Going live
In Arifa, going live means one thing: the profile's Live box is on, with the username and API key of a live Africa's Talking app. Messages then go to real phones, and every SMS is billed to the account.
Before you start, finish the quick start in the sandbox, and set up the live app as described in Africa's Talking setup.
1. Top up the account
Live SMS are paid for from the app's balance. Top it up from the app's dashboard, by M-Pesa or card. For prices, see Africa's Talking's pricing page (link checked on 16 October 2026).
2. Turn Live on and send one test
Edit the profile and set:
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Live | On |
| Username | The live app's username |
| API key | The live app's key. On 8.1, tick Change Password? first if a key is already saved, then type the key in both Password boxes. On 8.3, use Embedded |
| Sender ID | Blank for this first test |
| Allow Acknowledgement by SMS Reply | Off for this first test |
Save. The gateway log shows Arifa SMS profile '...' started (Africa's Talking live, and the status reads Running.
With Test Mode set to No on the pipeline's Notification block, trigger an alarm that goes only to your own phone. If it arrives, the account, the key and the balance are right. It comes from Africa's Talking's default sender.
3. Switch to your own sender
When Africa's Talking has set up your sender ID or shortcode, enter it as the profile's Sender ID. With a shortcode, turn Allow Acknowledgement by SMS Reply on and set the Reply Keyword. See Acknowledge by reply.
4. Test every on-call phone
Send a test alarm to every person on the roster, not only to yourself, before anyone relies on Arifa. This is how you find the opt-outs described below.
The cost line
Every live send writes its cost to the gateway log:
SMS accepted for 1 recipient (cost KES ...)
The amount is what Africa's Talking billed for that message, in the currency it billed in. A send that needed a second attempt says so in the same line, as in (after retry; first attempt failed: ...; cost KES ...). Troubleshooting shows a real example.
Watch the balance in the first weeks. The optional confirmation SMS costs one more SMS per reply.
The currency warning
If Africa's Talking bills a message in a currency other than the profile's Expected Cost Currency (KES by default), Arifa writes a line starting UNEXPECTED COST. On Airtel Kenya, that can mean the message was billed as international traffic, which costs many times more.
Look at the cost of the first SMS to each network, Airtel in particular. If you see the warning, check the Africa's Talking SMS log, and ask Africa's Talking before you send more.
Opt-outs: UserInBlacklist
Africa's Talking returns the status UserInBlacklist when the person has opted out of messages from that sender, or has blocked all promotional messages on their line. An on-call technician who once blocked promotional SMS may get no alarms.
Arifa treats this as a permanent failure for that number: it does not retry, it logs the status, the profile status shows Last send failed, and Arifa reports the notification to Ignition as failed. The technician still gets no SMS.
On Safaricom, a line's promotional messages can be turned back on from the menu at *456*9#, under marketing messages. Safaricom can change its menu, so treat that as a starting point. Do it, and test, for every on-call person before going live.
SMS is best effort
Arifa reports that Africa's Talking accepted a message, not that it reached the phone. For the first week, compare the Arifa lines in the gateway log with the SMS log in the Africa's Talking dashboard, which shows what was delivered.
Done when: with Live on, a test alarm has reached every on-call phone from your own sender, and each cost line shows the currency you expect.