US carrier registration (A2P 10DLC)

US carrier registration, also known as the CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices (A2P 10DLC) Program, is a regulatory framework established by wireless carriers in the US.

It aims to enhance messaging services and prevent spam and fraudulent activities by ensuring long-code phone number business users that send SMS messages to other US phone numbers register themselves to create trust and a better business ecosystem.

A2P 10DLC stands for Application-to-Person 10-Digit Long Code and refers to the method of sending messages to individuals via third party services using a regular 10-digit phone number.

You'll need to register if you send or plan to send SMS messages to other US phone numbers.

In the future, if you don't, you won't be able to send messages from Chalkboard.

Yes, this registration process is an industry-wide US change that affects all virtual number providers that send SMS or MMS messages from 10DLC to other US numbers.

If you're a US user only making/receiving calls, you don't need to do anything, but its worth noting that features such as auto-reply class as 'sending SMS messages from a long code phone number' and as such, are subject to the requirement to register.

Upon submission of your registration, you'll be immediately charged:

• A one-off $4 brand registration fee* (this covers the review and registration of your business), and;
• A one-off $15 manual vetting fee* (this covers the manual review of the messaging samples provider in your application, as well as other campaign information)
  

We will charge your default card on the account once your application has been submitted.

* 100% of the fees listed above are paid to The Campaign Registry and other third-party services involved in the registration process.

The Campaign Registry are the third-party service that reviews and processes your application and is who your fees are paid directly when your application is submitted.

Once your application is reviewed, depending on your business type you'll either have to pay:

• A $1.50/month low volume standard campaign fee, or
• A $2/month sole proprietor campaign fee

These fees are essentially a monthly admin charge set by The Campaign Registry to keep your business registered and whilst they are invoiced alongside your Chalkboard subscription each month, go directly to cover these costs.

When you complete your application to register your phone numbers with the US carriers, you'll need to give some information on the types of messages you're planning to send, i.e. marketing messages, polls/surveys or to verify your customers and supply a minimum of two examples of actual messages you send.

This information forms your specific business campaign and essentially becomes your business-specific use case that the networks accept.

You can use long-code numbers to send a variety of messages, such as:

• To notify your users about business-specific updates
• To market services or products or to confirm/manage product orders
• To verify users as part of a compliance or onboarding procedure
• To communicate directly/engage in a discussion about business-related topics or to provide general customer service
• For polls/surveys

Message campaigns that aren't allowed to be sent via Chalkboard include, but are not limited to:

• Gambling-related messages
• The sale, distribution or discussion of federally illegal substances
• S.H.A.F.T messages (also known as sex, hate, alcohol, firearms & tobacco)
• High-risk financial messages related to payday or high-interest loans, cryptocurrency or debt collection
• Phishing scams

Accounts found to be sending messages of this type will be banned from the platform.

You can read more about acceptable usage and content in our Terms of Service.

You'll still be able to use Chalkboard, but will need to register under 'Sole Proprietorship'.

As part of the application, you'll still need to supply examples of messages you plan to send to your customers.

Chalkboard was designed for business usage - you can read more about acceptable usage within our Terms of Service, including the types of messages permitted to be sent.

Personal usage of 10DLC numbers will be subject to the same application process and may be rejected by the US carriers.

Depending on the type of your business, you'll be able to add further numbers to your workspace and the submitted application will cover each additional number.

If you're a small business or individual without a valid business ID such as an EIN or CCN, you'll be limited to one phone number per application.

If you’re currently waiting for your phone number to be ported into Chalkboard, we advise that you wait until your porting has been completed before submitting your registration.

At this time, you'll need to re-register as this information isn't transferred from your old provider, but this may change in the future.

There is currently a backlog of applications for The Campaign Registry to review, so at present, the timeframe to be approved is longer than normal.

We advise you to complete your registration form ASAP to minimise future disruption.

You'll need to be direct card billed to be able to register as we will need to add charges to your account during the process, and monthly thereafter.

If your subscription is currently billed and managed by the Google Play or Apple app store, you'll need to migrate to direct card billing. It only takes 60 seconds to migrate and you can follow the steps here.

You can start your application here - please note you'll need to be the workspace owner or admin to submit the application.