The world of business texting is getting ready to change. The “A2P 10DLC” standard was developed in the United States along with the major U.S. carriers to allow businesses to send Application-to-Person (A2P) type messaging via standard 10-digit long code (10DLC) phone numbers. All text messaging from VanillaSoft will be considered A2P.
A2P 10DLC will launch on both AT&T and T-Mobile networks starting in June 2021. To protect consumers and create a trusted ecosystem with high customer engagement, AT&T and T-Mobile require companies to register:
- Who they are.
- What they are sending via SMS.
If you send text messages, it is essential that you register your company for business texting by completing the Registration Form and emailing it to support@vanillasoft.com by May 28th, 2021. We will then register your SMS numbers.
FAQs
Do I need to register?
If you send SMS messages to users in the United States, you need to register.
What happens if I don't register?
If you send SMS messages within the United States but do not register, you will be liable for higher fees per message and risk a dramatic drop in your SMS message deliverability.
What are the benefits?
Delivery rates of business texts have been a problem for some time, as carriers have put filters in place to try and reduce spam. The concept behind A2P 10DLC is to help carriers distinguish proper business texting from spam so that businesses can reliably send messages. This should result in a greater SMS deliverability rate.
What is the Cost?
A2P 10DLC is still very new and evolving, so the additional costs are not yet finalized. Whatever fees are determined, VanillaSoft will pass them through to our customers without any markup.
At present, there is a $10/month campaign fee. We anticipate a slight increase in the SMS license cost as carriers raise their per-SMS charges for A2P 10DLC traffic. As noted above, this should lead to business texting getting better delivery rates than under the current system.
Best Practices
- Ensure that at least the first message in a campaign (and in your registration samples) contains an unsubscribe notification. Providing an opt-out will help demonstrate your commitment to compliance and ethical business practices.
- Avoid words used in prohibited campaigns. These are more likely to be flagged and get your messages blocked. Below is a list of terms (and disallowed campaign content) we suggest you avoid in your text messages as they are prohibited in the telco's codes of conduct and the CTIA Short Code Monitoring Handbook 1.7 or later.
- Loan / payday
- Credit / credit repair
- Debt / debt relief / debt consolidation / credit repair
- “Work from home,” “secret shopper” and investments
- Gambling
What are the next steps?
Please return the completed registration form to us before September 27, 2021, to provide us with enough time to complete your registration before T-Mobile’s October 1st deadline. Once we have all of the necessary information, we will take care of the rest.
Download the Registration Form
Please click the following link to Download the Registration Form. Once complete, please email the completed form to support@vanillasoft.com. If you experience any issues in downloading or filling out the registration form, Contact Technical Support right away and one of our Support representatives will be able to assist you.