Text-message verification, where a one-time code is sent to a phone for MFA, password reset or sign-in; Microsoft advises organisations to move to stronger options. Microsoft itself stops sending these texts and voice calls from 1 February 2027, or 1 July 2027 for Global Administrators and external users, so anyone still needing them must then bring a telephony provider.
Also called Short Message Service.
Read more: Microsoft Learn
In the Ultra Transcenders books
DP-750SC-900AB-900SC-300AZ-400ALZ
Each book explains SMS in context, with comparison tables and the common traps.
Terms in this definition
- WHERE
Limits a SELECT, UPDATE or DELETE to just the rows meeting a condition. Omit it, and the statement hits every row.
- MFA
Multifactor authentication: asking for another factor on top of a password at sign-in, usually required by a Conditional Access grant control.
- Table options
Set only at creation with
OPTIONS, these key-value storage settings can't be altered or dropped afterwards; on Delta tables they also show up among the table properties. - AGDLP
Nesting pattern: users go into global groups, which go into domain local groups, which receive the permissions. AGUDLP adds universal groups for forests with several domains.
- External
API Management virtual network mode in which the gateway stays public but can call private back ends inside the VNet.
- Provider
The organisation that shares data in OpenSharing. Recipients also see a provider as a Unity Catalog securable, from which shares can be mounted as catalogs.
Related terms
- Action group
Azure Monitor's reusable definition of contacts and automated responses for when an alert or budget fires. Contacts can be reached by email, SMS, push or voice; responses include webhooks, Functions, Logic Apps and Automation runbooks. Budgets alone can only send notifications.
- Authentication methods policy
Tenant-level Microsoft Entra policy that switches on each sign-in method, such as FIDO2, Authenticator, certificate-based authentication, TAP or SMS, for chosen users or groups.
- Service Health alerts
When planned maintenance, a health advisory or a service issue hits one of your subscriptions, these activity log alerts fire an action group to contact you by SMS, email, push notification, webhook or Logic Apps.
- SMS and voice call verification
Methods that use a phone, either texting a one-time code or ringing the user. They work as a second MFA factor, and SMS can also be used for sign-in, but neither is passwordless or resistant to phishing.