There’s no doubt that business texting has increased in popularity over the last decade or more, benefiting both businesses and customers alike. However, as text message volume has continued to increase for wanted text messages, some bad actors have used the same technology to send unsolicited or unwanted (spam) text messages, which is bad for everyone.
Responding to the market need, US-based mobile network operators (MNOs) have come together to form The Campaign Registry (TCR), a fully sanctioned and accountable messaging environment that supports consumer text messaging utilizing a traditional phone number, or 10-digit long code (10DLC), for business SMS traffic.
How It Works
The Campaign Registry validates the sender's use case and establishes a campaign ID before texts are sent to the SMS network. Mobile operators check the campaign ID as part of their analytics, and a validate campaign ID helps them determine whether to deliver the text to the end customer. In short, TCR pre-verifies business text messages so the wireless carriers won't label them as potential spam.
All mobile carriers are required to register SMS traffic. Because unregistered consumer messages may be blocked by participating wireless carriers, even if all other CTIA guidelines are met, all Business Text Messaging accounts will be registered with The Campaign Registry during the sign up process.
Campaign Information
When you sign up with BTM, your company (brand) and campaign will be automatically registered with The Campaign Registry. To facilitate this process, you will need to provide information about your company and your messaging campaign, including:
- Account Name (DBA): The company's trade name.
- Legal Name: The full legal name of the company. The Campaign Registry matches this information to the Tax ID to validate the campaign.
- Website: The business's website URL.
- Tax ID: The business's TIN or EIN.
- Type of Business: Public or Private
- Address: The business's physical location.
- Vertical Business Area: Select the closest matching industry from a list.
- Campaign Description: A brief description of how the business intends to use BTM.
- Sample Messages: Five examples that represent the type of messages your business will send. The examples should cover sales, marketing, custome support, and any other primary intended use cases. If you need a few ideas, check out BTM Use Cases.
New Account Registration Form (US)To make it easier for you to gather the information needed to sign up for Business Text Messaging, download this form, fill it out, and send it back to your BTM service provider who will complete the sign up and registration process on your behalf. Remember, it's important that you provide accurate information to avoid undelivered messages or penalties. |
Registration & Approval
Once your account has been created with the service provider, the Admin user will receive a Welcome email with a link to create their password and log in. By that point, the account should be in an Active status, meaning it will be capable of sending and receiving text messages.
However, if the account is in a Pending status, it may mean that a third-party has requested further validation, in which case the registration will take a bit longer. Your service provider will let you know if there's an issue.
Account Management
With Business Text Messaging, you will be confident in knowing that you’re using an officially sanctioned messaging channel that benefits from a better quality of service for your messaging campaigns. Here's a few ways TCR is improving how BTM works.
Opt-Outs
When a contact sends "STOP," in any format, they will be immediately opted out of receiving all future messages from that phone number.
To prevent losing the contact's message history, "STOP" will not remove them from any Contact Lists. Instead, a label will be added next to the contact's name in the Contacts and Messages panels and the Message Sending area will be disabled.
Canceled or Disabled Accounts
If your account is canceled or disabled, your registered campaign is terminated immediately to prevent future billing and so the phone number can be text-enabled at another company. If the account is reactivated later, you will need to re-submit your campaign registration.