Why You Need to Know About 10DLC

Mobile network operators (MNOs) have created a registration process for 10DLC numbers.

10DLC stands for 10-digit long code, or standard phone numbers, like 555-218-0111. 10DLC involves traditional landline and VOIP numbers used for voice communications. More and more businesses are using these numbers for texting instead of just calling, and carriers want to make sure the messages you're sending are high quality (not spam).

Your business may already be using 10DLC to text your customers (unless you use a short code or toll-free number instead):

• Businesses and organizations are required to register their 10DLC numbers for texting, otherwise messages will not be delivered

• A new organization called The Campaign Registry (TCR) now exists to validate trust-worthy companies, help register numbers, and secure approval of messaging campaigns.

• IntelePeer collects business info used in assigning the telephone numbers associated with your campaigns so we can automatically register them with TCR and mobile carriers.

The positive aspects of this change include:

• Identifying your messages as valid and not spam, and allowing them to be delivered

• Delivery rates for legitimate messages are higher

• Most businesses will see higher throughput; messages are sent faster

• Better connections with your customers while saving time

Major mobile carriers are requiring businesses and other organizations to register their 10DLC phone lines before they can text with their audiences (for example, customers, employees, and volunteers).

The Messaging Landscape

The messaging industry has gone through major shifts within the past few years. Businesses like yours now regularly send consumers texts for everything from alerts to appointment reminders to notifications and marketing promotions.

Mobile carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile recognize this, and they want to take steps to keep channels free of spam and maintain quality as more and more businesses start texting consumers for these things.

As a result, these carriers are creating a new set of standards and registration processes for 10DLC numbers, so they can better understand who is using them for A2P communication. A2P stands for application-to-person texting. It basically means you're using an application to send and receive messages. A2P previously only applied to automated messaging, but now it’s becoming closer to person-to-person conversations as customers respond to business text messages with questions or comments.

The MNOs require messaging software providers to register customers’ businesses and use cases as individual campaigns with the carriers. IntelePeer will register your numbers on your behalf to make the process much simpler. Each registration is known as a campaign.

A campaign is a specific goal or purpose a business or organization is using business text messaging for, including:

• Transactional (for example, sales and collections)

• Promotional (for example, marketing and customer engagement)

• Mixed (a combination of reasons)

Benefits

Registering these use cases helps carriers give A2P texts higher volume send rates and deliverability. Your messages send faster and feel just like person-to-person messaging.

Campaign Use Cases

The following information should be used as a guide for all Non-Sole Proprietorship campaigns that IntelePeer registers on your behalf. If you are using the sending TN number for two to five of the standard use cases listed here, you should register as a Mixed use case. If they have more than five use case type scenarios, you need to register additional campaigns as appropriate and dedicate numbers that you will use for the specific type of use case that is assigned:

You need to provide a brief description of your company’s campaign messaging purpose and how it is used by your firm.

Note: The description should be relevant to the use case you have selected. If i it’s a mixed-use campaign, the description should include the primary types of use cases that it will support.

If it’s a low volume, mostly conversational messaging type of scenario, we suggest using the following description as an example and edit it as necessary:

Low-volume, conversational messaging service that is offered as part of an overall CPaaS service provided to a business to fulfill customer care and account notification types of communication scenarios.

Sample Message Customer Guidance

If you can't provide a sample message or have a wide variety of message types, create a sample message that includes a refence to the use case scenario for the campaign along with some language that might be used in that use case scenario.

Important: For Mixed use case registrations, sample messages for all the use cases need to be submitted.

The following are sample messages created for a generic response to this registration requirement.

Note: It includes a reference to the use case and some sample narratives that might occur in that use case scenario.

Example Sample Message 1

All customer care interaction, including but not limited to account management and customer support. Please contact customer service at My Company for assistance with your service. Message could include a link to My Company and/or a phone number as well.

Example Sample Message 2

Standard notifications for account holders relating to and being about an account, such as update to services, payment status, or services status like outages. Message could include a link to My Company and/or a phone number as well

Campaign Attributes

It is important for you as our SMS customer to adhere to the messaging industry’s best practices with regards to Opt In/Opt Out. All these relevant values should be marked as Yes.

Your account may or may not utilize embedded links or phone numbers. If you do use links or phone numbers in your messaging currently or possibly in the future, you should mark these as Yes.

Other values should be marked as appropriate.

The Campaign Registry has a one-time setup fee and ongoing recurring monthly fees for every campaign registered: a $4 one-time fee for each brand registered, and a monthly campaign fee ranging from $0.75-$40.

Also, the individual carriers have their own individual message unit fees. Mobile carriers are charging new fees, adding new one-time and ongoing fees for registration and sending.

We’ll help you determine what those fees are so there won’t be any surprises.

