What is A2P 10DLC? Follow

A2P 10DLC is a messaging compliance system that enables businesses to send Application-to-Person (A2P) messages via 10-digit long code phone numbers in the United States. This comprehensive guide provides a detailed overview of A2P 10DLC, registration requirements, campaign use cases, compliance guidelines, and the impact on message delivery and pricing. Whether you're a small business or an ISV, understanding messaging compliance is crucial for maintaining reliable and effective communication with your audience.

Important Notices

Unregistered 10DLC Message Fee Increases

• AT&T and T-Mobile are increasing the per-message rate on unregistered traffic. If these numbers remain unregistered, they may be subject to additional filtering or blocking. Some carrier fees will be increased on June 1, 2023, and others will be increased on August 1, 2023.
• For more information on the specific fees and timing, please see What Pricing and Fees are Associated with A2P 10DLC.
• If you have unregistered traffic, register for A2P 10DLC via Salesmate or API before June 1, 2023, to avoid higher fees and service disruptions.

Salesmate has launched the Sole Proprietor Brand registration offering (formerly known as “Starter Brand”) in accordance with the new industry guidelines for sending low-volume messaging.

• If you’re an individual or small business without a Tax ID (EIN), please see New Changes to Sole Proprietor Brands FAQ for more details on how to register.
• If you have a Tax ID (EIN) and low traffic requirement (less than 6,000 messages per day), Low Volume Standard Brands can be used for mixed messaging campaigns with multiple use cases, multiple numbers per campaign, and higher throughput than Sole Prop.
• If you have a Tax ID (EIN) and higher traffic requirement (more than 6,000 messages per day), Standard Brands can be used for multiple use cases, multiple numbers per campaign, and higher throughput.
• For a full overview of the different Brand registration offerings, see our Comparison between Sole Prop, Low Volume Standard, and Standard registration for A2P 10DLC.

New Requirements for A2P 10DLC Registrations

Effective January 26, 2023, new A2P Campaign registrations are subject to a new vetting process, which includes a one-time $15 campaign vetting fee. For more information, visit our FAQ on A2P 10DLC Campaign Vetting Changes - January 2023.

What is A2P 10DLC?

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. Carriers in the US consider all LC Phone traffic to be A2P. Carriers’ A2P 10DLC offerings provide better delivery quality and lower filtering risk than long code SMS of the past, using the same phone numbers.

Special Use Cases are now supported; however, if you are a customer registering a special use case requiring additional carrier approval or a 527 Political Organization, please see our guidance on Special Use Cases before proceeding with registration.

Register now to benefit from improved deliverability and increased throughput in the new verified A2P 10DLC ecosystem. A2P 10DLC has new registration requirements for businesses that intend to send long-code messages to AT&T in the US.

 

What do I need to do?

If you do not send any messages to users in the United States using long code numbers, you do not need to do anything.

If you send messages to the United States using long code numbers you have the following registration options based on your Tax ID status, volume, and use case:

• If you have a Tax ID (EIN) and send under 6,000 message segments per day, you should re-register for Low Volume Standard Brands
• If you have a Tax ID (EIN) and send over 6,000 message segments per day, you should re-register for appropriate campaign types within Standard Brands
• If you don’t have a Tax ID (EIN), you should register a Sole Proprietor Brand (available April 17th).

If you are a customer registering a Special Use Case, please be aware that certain special use cases require additional carrier approval or a 527 Political Organization, so please see our guidance on Special Use Cases before proceeding with registration.

A2P 10DLC registration can be done in the Twilio Console, or if you are an ISV-type customer, you may choose to use our registration API for ISVs to register yourself and your client businesses.

For a more detailed overview of what information you will need and how to begin, see How do I register to use A2P 10DLC messaging?

Read on for details of the rules and requirements under the new A2P 10DLC registration system, and answers to many common questions.

 

Article contents:

• How does A2P 10DLC work?
• Do I need to register? If so, what’s the deadline?
  
  • What if I am just testing, or sending a very low volume of messages to the US?
• How does US A2P Brand registration work?
  
  • How do Trust Scores influence message throughput?
• What’s a Campaign Use Case?
  • When registering, I have to select a Use Case. What do these mean?
• Do I need to go directly to The Campaign Registry or any other non-Twilio website to complete registration?
• Do I need to buy new phone numbers to use this A2P 10DLC service?
• My company provides services to multiple other brands or companies as an ISV (independent software vendor). What do I have to do?
• What information is required for registration?

How does A2P 10DLC work?

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).

Registration is done entirely through Salesmate Regulatory Compliance. We have integrated with The Campaign Registry (TCR) to meet the requirements of carriers while making it easy for businesses to onboard.

For additional guidance, please see How do I register to use A2P 10DLC messaging?

Do I need to register? If so, what’s the deadline?

All SMS and MMS messages sent to US phone numbers from unregistered 10DLC phone numbers will be fully blocked after August 31, 2023. 10DLC phone numbers must be fully registered to an approved Campaign under your Brand. This registration requirement took effect on July 5, 2023 with unregistered phone numbers subject to a gradual increase of message blocking by Twilio, leading to a full block of all unregistered U.S.-bound messages sent after August 31, 2023. For more information, visit our Shutdown of Unregistered 10DLC Messaging FAQ

What if I am just testing, or sending a low volume of messages to the US?

If you do not have a tax ID, you should register a Sole Proprietor Brand designed for individuals and small businesses. See New Changes to A2P 10DLC Sole Proprietor Brands FAQ for more information.

