Carriers are becoming increasingly sensitive to spam and AUP enforcement when it comes to SMS and Calls. To keep spamming in check and to protect the end customer (leads/contacts) they have created various regulations & compliance frameworks. 

This article will help explain which compliance you or your client may need and how to get them.

Best Practice for Brand Registration - https://help.gohighlevel.com/support/solutions/articles/155000000508-a2p-10dlc-brand-approval-best-practices

Best Practice for Campaign Submission - https://help.gohighlevel.com/support/solutions/articles/48001229784-a2p-10dlc-campaign-approval-best-practices

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Trust Center Onboarding Overview
• Maximum 3 tries exhausted
• Pricing for A2P Brand and Campaign
• Create a Messaging Service and link the Phone Numbers to it
• FAQ
  • What is the pre-requisite for A2P Standard registration?
  • Are there any charges associated with the Low Standard brand registration?
  • I am still unsure of what all this means. What do I do?
  • What information would be required from the sub-account to move with the registration?
  • Is messaging to Canada or any other countries also affected by these changes?
  • I have been sending SMS forever, what has changed?
  • Does this apply to only marketing campaigns or does it apply to all SMS?
  • How long do I have to complete the registration for myself and my clients?
  • How can I become compliant?
  • What happens if I or my clients can't perform the registration in time?
  • Is there a cost associated with the A2P 10DLC registration?
  • I don't want to deal with all of this. Is there any alternative for me and my clients?
  • Additional Info
  • How do I request this info from my clients?

Trust Center Onboarding Overview

Trust Center provides products that can improve customer engagement by increasing throughput and brand recognition.

Step 1 - Enter business details. Follow the screenshots below:

1. Click on Settings > Phone numbers > Trust Center

2. Click on Start Registering Now

3. Click on Continue

• You will need to answer the following two questions accurately to ensure you are directed to the appropriate brand option.

• If you have an EIN for your company but you want to use a different brand name for your messages, you can add this sentence "We are doing DBA as [Business_Name]" in the Campaign Use Case Description for Step 3 - Campaign Details. You can register the same EIN for 10 brands max.

• If your business does not have an EIN and only has one employee per company, you can register for sole prop here: A2P Sole Proprietor Brands Registration

• You can check the brand name at https://opencorporates.com/ to make sure the business name does not have an EIN
  
  
  After you have answered the questions, click "Continue" button.

4. Business Details - Enter the business name EXACTLY as it is shown on the CP 575. Every line above the address on the CP 575 should be entered as the business name.

If the Business registration document EIN was issued recently within the last 45 days, it takes about 45 days from the issue date for the IRS to update the Global Verification Database.

In this situation, you have two options: 

1) You can wait 45 days for the database to be updated and then resubmit

OR

2) You can reach out to our support to apply for an identity status appeal which involves our carrier submitting a request to TCR (The Campaign Registry) to reach out to their providers to get your information updated on their side. An identity status appeal costs $10 and is charged by TCR.

Use the dropdown to select the type for your business.

Select the appropriate option that applies to your business registration type. 

Input your business registration number, In case of US, EIN must be a 9 digit number. E.g. 12-3456789.

Select the industry you operate in.

Type your business email in this field.

Enter your website URL here.

Select the region/s you do business. Click "Continue" once done.

5. Business Address - Enter the business address that is shown on the CP 575.

Input street address. Ensure the street address you have entered here is linked to your business.

Here you are required to enter the name of the city for the business address you just entered in the previous step. Make sure the city name you enter is exactly the name that appears on your tax listing. 

Enter the zip code for your business address.

Click Continue to proceed.

6. Authorized Representatives

Enter business email address of the authorized representative. Remember one email can be used for upto 5 brands. Please use different email if you have already used the email for more than 5 brands.

Select the country code from the dropdown and enter the phone number.

In this field, you are required to select the job title for the authorized representative.

Click "Continue" to proceed.

Step 2 - Brand details

1. Business Use Case

Check the box to give consent for the registration charges and fees.

Click "Continue" to proceed ahead.

That completes the steps to submitting a standard brand. The next step is the campaign submission. Instructions provided under A2P 10DLC Campaign Approval Best Practices

Here you are required to provide the objective of the promotional campaigns. You can see the examples to use it as a reference.

If you want to use these existing Templates, just copy them using double box icon and paste it in the answer field so you don't have to create the message yourself.

Check the one or more boxes applicable to your business objectives. Click "Continue" button to proceed ahead.

Provide the information about how opt in and opt out processfor sending promotional sms. You can check the example message and use it for your own purpose by just copying the text. Once done, click "Submit" button. Congrats! you have completed the A2P registration process.

Maximum 3 tries exhausted

If you are getting this error "Maximum 3 tries exhausted, please fill this out once you collected the CP 575 Form

Upload Business registration form here

Please send us the CP 575 form (screenshots is fine) for the sub-account. Once that's done, we will send that form for Brand approval.

We will need to make sure the legal business name and number submitted on the business profile matches exactly with the form. Once that's matched but it is still rejected, This is the only form TCR refers to.

