A Complete Guide on Best Practices for A2P 10DLC Campaigns

What is the A2P10DLC Campaign?

Due to new A2P10DLC (Application-to-Person 10-digit long code) regulation requirements, major US carriers such as ATT, Verizon, and T-Mobile have new requirements for SMS message delivery through their services.  This affects the entire telecommunications industry and all SMS vendors.

All businesses sending text messages, from any 10-Digit Long Code phone number (10DLC) into US networks, will need to register a brand and campaign, to make sure that their text messages will appear on their recipients’ phones. ATT, Verizon, and T-Mobile are blocking any text messages from unregistered numbers.

How to Register Your A2P10DLC Phone Number and Complete the Campaign Registration Form

To register your 10DLC phone number, please complete the online form in your ReminderCall account.

We recommend that you register your brand and campaign information by completing the online form in your ReminderCall account by September 15, 2021, to ensure that your text messages are not blocked. Please call Customer Service at 1-(888)-858-6673, if you need help.

Why is This Happening?

Due to many complaints from the public against spam text messaging, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) agency passed a new regulation in 2018 that required phone carriers to start blocking spam text messages. The A2P10DLC registration system was created to help separate legitimate businesses from spammers and to help phone carriers charge their customers a bit more (after all, who doesn’t like collecting an extra fee?).

Who is Collecting The Information?

The registration information is stored with The Campaign Registry, which is a privately-owned third party. This company collects your data and charges its own fees. It then evaluates your business information and returns a trust score. This trust score informs the phone carriers that you are a legitimate business.

For companies, a “campaign” refers to the content of the text messages you send (for example marketing vs. information). It is important that your company sends text messages that match the selected campaign, or else your company’s trust score might go down. Having a low trust score can affect how fast your text messages are delivered and whether they get blocked.

What Are the Benefits of Registering for the A2P10DLC Campaign?

According to the phone carriers, registered 10DLC phone numbers with high trust scores will get higher throughput and deliverability rates. As of this writing, there is still no way to verify these statements.

How Can I Maintain a High Trust Score?

To maintain a high trust score, be sure to fill out and complete the registration form to ensure that your brand (i.e. business) has been successfully registered. For example, providing your EIN number, website or stock ticker will help you get a higher trust score. Another way to maintain a high trust score is to keep your campaign consistent. For example, if you primarily use your 10DLC number to send out appointment reminders or other informational text messages, then this 10DLC number should not also be used to send out promotional content.

Your company can also maintain a high trust score by following the industry best practices developed by the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA). Here are some of these best practices:

• Companies should receive express consent from recipients, prior to sending them informational messages.
• You need to receive express written consent from customers before marketing messages can be sent.
• Companies should make the process easy for customers to opt-out of messages.
• Do not send messages to recipients that are unrelated to the campaign(s) that they have signed up for.
• Once recipients have opted out, send them a confirmation and do not send them anymore messages moving forward.
• Opt-ins should not be used for other purposes. If recipients have agreed to receive messages from your company, do not provide their numbers to a third party.

A high trust score is important because it affects how fast your SMS text messages are delivered. For example, AT&T will send 12 of your SMS text messages per minute, if you have a “Basic” trust score. However, AT&T will send 3, 600 text messages per minute, if you have a “High” trust score. Customers who do not register or get a very low trust score may experience blocked text messages.

Do I Still Need to Get My Clients to Opt-Into Receiving My Text Messages?

YES. All automated text message campaigns must continue to follow all applicable laws and best practices, which includes the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), the Telemarketing Sales Rule (“TSR”), the U.S. Consumer Best Practices Guidelines for Messaging, and the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (“CTIA”) Best Practices and Guidelines. Please refer to our FAQs and Terms of Service for more information.

Will There be Fees Associated With These Changes?

The answer is YES. ReminderCall does not charge any administrative or registration fees. However, since May 1, 2021 – most carriers have been charging micro fees, ranging from $0.002 to $0.005 cents per text message just to let your text messages appear on your recipients’ phones. Starting in October 2021, The Campaign Registry will be charging a one-time registration fee of $4, plus a monthly subscription fee based on volume (for example, sending up to 2,000 text messages per month will cost a $2 monthly subscription fee). Although these fees will appear as new line items on your invoice, like taxes, they are pass-through fees with no markup from ReminderCall.

How Do I Register a Company That Has More Than One Location?

If your company locations are sending out similar content (i.e. appointment reminders only), you can save on fees by sharing one 10DLC number. It is also recommended that you register for only one brand and one campaign. We can also help you calculate whether or not exchanging a 10DLC number for a dedicated 1-800 number, to be shared by all locations, will reduce additional fees. Please call Customer Service at 1-(888)-858-6673 for help.

What if My Company Is in Canada?

Canadian companies do not need to register with The Campaign Registry. However, the Canadian carriers Telus, Bell, Virgin Mobile have announced that they will be charging micro fees for delivering text messages to end-users. Again, these will appear as new line items on your invoice, but they are pass-through fees with no markup from ReminderCall.

Can I Avoid These Fees?

If you are a rebel and don’t want to pay these extra fees, we don’t blame you. Currently, there are two workarounds.

Getting A 1-800 Number:

A toll-free number costs $2.50 per month plus $.005 per text message. If you are a low-volume user (sending less than 2,000 text messages per month), this may cost less than the campaign registration fees–plus you get a cool vanity number for your business. Please note that although there is no campaign registration requirement for toll-free numbers at this time, there is no guarantee that there won’t be one in the future.

Sending Reminder Calls Instead:

With ReminderCall, you can avoid SMS carrier fees (and blocked SMS) altogether by sending automated voice calls to your customers, instead of using text messages. Please call Customer Service at 1-(888)-858-6673, if you would like help with making this switch.

Updated 08/26/2021