Problem
Some contacts receive SMS notifications several minutes later than other contacts for the same notification. The delay is repeatable, and other contacts on the same carrier receive notifications sooner. This behavior can occur when notifications are sent with the Delivery Order set to Contact Preferred and when intervals are configured between delivery methods or cycles.
Root Cause
When notifications are sent with Delivery Order set to Contact Preferred, the system respects each contact's individual contact-method order. Each contact's record can have an ordered list of delivery methods, such as email and mobile text. If a contact has email listed before mobile text, the system sends the email first and then sends the SMS according to the configured delivery intervals. These intervals can include the Interval between delivery methods and the Interval between cycles. These settings can introduce multi-minute delays between channels and can cause significant delays in emergency communications.
Two critical settings can impact notification speed:
Delivery Method Interval – the time between sending notifications through different channels, such as the time between text, email, and phone.
Delivery Order Setting – including Contact Preferred, which sends notifications based on individual contact profile preferences.
Delivery order in Everbridge can be configured in two primary ways: Contact Preferred and Organization Default. When set to Contact Preferred, individual contacts may have their own delivery sequence for notifications. When set to Organization Default, the system attempts to apply a standard delivery order across all contacts. An individual notification template can override the organization default by using the Contact Preferred delivery order. If a template is set to Contact Preferred, delivery will follow each contact's preference rather than the organization's default sequence.
Solution
To align SMS timing across contacts, review and adjust the delivery order setting, intervals, and contact-method order so that they match the intended behavior for each notification.
When building a notification, you can choose the delivery order preference that determines which delivery order the system uses. The available options are:
Contact Preferred – uses each contact's configured delivery method priority.
Organization Default – uses the organization or notification-level order.
1 time custom – uses a one-time custom order for that specific notification.
The notification uses the selected option to determine the per-contact delivery sequence. In the notification builder, this delivery order preference is found under the notification settings and can be accessed via the More options dropdown on the notification building page. The Contact Preferred delivery order setting allows contacts to have control over how they want their messages delivered and enables users to prioritize and customize their notification methods according to their preferences within the system.
Change the notification Delivery Order to Organization Preferred or set the delivery order directly on the notification template so all recipients receive methods in the same sequence. When set to Organization Default, the system applies a standard delivery order across all contacts. An individual notification template can override the organization default by using the Contact Preferred delivery order, so check the delivery order setting on the notification template used for that message type to avoid unexpected ordering.
Note that changing the organization-level delivery order does not automatically update existing notification templates. Existing notification templates created before changing the setting may need to be manually updated to reflect the new organization-wide preference. Update the templates themselves if you want the updated behavior applied immediately to those notifications.
If you need specific contacts to receive SMS before other methods when using Contact Preferred, update individual contact records so that mobile text is the first contact method. When notifications are sent with Delivery Order set to Contact Preferred and mobile text is listed first for a contact, the system attempts mobile text according to that priority, subject to any configured delivery intervals.
Two related articles provide additional information about delivery order and SMS behavior:
Workaround
If you cannot immediately change all notification templates or organization-level settings, use the following approaches to reduce perceived delays:
Keep the Delivery Order set to Contact Preferred and update individual contact records so that mobile text is their first contact method when faster SMS delivery is required.
Review and adjust the Delivery Method Interval to reduce the time between channels if current intervals are causing multi-minute differences between email and SMS.
Review notification report logs for specific notifications to confirm the send settings and timings, including the delivery order and interval behavior for each contact.
These configuration changes permit organizations to control whether contact preferences or a standard organizational sequence determines delivery order, while also managing the time between delivery methods that can introduce multi-minute delays.