A2P 10DLC Business Text Messaging Regulations: How to Stay Compliant?

Brantley Kendall

18 May 2022 2 years ago

Phone carriers are often changing how businesses share text messages with their consumers. New regulations mean a verified system can raise the bar of your business by improving its deliverability. The new ecosystem will also help you in earning consumers’ trust. So, read on to know more about these changes and understand how you can stay compliant with the updated carrier regulations.

Every person who owns a phone has their share of receiving spam messages. From stating that you’ve won a lottery or a paid vacation to asking you to verify your bank account details, you’ll get countless annoying messages like these. According to 

However, new processes and regulations mean your business will be known as a legitimate one and will have more outreach. The A2P 10DLC aims to keep spam texts in check by registering the businesses sending messages.

What is A2P 10DLC?

Text messaging has come a long way in 30 years. Now 96% of users rely on sending SMSs. For a long time, businesses used long codes for P2P (person-to-person) messaging. But these codes were subject to carrier filtering, which sometimes would block or interfere with their delivery. Also, the messages had a limited throughput of 1MPS, meaning it would take a long time to send messages to a large number of people.

With the introduction of a 10-digit extended code for application-to-person (A2P), the throughput increased to 180 MPS. This means better deliverability for your business, as more customers will be able to receive your messages. It can increase user engagement and improve your business’s ROI. However, you would need to register your business to identify what kind of messages you want to send. 

10DLC is the opposite of shortcodes, usually containing 5 to 6 digits that can only be used to send and receive messages. In contrast, long codes can not only be used for SMS messages but also for sending and receiving faxes and calls.

An A2P is different from P2P (person-to-person) in terms of messaging. A P2P text is when two or more people communicate over a phone by sending messages from person to person. In comparison, A2P texts are sent to individuals with the help of a computer application. They include marketing texts, notifications, and reminders from businesses to their consumers.

How can your car dealership comply with 10DLC A2P regulations?

According to The Campaign Registry, 10DLC is a reliable messaging channel for your SMS campaign and is sanctioned for A2P messaging. But how much the regulations regarding this code apply to your business depends on how many messages you regularly send.

Register for each SMS campaign

You would need to register for each SMS campaign on TCR. After which, the CSPs (Case Service Providers) will work with their connectivity partners to activate your campaign. A campaign will mean how you intend to use your message quota. 

If you need to send only promotional messages, you will be required to register for only one campaign. In addition, you may need an additional register for service appointment reminders, etc. The registration fees per month might be as low as $4 for a brand, with a campaign fee as low as $10 per month or as high as $50 per campaign. But the charges depend on which mobile carrier you are working with. 

One thing to note is that you cannot work around registration as carriers are already increasing filtration or charges for unregistered businesses. Such as, AT&T has increased charges for unregistered businesses since 1st March 2022.

Additional charge for each message

There might be an additional charge for each message that you’ll send. The price will depend on the mobile carrier (AT&T, T-mobile, etc.) you are working with and the type of message (SMS or MMS) you are sending. However, the cost will be less than a penny. For instance, AT&T is currently charging $0.002 per text message for a single-use non-marketing campaign.

You can send a lot of texts

Depending upon your registration, there is a limit to how many text messages you can send in a day. For example, T-Mobile carriers will allow you to send a maximum of 200,000 text messages per day. On the other hand, messaging through AT&T carriers is based on texts-per-minute with a maximum limit of 4,500 TPM.

More texts will reach your audience

The A2P 10DLC regulations have already decreased the number of spam text messages. If you register your car dealership for long code A2P messaging, it will be known as legitimate, and more of your texts will have the chance to make it through to your audience.

Restrictions on text messages

Carriers prohibit some types of messages, and failure to comply with them can incur a penalty. Any kind of harmful, objectionable, and illegal content is restricted. For instance, messages related to car promotions whose import and sales are prohibited according to US Motor laws will land you in trouble.

What can you do to remain in compliance and avoid any penalty?

• Only send messages to those from whom you’ve received consent.
• Avoid sending restricted or prohibited content.
• Refrain from certain texting behaviors.

Wrapping Up

If you want to increase your customer outreach for your car dealership through long code A2P messaging, you need to register for your SMS campaign. As per regulations without registration, the price per campaign will cost you more. 

With A2P 10DLC, you will be able to send more messages to a large audience. Besides SMS, you can send MMS and also make audio calls. It is a reliable and sanctioned channel through which your business will be known as legitimate as it reduces the risk of spam messages.

However, you won’t have to do anything all by yourself. So, talk to your service provider and register your car dealership through The Campaign Registry. Follow best practices for text messaging set by CTIA. Don’t spam and avoid sending text messages before 8:AM or after 9:PM local time. Make it easy for your audience to opt out.

Brantley Kendall