BulkGate distinguishes two sending routes and applies them the same way across every channel — SMS, Viber, RCS, WhatsApp and Voice. The difference is not in the technology but in what the message is about. And you do not pick the route with a switch — it follows from where you send the message.

## Transactional message

An informational message that follows an action of the recipient or an event that directly concerns them: an order confirmation, a change of its status, a verification code, a notice that a subscription is about to expire.

**Example:** Dear customer, the status of your order has changed to “Payment accepted”. Have a nice day! YourGuitars

Everything you send the following way goes through the transactional route:

- with the **Send message** button in the portal (SMS, Viber, RCS, WhatsApp, Voice),
- from an e-shop plugin as a [Customer SMS](https://www.bulkgate.com/en/helpdesk/integrations/sms-modules/customer-sms/) or an [Admin SMS](https://www.bulkgate.com/en/helpdesk/integrations/sms-modules/admin-sms/) (plugins support SMS and Viber),
- through the [OTP API](https://www.bulkgate.com/en/docs/otp-api/one-time-password-send/) as a one-time code,
- through the transactional API endpoints.

> [!CAUTION]
> It is **strictly prohibited** to exploit the transactional route for marketing. It may only be used to inform the recipient about something they asked for or that directly concerns them.

## Promotional message

A bulk message that advertises products, services or events. It carries sales and marketing information and goes out to a list of recipients who have expressed interest in it.

**Example:** YourGuitars: Hi Mark, get a 30% discount on all our electric guitars. Valid until 08/01. See here: https://example.com/sale

The promotional route covers:

- a [campaign](https://www.bulkgate.com/en/helpdesk/campaign/campaigns/) created in the portal (SMS, Viber, RCS, WhatsApp),
- sending through the promotional API endpoints.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> You may only send a promotional message to a recipient who has given you **consent to receive commercial communications**. Once they withdraw that consent, they must not get any more promotional messages — add them to the [opt-out](https://www.bulkgate.com/en/helpdesk/tools/blacklist-and-opt-out/).

> [!NOTE]
> Voice is the only channel you will not find in a campaign — voice messages go through the transactional route only.

## How the two routes differ

| | Transactional | Promotional |
|:--|:--|:--|
| Where you create it | Send message, e-shop plugins, API | Campaign, API |
| Available channels | SMS, Viber, RCS, WhatsApp, Voice | SMS, Viber, RCS, WhatsApp |
| Blacklist | stops the message | stops the message |
| Opt-out | does not stop the message | stops the message |
| [Duplicate protection](https://www.bulkgate.com/en/helpdesk/tools/duplicate-message-protection/) | watches for the same message repeated to the same number | watches for duplicate recipients in the list |
| Results overview | [message history](https://www.bulkgate.com/en/helpdesk/reporting/history/) | the campaign's own overview |

What both routes have in common: the message must have a non-empty text and a verified sender, otherwise it is not sent.

How the two lists differ in reach, where to find them in the portal and how a number gets onto them is described in [Blacklist and opt-out](https://www.bulkgate.com/en/helpdesk/tools/blacklist-and-opt-out/).

## Viber billing

Viber is the only channel where the split between transactional and promotional content shows up directly in the $[price list](en:gb:viber). There are five items and they differ in price:

| Price list item | When it applies |
|:--|:--|
| Transactional | A message sent through a registered Viber template |
| Promotional | A message from a campaign and any plain text without a template |
| OTP template | A one-time verification code |
| Session | A 24-hour conversation started by the recipient; billed as a whole rather than per message |
| International | The recipient is in a country other than the sender's domestic country |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Plain text without a template is billed on Viber at the **promotional rate**, even when its content is a notification. This applies to *Send message*, to a campaign and to the transactional API endpoints alike. You only get the cheaper transactional rate when you send the message through a registered Viber template.

Which content each type may carry and how templates are registered is described on the [Viber Business message types](https://www.bulkgate.com/en/helpdesk/viber/viber-message-types/) page.