Platform access level: Everyone. Written for anyone waiting on a course message: learners can check most of these themselves, and anyone who delivers courses can check the rest from the schedule.
A delayed course message is rarely lost. Arist processes every message the moment it is due, whether it is a lesson, a reminder, or a system message, so a wait nearly always comes from the schedule, a timezone, the course queue, or the mobile network on the other end. Whether your lessons arrive by SMS, WhatsApp, Email, Microsoft Teams, Slack, or Arist Messenger, work through the sections in order, from the most common cause to the least.
1. The schedule has not reached its send window yet
Most delays are the schedule doing exactly what it was set up to do. Every course delivers on a schedule, and the schedule decides which days lessons send and at what time, so a message that seems late is usually waiting for its window:
Delivery time: A schedule sends at one fixed time, inside a window, or anytime during the day. If the course delivers at noon, a lesson never arrives at 9am, no matter when the learner finished the last one.
Lesson days: Scheduled courses send only on the days selected at setup, so a weekday-only course goes quiet over the weekend and picks back up on Monday.
Enrollment after the send time: A learner enrolled after today's delivery window has passed waits for the next one, so their first lesson can arrive the following delivery day rather than right away.
Response reminder timing: A reminder that comes due on a day the schedule does not deliver on goes out on the next delivery day instead, at the appropriate time for that day, so on a course that delivers Monday to Friday, a reminder due Saturday arrives Monday. On a self-paced course, where the schedule's Cadence is set to Instant, reminders also wait for business hours, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Replying resets the reminder sequence, so a learner who answers a lesson stops its reminders.
How delivery times, lesson days, and cadences are set up is covered end to end in Scheduling and Delivering Courses, and the reminder sequence itself is set under Settings, in Response reminders, covered in Configuring Response Reminders.
Note: If a reminder arrives on a day the course itself does not deliver lessons, open the schedule and check its lesson days, or its lesson dates on a Custom schedule. When that day is not one the schedule delivers on, it is worth reporting with the details in section 6.
2. Timezone settings can shift when lessons arrive
Delivery follows the most specific timezone Arist knows about. A schedule delivers in its own timezone by default, but it can be set to follow a cohort's timezone or each learner's own, and when Arist knows a learner's timezone, that one wins. A lesson that arrives hours off from when you expected it is usually delivering in a different timezone.
If you deliver courses, open the schedule and check its timezone field and the two override checkboxes below it. If you are a learner, your lessons follow the schedule's timezone until Arist knows yours, so a course delivered from another region can arrive earlier or later in your day.
3. A queued course is waiting its turn, not delayed
When the missing message is the very first one, the course may not have started yet. Courses run side by side on SMS, WhatsApp, Email, Microsoft Teams, and Arist Messenger, while on Slack they usually run one at a time. A course can also wait behind another that shares its named sender, or because your organization caps learners at three active courses. Waiting courses show as Up next and start on their own the moment it is their turn, and Taking an Arist Course, Survey, or Nudge explains how the line works and what learners see while they wait.
4. Required responses are holding the next lesson
Some courses wait for each learner on purpose. When a schedule has required responses turned on, the next lesson is not sent until the learner answers the current question, so a course that has gone quiet may be waiting for a reply. Learners can answer the last question they received and the course picks right back up.
A quiet course can also be paused. A learner who replied PAUSE receives nothing more until they reply START or RESUME, so check whether the course is paused before treating the silence as a delay.
Try it: If a course has gone quiet and nothing above explains why, reply PAUSE, then START or RESUME, in the same conversation the lessons arrive in. PAUSE holds your enrollment rather than ending it, and starting again sends the next lesson right away, which tells you quickly whether the course is still working. On Microsoft Teams and Slack, PAUSE and START or RESUME are also the right keywords, because STOP does not pause or cancel a course on either of those two delivery methods, so it will not restart one that has gone quiet. Using System Keywords covers what every keyword does, on every delivery method.
If replying changes nothing, check the learner's status.
Tip: If you deliver courses, check the learner's status in the delivery tracker before assuming a message failed. A learner showing as Paused, Up next, or Opted out is not experiencing a delay, and Understanding Enrollment Statuses explains what each status means.
5. Carrier filtering can slow SMS and WhatsApp messages
Arist hands each text message to its messaging provider within seconds of sending it, but from there a mobile carrier decides when, and whether, it reaches the phone. Three carrier-side causes account for nearly all of the rest:
The phone is off or out of coverage: A message the carrier accepted can still sit undelivered until the device is reachable again, so a learner traveling or out of service sees lessons arrive in a burst later.
The number or country code is wrong: A message sent to a mistyped number never arrives, so confirm the learner's phone number, including the country code, on their learner record.
The carrier's content filter blocked it: Carriers screen messages that look like spam, and phrases in all caps, several links in one message, profanity or suggestive language, and gambling-style wording can all trigger a block.
Important: A content-filter block delays every learner on the course, not just one, so keep SMS lessons free of all-caps phrases and multiple links in a single message.
6. None of these explained the delay
Three details make a support request fast to resolve, so gather them before you write in:
The course and its schedule: Name the course, and the schedule it is delivering on if you know it.
Where the message should have arrived: Include the learner's delivery method and address, meaning the phone number or email the lessons go to.
When you expected it: Say when the message was due and how long it has been, which separates a send-window wait from a real failure.
Send those to your Arist Customer Success contact, or email [email protected] directly.
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Note: Need help at any point? Reach out to your Arist Customer Success contact, or email [email protected].