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SMS Registration, Policies, and Fines

Over the last year, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile have made sweeping changes to the way SMS/MMS deliverability works on their networks and have dramatically increased both the costs of SMS delivery and the complexity in delivering those messages to consumers. These changes have become known to the industry as A2P 10DLC SMS or Application-To-Person Ten-Digit Long Code. All of this is intended to protect end users from SMS becoming the next major source of spam, and to prevent harsh FCC requirements around spam prevention with SMS/MMS. This fear was well described in this article featured recently in The Intercept.

SMS Registration is the process by which you can register your phone numbers with the Wireless Carriers in order to prevent them from being blocked. These changes have been happening over the last year.

To get your account SMS Registered to be able to send outgoing texts we will need the following information for your business.  This information must match exactly what is on your business’s IRS EIN Letter 

 

Required Info to Register Your SMS Account with the FCC

Legal Company Name
DBA
Company Type
EIN
EIN Issuing Country
Website
Vertical (What type of business – Technology, Retail, Real Estate, etc.)
Contact Email
Support Phone Number

Full Company Address (Street Address, City, State / Province, Postal / Zip Code, Country)

Please email this information or your IRS EIN Letter to support@telcog.com

SMS Registration Evasion – $1,000 per sent message
This applies if you attempt to buy multiple numbers for SMS delivery, only to swap them out when one gets flagged as spam.

Text Enablement Evasion – $10,000 per sent message
This applies if you send messages before your registration is complete (This was prevented by the blocking of outgoing texts)

Content Violations – Up to $10,000 a message

The following table outlines the types of SMS content that are forbidden to be sent on our network. Violation of this may cause a $10,000 fine (per sent message) from the recipient wireless carrier.
Category Examples

Embedded Links must not use a public URL shortener. 

Doing so will cause your numbers to be blocked permanently from sending outbound SMS. We recommend using rebrandly for a custom URL shortener that is compliant with SMS Registration requirements.

High-risk financial services Payday loans
Short term high-interest loans
Third-party auto loans
Third-party mortgage loans
Student loans
Cryptocurrency

Third-party lead generation services 

Companies that buy, sell, or share consumer information.

Debt collection or forgiveness 

Third-party debt collection
Debt consolidation
Debt reduction
Credit repair programs

“Get rich quick” schemes Work-from-home programs
Risk investment opportunities
Pyramid schemes

Illegal substances 

Cannabis (United States)
CBD (United States)
Prescription drugs

Gambling Casino apps
Gambling websites

“S.H.A.F.T.” 

Sex Hate Alcohol Firearms Tobacco

Opt-In, Opt-Out, and HELP

We know that most platforms do not have mechanisms to support requirements around Opt-Out and Help, and decided to build in native support for our customers and offer it for free. We do not want our customers to get in hot water over their use of SMS – so these features are included with SMS Registration for free 🙂

Opt-In

When you send an outbound SMS or MMS to a consumer, you must have crystal clear permission from them that you are allowed to text them. This Opt-In must be in writing, and be in place prior to sending them their first message. You may not ask for permission to text a consumer by sending them a SMS message.

Opt-Out

When a consumer replies to a message sent from any of our DIDs that says “STOP” we automatically block your ability to send additional SMSs or MMSs to the consumer. The recipient will also receive a confirmation that identifies your Business in their reply. For example, if a recipient replies “STOP” they will receive the following reply:

“You will no longer receive messages from [Business Name]. Please reply HELP to learn more, or RESUME to remove this block”

Help

When a recipient replies to your SMS with “HELP,” We will automatically reply with the following:

“You are receiving this message from [ Business Name]. We can be reached at [Number] or [email]. Reply “STOP” and we will never text you again.”

I will continue to provide updates as they come out.  Please feel free to contact me directly via this address or the number below if you have any further questions or requests.