    else:
        print("Message sending failed.")

• The code uses an if statement to check the successful property of the sms_response object.
• If the successful property is True, it means the message was sent successfully.
• In that case, it prints the message “Message sent successfully!”
• If the successful property is False, it means the message sending failed.
• In that case, it prints the message “Message sending failed.”
• This step provides feedback on the status of the message sending process, indicating whether it was successful or not.

By following these steps, you can easily retrieve the phone number from an Excel sheet and initiate SMS notifications using Azure Communication Services.