 NOTE: If you're registering a US entity, please enter the exact legal business name as registered with the EIN, which can be found on the CP 575 EIN Confirmation Letter. An exact match between the legal business name and the EIN as displayed on CP 575 is required for the Brand to be successfully registered. Please do not use the legal business name found on the W2 or W9 forms as they may be different from what you have on the CP 575 notice. If you've misplaced your CP 575 notice, you may request a 147c letter from the IRS and use the information there for registration.

Please note that your full legal business name may span multiple lines on your CP 575 / 147c letter. If that is the case, you must input all the lines above the address line (which constitutes your full legal business name) instead of just using the first line.

Example:

NOTE- 

If the Business registration document EIN was issued recently within the last 45 days, it takes about 45 days from the issue date for the IRS to update the Global Verification Database.

In this situation, you have two options: 

1) You can wait 45 days for the database to be updated and then resubmit

OR

2) You can reach out to our support to apply for an identity status appeal which involves our carrier submitting a request to TCR (The Campaign Registry) to reach out to their providers to get your information updated on their side. An identity status appeal costs $10 and is charged by TCR.

Pricing for A2P Brand and Campaign

• Agency markup will not be applied to these charges and these will be pass-through charges that would directly be sent to the carriers.
• The sub-accounts (in case of rebilling) will be charged a one-time registration fee of $4.41 whereas the agencies will be charged $4.20.
• The one-time camping fees of $16.5 and monthly campaign fees will be around $1.5 to $11.5 based on the campaign use case.
  
  

Sub-account level transactions charges:

Agency-level transaction charges

Please Note: 

At times both the charges (one-time and monthly) will be grouped and you can see a charge as high as $15.5 USD.

Create a Messaging Service and link the Phone Numbers to it

We will automatically create the messaging service and link it to all the phone numbers available in the sub-account once the campaign is approved.

FAQ

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 $4.41 USD and a monthly Campaign Fee ($1.5 USD to $11.5 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 the best strategy to stop using local & mobile numbers and start using Toll-Free numbers altogether as explained here.

What information would be required from the sub-account to move with the registration?

The sub-account will need a business registration EIN and some additional info like address, website and etc.

Is messaging to Canada or any other countries also affected by these changes?

No. Canadian mobile carriers may introduce registered A2P 10DLC solutions in the future, but at this time carriers have not announced any plans to do so.

For information about message sending in countries other than the US, we recommend checking out our country-specific SMS Guidelines pages to learn about any unique rules or restrictions in that country.

I have been sending SMS forever, what has changed?

A2P 10DLC (Application-to-Person 10-Digit Long Code) is a messaging framework introduced by the wireless industry in the United States to regulate and improve the delivery of Application-to-Person text messages. It aims to address issues related to spam and unwanted messages on long codes while ensuring legitimate businesses can continue using text messaging for communication with their customers.

Does this apply to only marketing campaigns or does it apply to all SMS?

A2P 10DLC is applicable for all Application-to-Person texting like marketing SMS, reactivation campaigns, appointment reminders, prospecting, billing alerts, 2FA login codes, etc. 

How long do I have to complete the registration for myself and my clients?

The deadline to complete your (and your client's) A2P 10DLC registration and get compliant is August 31, 2023.

How can I become compliant?

Please refer to the following help articles:

•  LC Phone System Trust Center
• A2P 10DLC Brand Approval Best Practices
• A2P 10DLC Campaign Approval Best Practices

What happens if I or my clients can't perform the registration in time?

Unfortunately, your SMS traffic will cease to deliver to AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, ClearSky, etc. if you do not perform the registration. Please note this is not specific to HighLevel or enforced by us. This is done by the carriers and The Campaign Registry.

Is there a cost associated with the A2P 10DLC registration?

Yes, since January 2023 there is a fee charged by carriers and The Campaign Registry for vetting your brand & campaign applications. You can find the details of the fees associated with A2P 10DLC here.

I don't want to deal with all of this. Is there any alternative for me and my clients?

Yes, while we advise you to become compliant if you wish to continue sending SMS from local & mobile numbers in the USA, you could avoid A2P 10DLC altogether by switching to using Toll-free numbers.

Toll-free numbers also require registration but it is free and less complicated than A2P 10DLC.

Please refer to Toll-Free Number Registration for LC - Phone (US/Canada) to learn how you can switch to toll-free numbers and perform toll-free number registration. This is free and by using this you can avoid dealing with A2P 10DLC registrations and associated costs altogether. 

How do we move from low volume sending to higher volume sending?

Please reach out to support so we can share a form for you to submit and we will create the brand and campaign manually in the backend.

Additional Info

1. - The opt-in process now requires express written consent with a checkbox. The consent language must include who is sending the messages, message frequency, terms/rates, clear opt-out instructions, and a link to the privacy policy.
2. - Privacy policies cannot indicate that user data will be sold or shared with third parties for marketing purposes. This is a common reason for campaign rejections recently.
3. - Opt-in and opt-out methods should match. If opting in via 10DLC, the opt-out should also use 10DLC.
4. - Unregistered 10DLC traffic is becoming much more expensive and filtered compared to registered traffic. We recommend registering 10DLC campaigns rather than relying on unregistered traffic.
5. - Human review is still required at the carrier level for campaigns. Clear communication of use cases is important for approval.

How do I request this info from my clients?

You can use the following forms to collect this information from your clients

[Google Doc Link] [Printable PDF Link]