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 Twilio traffic to be A2P. Carrier's A2P 10DLC offerings provide better delivery quality and lower filtering risk than long code SMS of the past, using the same phone numbers.

A2P 10 DLC Registration and Compliance is ONLY applicable for accounts using US number(s) for messaging.

What is A2P 10DLC?

A2P 10DLC compliance and regulatory framework is a complex procedure that all clients need to follow to send Application-to-Person (A2P) texts like marketing messages, promotions, appointment notifications & reminders, etc.

This is NOT specific to MarketingPlex or Twilio. ALL messaging services and platforms need to go through the compliance steps.

What has changed recently?

Effective November 3rd, 2022, carriers have deprecated the ability to register new Starter Brands due to updated registration requirements from The Campaign Registry (TCR). Customers are no longer able to submit new Starter Brand registrations.

A new standard brand category has now been created by TCR called - Low Volume Standard Brand. 

The new Low Volume Standard Brand may be used 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, higher throughput, and lower filtering.

Low Volume Standard Brand Registration will be available for $4 USD one-time fee, and a standard campaign monthly fee between $1.50 -$10.00 USD (carriers charge according to use case).

Standard Brand Registration will be charged a one-time fee of $44.00, and a standard campaign monthly fee between $1.50 -$10.00 USD (carriers charge according to use case).

Note:  The new A2P laws now require that a business sending messages MUST register a business profile and apply for A2P permissions before sending texts.  Prior to this new law, businesses sending less that 3000 text messages per day and who had 5 phone numbers or less in a single account, were not required to register.  This has changed.

Note:  All new Twilio A2P Campaign registrations are now being charged a one-time $15.00 Campaign Verification Fee at the time of registration.

Below is a screenshot of the registration process for Low-Volume Standard, and Standard Brands, and the expected message volume.

Note:  We will be registering first those customers that are currently having an issue with message filtering, and then everyone else

What is the problem due to the new changes?

• High filtering from carriers, increase in messages ending with 30007 error.
• Higher carrier charges because your messages will be marked as "unregistered traffic"
• Risk of being blacklisted as a spammer
• Penalties from carriers for spamming

The likelihood of these problems will increase if you send high volume SMS (200+ SMS/day), have a high error rate, have a high opt-out rate or if the carrier suspects you of sending spam content.

What best practices to follow during this transition period?

General Considerations

We have seen patterns in carrier violations, carrier filtering and SPAM scores. We are sharing those with you to minimize the risk of your messages being flagged by carriers

1. Avoid sending exact same text SMS in bulk and to a large list at once. Using graduated sending in our bulk actions feature has been proven successful. Send in batches of less than 100 over next X days.
2. If you are including URLs as part of the SMS, avoid using the shortened URL and use the whole URL (the actual long URL has a better deliverability rate unless reported by the carrier).
3. Make sure all the messages via campaign and bulk already have the Unsubscribe keywords mentioned. In the past the default was to add the keywords to the first SMS sent to a new contact but adding it to all the messages that go out will significantly reduce the risks
4. Including the sender's name (person's name and not business name) in all the messages will also reduce the filtering to certain degree
5. Enable Number Validation in your location settings so that the bulk actions do not retry sending to landline numbers, not-in-service numbers or bad numbers. High error rates are one of the main metrics that carriers and Twilio looks for.

Apart from these, the best way would be to buy a toll-free number and start the registration process as it will help in reducing the filtering even before the registration is fully completed (which takes around 2-3 weeks but the benefits start immediately)

Using Toll-free numbers [Very effective strategy]

Since toll free phone numbers are out of the purview of A2P 10DLC (it only applies to local & mobile numbers), we have seen clients have better success rates and lower carrier filtration when they use Toll free numbers. 

Since A2P 10DLC only applies to local & mobile numbers, we HIGHLY RECOMMEND using toll free numbers  

Toll free number verification is free of charge and does not require any one-time or monthly fee 

Toll free number verification may take 2-3 weeks but it immediately improves deliverability even when your verification is under review

Even without toll free registration you can send up to 2000 SMS / day. With registrations you will lower the risk your messages or calls being filtered to a great extent. 

Toll-Free Messaging Best Practices:

• Throughput:  15 - 60 messages / min.
• Volume:  1,000 messages / day
• Unique Recipients:  100 NEW people / phone number
• Repetition:  25 repetitive messages
• Unique Sender:  Don't have more than 1-2 Toll-Free Numbers / Account.

FAQs

What is the pre-requisite for A2P Standard registration?

The prerequisite to A2P registration is to create a business profile providing the EIN and additional business registration information.

Are there any charges associated with the Low Standard brand registration?

Yes, there is a one-time $4 USD and a monthly Campaign Fee ($1.5 USD to $10 USD). For most cases we have seen this to be $2/month.

I am still unsure of what all this means. What do I do?

For now, if you are unsure about how A2P 10DLC compliance works, it will be best strategy to ditch local & mobile numbers and start using Toll Free numbers altogether.

What information will I need to move forward with the registration?

You will need a business registration EIN and some additional info like address, website and etc.