10 DLC Portal Status: In Progress
We want to make sure you are prepared to be successful with the transition from SMS via 10 digit phone numbers to SMS via 10 digit long codes. Check out some of the most frequently asked questions below to help be prepared!
10DLC FAQs
What do you need to know?
We know how crucial it is for your business to use Service Fusion's 10-digit long-code (10DLC) phone numbers to send SMS messages to your customers and technicians. But guess what? Some important new regulations are coming into play. Starting soon, all your 10DLC phone number campaigns must be registered as application-to-person (A2P) Brand and Campaign. It may seem like a hassle, but trust us, it's for your benefit!
Why is this happening?
The U.S. telecommunications industry has introduced these regulations to boost customer trust in SMS and combat fraud and spam. This initiative is called application-to-person 10-digit long code (A2P 10DLC). It's all about ensuring your SMS messages are reliable and secure and those from scammers don't end up on grandma's phone.
What is a Brand?
You want your customers to recognize you instantly when they receive an SMS, right? That's where a brand comes in. A brand is like your SMS identity card—it shows who's responsible for sending that message. Usually, your brand ID matches your company's registered name. So, imagine you're Acme HVAC, an awesome HVAC company using Service Fusion to send SMS maintenance reminders. Your brand ID would be Acme HVAC.
What is a Campaign?
Now, let's talk campaigns. Campaigns give you insight into how you use your phone numbers for SMS communication. While you usually have one brand ID, you can have multiple campaign IDs based on your SMS usage. There are two types: Conversational Campaigns, where you send messages to specific people, and Automated Campaigns, where pre-made messages are sent automatically. For example, you can use automated campaigns to send those helpful appointment reminders. Imagine you're Acme Plumbing, and you use SMS to keep your customers in the loop about their appointments—your campaign ID for that would be "appointment reminders."
Assigning Numbers?
Once you've created your brand and campaign, it's time to distribute those numbers. For most of you, all your numbers will be assigned to the SMS campaign. However, if you have those fancy automated campaigns, dedicate some numbers specifically for them. The rest of your numbers will be assigned to your conversational campaign. Let's take Acme Electrical as an example—they would assign all their numbers to the SMS campaign for general communication purposes. If they have specific numbers for automated campaigns, those will go to the respective campaign, and the remaining numbers will be for the conversational campaign.
What do I need to do?
Now, here's what you've been waiting for—what you need to do. Start gathering the following information: The legal form of your business organization, EIN/Tax ID, Legal business name and your DBA if you use one, and details about how you use text messaging for your business. Oh, and don't forget to jot down how you obtain consent from recipients before messaging them. We want to keep things legal and respectful! Please wait for our portal to open before registering. We don’t want you to have to do it twice.
What is the registration process like?
Service Fusion has your back! We've created a one-stop-shop for registration and ensuring compliance with these regulations where you can register your brand and campaigns with the numbers you use from Service Fusion. Once your application gets the green light, you'll need to swing by the portal again to complete the registration process for your campaign. Remember, campaign registration is mandatory for all SMS use cases, even for those friendly conversation-only messages and automated “on the way” messaging.
What will this cost?
Since Service Fusion is your Campaign Service Provider (CSP) your out-of-pocket cost for registering a Brand is just $4 and a Campaign is $15. Once your registration is approved, you will see a reoccurring $1.50 10DLC charge per campaign on the card you have on file.
Why do I have an 888 number associated with my Service Fusion account?
In an effort to keep our customers sending out communication by text, Service Fusion purchased generic 888 phone numbers to assign to our customers accounts. By purchasing and assigning these numbers, we were able to register these numbers on behalf of our customers until our registration portal is complete. These are not permanent numbers. These numbers will simply serve as your Service Fusion phone number to allow you to continue to communicate with your customers via SMS until our 10 DLC registration portal is complete.