If you do have a tax ID you will need to register even if you are sending low volumes of messages. If you send under 6,000 message segments per day, you should register for Low Volume Standard Brands.

What happens if I don't register?

Increased message filtering and fees will apply to messages that are sent without registration. Unregistered numbers will be subject to gradually increased rates of message blocking, beginning on July 5, 2023, ultimately leading to a full block of all unregistered US-bound messages sent after August 31, 2023. These messages will be blocked with a new ‘30034’ error. For more information see our Shutdown of Unregistered 10DLC Messaging FAQ.

For details about fees on unregistered message traffic, see What pricing and fees are associated with the A2P 10DLC service?

How does US A2P Brand registration work?

To begin registration, customers must register a Brand consisting of their Business Profile information and indicating whether they are an ISV or Direct customer. For a full overview of the registration process including how to determine your Customer and Brand Type, see our A2P 10DLC Registration Steps.

What information is required for Brand registration?

For a full overview of what information is required in the Brand registration process see our Required Information for A2P !0DLC Registration.

How do Trust Scores influence message throughput?

When registering a Standard Brand you will receive a Trust Score from 0 to 100. This rating influences the maximum message throughput that will be allocated to each of your Campaign use cases (see below). 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.

For details, see Message throughput (MPS) and Trust Scores for A2P 10DLC in the US.

Required information for United States A2P 10DLC registration

Low-Volume Standard Brands

Each business will need the following information to register for A2P 10DLC. This means you must collect this info for your customers if you are a direct brand.

Business Information

• 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)
• A second point of contact may also be provided but is optional.

Sole Proprietor Brands

Sole Proprietor registration is available now. The following requirements will apply.

• No Tax ID (EIN): To qualify for Sole Proprietor registration, you must not have an EIN (Employer Identification Number). Any business with a Tax ID (EIN) is not eligible and should instead register for a Low Volume Standard Brand.
• US or Canada only: Sole Proprietor Brands are limited to individuals in the US and Canada.

Information required for registration:

• Brand or business name
• First name
• Last name
• Email address
• Mobile phone number (in US or Canada)
• Physical address (in US or Canada)

What’s a campaign use case?

This represents a messaging use case, for example sending account notifications or conducting marketing. In carrier terminology, these are called "Campaigns." For more specificity, Twilio is calling them campaign use cases.

Some companies may only need to register one campaign use case, in other scenarios, you may have multiple. For example, if you are a company that sends authentication codes to validate new users, but you also send marketing messages, you should register two campaign use cases.

What does the campaign use case options mean?

Your campaign use case describes the type of messaging you plan to send. This will influence the price you pay per message on AT&T.

Use cases vary from notifications and fraud alerts to customer care to social updates. For more information on Campaigns and a full list of campaign use cases, please see: List of Campaign Types and Use Case Types for A2P 10DLC registration

Do I need to go directly to The Campaign Registry or any other non-Twilio website to complete registration?

No. Registration can be completed entirely through Salesmate. Salesmate has integrated directly with The Campaign Registry (TCR) to facilitate registration for our customers. This offers you other benefits of Salesmate Trust Hub.

If you are an Independent Software Vendor (ISV), you can apply to Salesmate for an exception to allow you to go directly to TCR for your US A2P Brand and Campaign registrations, and use those registrations for your message traffic on Salesmate. If you aren't sure whether you are an ISV or a direct customer, see Am I a direct customer or an ISV (for A2P 10DLC registration)?

However, before considering this option, we strongly recommend you review this crucial information about requirements and limitations when registering directly with TCR.

Do I need to buy new phone numbers to use this A2P 10DLC service?

If you are already using long code numbers, there is no need to buy new numbers. You will enable your existing numbers to use the new A2P 10DLC service by following the registration process.

See also: How do these rule changes affect short codes and Toll-Free numbers? Should I switch to 10DLC?

My company provides services to multiple other brands or companies as an ISV (independent software vendor). What do I have to do?

If your company is an ISV, you will need to register your own Business Profile and Brand, then register each of your client US A2P Brands and Campaign Use Cases. Twilio is continually working on ways to make this process as smooth as possible for ISV customers, especially those with many clients.

First, you’ll register your own company as a Primary Business Profile in the Trust Hub on your primary Twilio account.

For registering your end clients, Twilio will be offering two options:

• Sole Proprietor Brand: For individuals and small businesses without a tax ID. See New Changes to A2P 10DLC Sole Proprietor Brands FAQ for more information.
• Low Volume Standard Brand: For clients with a Tax ID (EIN) sending less than 6,000 SMS segments and MMS per day to the United States. The Low Volume Standard Brands allow Low Volume Mixed Messaging campaigns, multiple numbers per campaign, higher throughput, and lower filtering.
• Standard Brand: For clients with a Tax ID (EIN) sending more than 6,000 SMS segments and MMS daily to the United States. Standard Brands allow for all campaign types, multiple numbers per campaign, higher throughput, and lower filtering.

Please see here for our ISV onboarding guide: ISV U.S. A2P 10DLC Onboarding Guide

We understand that onboarding to A2P 10DLC may be a significant effort if you are an ISV with a large number of clients. We recommend you start by registering your larger clients, then expand registration to your smaller clients.

See also: How do I register to use A2P 10DLC messaging?

What information is required for registration?

You will need information about each business and brand to register businesses, brands, and use cases. The required info includes the business name, physical address, and business type (LLC, partnership, etc.).