A2P 10DLC Best Practices

A2P 10DLC refers to a system in the United States that allows businesses to send Application-to-Person (A2P) type messaging via standard 10-digit long code (10DLC) phone numbers. A2P 10DLC offerings provide better delivery quality and lower filtering risk than long code SMS of the past, using the same phone numbers.

To help ensure your Campaigns are approved in this vetting process, please follow these best practices when submitting new Campaigns.

Please Note: Don't think of these best practices as a "catch-all" that will guarantee approval if you adhere to them all; rather, think of them as a baseline that shows the overall direction that the ecosystem is heading towards when it comes to compliant, high-quality communications.

Forbidden use cases will result in Campaign rejection

Make sure your A2P Campaign does not involve prohibited content such as cannabis, hate speech, etc., and that your use case is compliant with the Messaging Policy. Please view our article on messaging policy for more information.

Ensure data accuracy and consistency

Consistency in brand, website, and sample messages

Consistency in brand, website, and sample messages: If your brand name is Store, your website is www.store.com, but your sample messages say “Here’s your one-time passcode for logging into www.business.com”, your campaign will be rejected

Consistency in sample messages and use cases

If you register a marketing campaign, but sample messages say “Here’s your one-time passcode: 123456”, your campaign will be rejected

Consistency in email domain and company name

If you register a brand as Business Inc, but you provide an email address with a Gmail domain name, your campaign will be rejected.

Note: This check only applies to large, well-known corporations that should have dedicated email domains

Make sure you submit real, working websites

If you indicate that your customers opt-in to your messages via the website, but provide a website address that does not function, your campaign will be rejected

Make sure you create as few duplicative brands and campaigns as possible

Excessive brands with the same EIN and excessive campaigns with the same campaign attributes may be seen as high-risk and may result in campaign rejection

If you wish to send templated messages, please make sure to indicate the templated fields in sample messages with brackets, to help reviewers better identify which parts are templated

For example, please write “Doctor check due for [John Doe], Visit [www.business.com] to schedule an appointment or call [123-456-7890]”

Make sure you collect consumer consent appropriately. Please refer to the CTIA guidelines to see detailed instructions and best practices on handling consumer consent. (https://api.ctia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/190719-CTIA-Messaging-Principles-and-Best-Practices-FINAL.pdf)

Make sure consumer opt-in is collected appropriately

If you indicate you collect opt-in via text messages, but your sample messages say “Hi, is this the owner of 123 Maple street? I’d like to discuss how I can help you sell your property”, it is clear that you have not collected appropriate consent before sending messages and your campaign will be rejected.

Make sure opt-in language is available on your website if you indicated in the “message flow” field that a consumer opts into your campaign on your company website

If your brand "Store" uses its website, www.store.com, to collect phone numbers but your website does not contain opt-in language such as “By providing your phone number, you agree to receive text messages from STORE. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency varies.”, your campaign will be rejected.

We recommend having opt-out language in at least one of your sample messages

For example, please consider adding language such as “Please reply STOP to opt-out” in one of your sample messages

Please Note: Ensure you have all the required information before registering

Business Name
Physical Address (Street, City, State/Province/Region, Postal Code, Country)
Business Identity (Direct Customer or ISV/Reseller/Partner)
Business Type (Sole Proprietorship/Partnership/Corporation /Co-Operative/LLC/Non-Profit)
Company Status (Private/Public)
Stock Ticker & Exchange (if Public)
Business Registration Number & Type (EIN for US-based companies, other business identifiers for non-US companies)
Industry
Website
Regions of Operations

An authorized representative with the following info:

Name
Email
Title
Phone Number
Job Position (Director/VP/GM/General Counsel/CEO/CFO)

Please Note: The ecosystem actively discovers new forms of infractions, and the vetting standards are continually being improved.

Please Note: Toll-Free messaging remains an attractive alternative to A2P 10DLC. Toll-Free messaging does require a verification process but does not rely on Brand and Campaign Registration

How A2P 10DLC works:

When you complete your US A2P Brand registration, your Brand will receive a Trust Score. This rating influences the maximum message throughput that will be allocated to each of your Campaign use cases.

Trust Scores are grouped into three levels, from lowest to highest. Your Trust Score level, combined with your Campaign Type, will determine the message throughput that is allocated to your campaign use case.

Your campaign use case describes the type of messaging you plan to send.

There are two important requirements under the new A2P 10DLC system:

Businesses must identify who they are to the carrier networks (Brand registration).
Businesses must register what type of messages they are sending, i.e. notifications (Campaign registration).

If you have a Tax ID (EIN) and send under 6,000 message segments per day, you should register for Low Volume use case

If you have a Tax ID (EIN) and send over 6,000 message segments per day, you should register for appropriate campaign types within the Standard use case

Here are screenshot examples of the process menu:

PreviousPhone NextCall Tracking

Last updated 1 year ago