As an IntelePeer customer, we’ll make the process as easy as possible. You’ll receive an email from us explaining why this information is required concerning your SMS messaging, so you can comply with the industry’s 10DLC policies. To learn more, check out the 10DLC SMS Mobile Carrier policy.

From the email, you can access a survey form to include the information we need to register your account with The Campaign Registry.

Note: If for some reason you can’t access the email we send to you, click this link to access the 10DLC SMS Messaging Registration Form webform referred to in the email.

You’ll need to collect the following information to assist us:

Company type

• Private or public company

• Non-profit

• Government entity

Company information

• Legal company name

• Employer ID Number (EIN) / Tax ID

• Country of registration

• Address: including street, city/town, state/province, ZIP/postal code

• Your company’s vertical: the specific industry or market you inhabit; for example, media, legal, or information technology, professional, or financial services.

• Contact details: including name, email address, and phone number

Additional Information

• Use case for your campaign: for example, customer care, marketing, or account or delivery notifications.

• Campaign and content attributes: you’ll want to include everything that applies; for example, subscriber opt-in, opt-out, and help, embedded phone numbers, and affiliate marketing.

• Two samples of the SMS messaging your company plans on sending

• All phone numbers you will use to send your SMS messages for this campaign; if you are using more than five numbers, you can email the additional numbers to numberadmin@intelepeer.com

Effective March 1, 2022, all outbound application-to-peer (A2P) messages being sent using a 10-digit US telephone number (TN) must be registered with The Campaign Registry to meet the wireless carrier requirements to allow this type of messaging traffic to reach their wireless subscribers.

Note: This does not include toll-free numbers or short codes, which are registered in a different manner. This registration process requires you to register your company as a Brand and your messaging traffic as a type of campaign with TCR.

All unregistered traffic SMS traffic may be blocked by some Mobile Wireless Carriers, such as T-Mobile, and possibly incur penalty fees of $10 per message. SMS messages on unregistered numbers will also be charged higher per message rates by some wireless carriers, as well if a carrier chooses not to block those messages.

As of March 8, 2022, IntelePeer has made numerous efforts to communicate with all our impacted customers to secure the necessary TCR registrations are in place prior to the March 1, 2022, carrier enforcement deadline. In some instances, some of our customers have not been able to provide the necessary registration data elements to our Number Provisioning team to secure the proper TCR 10DLC registration. Some TCR 10DLC registered customers also may not have provided all the numbers they are using for a specific Campaign Registration.

Note: You can access the 10DLC SMS Messaging Registration Form by clicking this link.

If your firm is experiencing blocked messages, it's likely being done by the wireless carriers, because it's not using a number you have assigned to a registered/approved 10DLC campaign. Another reason could be the message content or format isn't in compliance with the industry’s best practices.

For more information, check out IntelePeer’s Messaging Services attachment and CTIA's Messaging Principles and Best Practices.

Carrier Pass Thru Message Charges for Registered and Unregistered TNs

All registered and unregistered 10DLC messages incur additional per message pass thru fees that are charged by each MNO at their individual rates.

Note: Unregistered TNs pay higher 10DLC pass thru rates.

The following list provides specifics for all the major MNOs:

Check out this section for specifics.

T-Mobile has implemented their blocking and potential $10 per unregistered message fee for any unregistered 10DLC message. Since the message you sent used a telephone number (TN) that is not part of a 10DLC Registered Campaign, it was blocked to prevent the $10 per unregistered message fee.

Check out this section for specifics.

The Campaign Registry (TCR) is the wireless industry entity that manages all aspects of 10DLC registration requirements and processes. They can be reached at info@campaignregistry.com

This was the date selected by T-Mobile and AT&T to implement their 10DLC policies.

Initial email and phone contact efforts began on November 23, 2021.

You can submit up to five (5) numbers at one time.

If you need to submit more numbers, send your list as a Microsoft Excel file to numberadmin@intelepeer.com

No, each individual number used to send Application-to-Person (A2P) messages must be registered and associated with a registered 10DLC campaign. Its message content must match that particular campaign’s approved use case.

No, but you are responsible for securing all your customer’s registration information and submitting it to IntelePeer to secure the necessary 10DLC registration.

This is a mandatory policy set in place by all the wireless carriers in the US and Canada who control whether they accept your firm’s message traffic and deliver it to their wireless subscribers.

Yes, if the campaign use case changes or types of message content change, you must submit a registration for a new campaign.

Most campaigns are approved by TCR within 2-3 days of submission to IntelePeer Number Admin team.

If there is missing registration information on the submission, delay will be the length of time until all necessary data is provided to IntelePeer plus the usual 2-3 days to secure approval from TCR.

Contact Number Provisioning at numberadmin@intelepeer.com

Contact Number Provisioning at numberadmin@intelepeer.com

Yes, contact Number Provisioning at numberadmin@intelepeer.com