- What is A2P 10DLC?
- What do you need to do to register your brand and campaign(s)?
- What are the recommended use cases for 10DLCs?
- Are there limitations for 10DLC?
- Is MMS messaging affected by A2P 10DLC?
- Why are these changes happening?
- Is messaging to Canada also affected by 10DLC?
- What if I already use a toll-free toggle, but have a local SendHub number still tied to my account?
- How is my local SendHub Number impacted?
- What is the price for 10DLC?
- What do I need to do now?
If you only send messages to users in Canada, you do not need to do anything.
If you are a SendHub customer sending messages from a 10-digit local number in the US, please read this article in its entirety. Your message deliverability will be significantly filtered by AT&T, T Mobile, and other carriers if you do not register your campaign as they now require.
What is A2P 10 DLC?
A2P (application-to-person) 10DLC (10-digit long code) refers to a system in the United States that allows businesses to send Application-to-Person (A2P) messaging via standard 10DLC phone numbers. These phone numbers are the standard in A2P text messaging for many organizations. Carriers in the US consider all messages coming from SendHub to be A2P.
A 10DLC number is just a standard 10-digit local phone number that supports high-volume messaging throughput required for A2P traffic use cases. When the first version of 10-digit A2P messaging came out many years ago, the carriers only intended for very low volume of messages and simple conversational-type messaging. As the need for professional text messaging and SMS marketing has grown, so has the demand on these messaging services that haven’t been able to keep up. This rise in SMS marketing has led to a rise of bad actors in the space (aka spammers). In the lineage of A2P local text messaging, 10DLC is the progeny of what we currently know of A2P local numbers (aka your existing 10-digit local SendHub number) and this new generation has evolved to better filter spam and get meaningful messages delivered.
A2P 10DLC provides higher deliverability and a lower risk of being spam filtered than messaging from a local long code number of the past. In order to get approved for 10DLC, you need to apply through the SendHub web app. Registration must be completed as soon as possible to avoid additional filtering. This supports a sanctioned A2P 10 DLC text messaging campaign ecosystem and provides transparency into the messaging source and content, allowing mobile carriers to provide a more reliable and simple messaging service for Campaign Service Providers (CSPs), like SendHub, and Brands, like SendHub's customers.
What do you need to do to register your brand and campaign(s)?
At this point, what we know is that you will not need to submit an application per local number, but you will have one application per Brand (aka company) and one per Campaign (aka use case). For example, if you're a SendHub customer with 20 lines and most lines are doing recruiting while one is for marketing, you would need to first register your Brand (business name, type, EIN, industry etc.) and then submit two different applications for two difference 10DLC campaigns.
The application process asks basic questions to identify your organization, as well as other questions to identify your Campaign. Some industries and use cases require a higher level of vetting, for example political campaigns. This 3rd-party vetting does carry an additional fee.
The information needed to register your brand will include:
- WHEN REGISTERING A PRIVATE COMPANY Legal company name, country of registration, Employer ID Number (EIN) / Tax ID, physical address, vertical, contact details.
- WHEN REGISTERING A PUBLIC COMPANY Legal company name, country of registration, , Employer ID Number (EIN) / Tax ID, physical address, website address, vertical, stock symbol, stock exchange, contact details.
- WHEN REGISTERING A CHARITY / NON PROFIT ORGANIZATION Legal company name, country of registration, Employer ID Number (EIN) / Tax ID, physical address, vertical, contact details.
In case of errors during Brand registration or change in Brand information over time, you will have to notify SendHub right away so we can update your Brand registration. If EIN or Company Name need to be changed, we will be able to help. According to the Campaign Registry "If either EIN or Company name is changed, existing external vetting will be immediately voided and Brand will need to be re-vetted to have access to Special Use Cases."
What are the recommended use cases for 10DLCs?
10DLC allows organizations (e.g., businesses, hospitals, schools, etc.) to send text messages to their customers either individually or at scale with a local phone number. Ideal use cases for these types of businesses include, but are not limited to, Customer care/service , Event-based interactions , Process and service updates, Appointment reminders, and Customer feedback and surveys.
Are there limitations for 10 DLC?
While 10DLC will offer a better experience, there are some limitations: Limited throughput and volume depending on use case. In other words, certain use cases will take priority over others. At this point, we do not know the order of priority that the carriers have decided, but we assume it will benefit many of the common essential use cases we see among SendHub customers such as healthcare, education, and transportation. Another limitation some will find is that there are no delivery receipts with 10DLC.
Is MMS messaging affected by A2P 10DLC?
Yes, but only for low volume SMS campaigns. Long code MMS messaging remains subject to throughput limits. For high-volume MMS use cases in the United States, a toll free number will be your best option due to the downstream carrier's limited capacity.
Why are these changes happening?
This is a part of US carriers' attempt to better filter SMS spam messages to their customers on their network and also to help make sure legitimate messages get delivered.
Is messaging to Canada also affected by 10DLC?
No, not at this time. However, we do not know when/if Canada will adjust due to spamming issues.
What if I already use a toll free toggle, but have a local SendHub number still tied to my account?
If you do not register your use case AT&T, T Mobile and other carriers will filter your messages from your local number. If you do not use your local number, please contact Team SendHub so we can make your toll free number your main line. This will not cause any disruption in service for you and will actually increase your value.
How is my local SendHub Number impacted?
If you do not register your use case AT&T, T Mobile and other carriers will filter your messages.
What is the price for 10DLC?
End carriers charge several different fees for 10DLC. First, there are one-time fees associated with the application and vetting processes (vetting only required for specific use cases) and then there are fees per message per end carrier.
Here's a breakdown:
- One-Time
- $5 brand application fee to cover TCR Brand Application
- $50 per campaign application that goes to T-Mobile
- Brand Vetting
- $5000 T-Mobile
- Campaigns not fitting T-Mobile’s definition of a standard campaign may incur this fee. Qualifying campaigns sending in excess of 200,000 outbound messages across the brand to T-Mobile. Special forms must be submitted to T-Mobile.
- $40 AT&T
- Campaigns not fitting AT&T's definition of a standard campaign may incur this fee
- $5000 T-Mobile
- Recurring
- $10 per month per campaign is added into your SendHub subscription price to cover the new $10 per month fee per campaign from AT&T
On top of these charges, individual carriers also added a fee per message. Verizon implemented their 10DLC fee in 2019 that SendHub has been absorbing for all of our existing customers who have used local numbers since then. However, with AT&T and T-Mobile joining the ranks and adding an additional application process on top of it, SendHub simply can't offer the same prices as we used to for texting in the U.S. on local 10 digit numbers.