# Message Campaign Overview

A message campaign lets you deliver the same message to many contacts at once over a messaging channel you choose. Teams typically use campaigns for promotions, service notifications, appointment or payment reminders, and general customer outreach. Instead of texting people one at a time, you build a contact list once and the system sends to everyone on it.

## Requirements

Your system must be running firmware **84.20.0.21** or later. Firmware is the software version the Cloud Voice system runs on.

:::note
If you are not sure which firmware version is installed, ask your administrator to confirm it before you build a campaign. On older firmware the message campaign feature will not appear.
:::

## Limits

- You can maintain as many as **1,000** message campaigns in total.
- A single campaign can target up to **1,000** contacts.

:::caution
These are hard ceilings. If your contact list is larger than 1,000 people, split it across more than one campaign, because the system will not accept a single campaign above the limit.
:::

## Available channels

You can send campaigns over two channels, so you can reach people through whichever method suits them best:

- **SMS** (Short Message Service, standard mobile text messaging).
- **WhatsApp**, the WhatsApp messaging app.

For step-by-step setup, see:

- [Create an SMS Campaign](/pbx/contact-center-guide/create-an-sms-campaign/)
- [Create a WhatsApp Campaign](/pbx/contact-center-guide/create-a-whatsapp-campaign/)

:::note
WhatsApp campaigns are built from pre-defined message templates and can carry marketing, utility, or authentication messages. This differs from SMS, where you type the message text directly. See the WhatsApp campaign topic above for the template details.
:::

## Campaign statuses

As a campaign moves from setup through delivery, its status reflects where it currently stands. The table below explains what each value means.

| Status | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| Draft | The campaign has been saved but not scheduled, so no messages go out. |
| Scheduled | The campaign is set to send at the time you specified. |
| Pending | The campaign is queued and waiting because another campaign is still running. |
| Executing | The campaign is actively sending its messages. |
| Completed | Every message in the campaign has been sent. |
| Stop | The campaign halted unexpectedly because of a system condition, such as a restart or a subscription problem. |
| Retrying | The campaign is attempting to send messages again. |

:::tip
While you are still building or reviewing a campaign, leave it in **Draft**. No messages are sent in Draft, so it is a safe place to double-check your contact list and message text before you schedule the send.
:::

:::caution
Only one campaign sends at a time. Additional campaigns sit in **Pending** until the running one finishes, so a large campaign can delay the ones behind it. If a campaign shows **Stop**, some messages may not have been delivered: check the campaign and re-send if needed once the underlying issue (for example a system restart or subscription problem) is resolved.
:::