A2P Registration (Required to use SMS/Texting)

Access level required: Site Administrator, Site Administrator (No Billing Access)

To ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations, companies are required to register as part of the A2P 10DLC program. This program provides a means to more easily identify fraudulent and/or malicious text messages while providing better deliverability to legitimate messages.

It also puts forth a set of best practices to ensure that registered companies continue to engage in quality messaging.

What is "A2P 10DLC"?

A2P stands for "Application-to-Person," and refers to messages sent from a software application to an individual's phone. The term 10DLC stands for "10-Digit Long Code," which is a standard 10-digit phone number designated for business use. Together, A2P 10DLC creates a standard in business messaging that enables companies to send higher volumes of messages more reliably and cost-effectively than before.

All text messages sent from CATS are A2P 10DLC.

Because A2P messaging can appear indistinguishable from P2P (or person-to-person) messages, this can lead to challenges in distinguishing between genuine communications and potential spam or abuse. The A2P 10DLC program creates a reliable way to ensure that legitimate messages are easily identifiable and trusted by recipients.

Why should I register?

Registering for A2P 10DLC offers a number of advantages for your text messaging activities.

Aligning with federal guidelines - Registering and keeping your messaging inline with these guidelines reduces potential legal risks
Improved deliverability - Messages from registered numbers are significantly less likely to be flagged as spam, increasing the likelihood that your communications reach their intended recipients
Higher message throughput - Registered numbers can send more messages in a shorter period, an essential feature in today's fast-paced recruiting market
Staying ahead of carrier requirements - Some mobile carriers have already begun to require registration for all A2P messaging

Registration Requirements

In order to meet A2P 10DLC requirements, every SMS-enabled phone number must assigned to an approved Brand and Campaign. The Brand identifies your organization as a valid business entity for the messaging carriers (AT&T, Verizon, etc). The Campaign identifies your use-case for using SMS messaging. Usage of your registered numbers outside of the purposes described in your Campaign may result in blocked messaging traffic or decreased deliverability.

Brand Registration Requirements

Brand Registration allows TCR to confirm the identity and validity of a business entity.

To register your organization's Brand, you will need to provide the following information about the business:

DBA or Brand Name
Legal Company Name
Tax ID/EIN
Legal Form of the Business - choose from:
1. Privately Held Company
2. Publicly Traded Company (including Stock Exchange and Symbol, if applicable)
3. Nonprofit Organization
4. Government
Phone Number
Email Address
Street Address
Country
City
State
Zip / Postal Code
Web Address

Some important notes on the items above:

DBA or Brand Name: This is usually the public-facing name of the business, and may or may not match the Legal Name.

Legal Company Name: This must exactly match the company name registered with the IRS and associated with the Tax ID / EIN. Differences in punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and inclusion/exclusion of "Inc", "LLC", etc may result in failed registrations.

Tax ID/EIN: An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is also known as a Federal Tax Identification Number, and is used to identify a business entity. You may find your organization's EIN in IRS records or on prior years' tax returns. Employees may find an employer's EIN on their W-2.

Phone + Email: Must be contact information for an authorized representative of the Company

Physical Address: These items must match the contact info/physical address of the business.

Web Address: Your organization must have a valid, secure web presence in order to use A2P SMS services. If you do not have a business website, a social media profile (Facebook Page or LinkedIn company profile) may be used instead. The social media profile should indicate an operational business (active followers and engagement).

Some examples of failed approvals:

Website is not functional or is not secure (no HTTPS).
Website contains malware.
Website does not represent the registered business.
Social media profile does not represent the registered business.

Campaign Registration Requirements

How to Register a Brand and Campaign

Brand Verification

To verify your Brand, you must submit your Employer Identification Number (EIN) along with your company's information. This information must match what is on file with your state. Brand verification is often completed within minutes if all submitted information correctly matches the EIN record.

The most common reason for a Brand registration to be rejected is incorrect information. Therefore, it's crucial to ensure that all submitted information is accurate and matches your EIN details on file.

Campaign Vetting

You must also provide details on your text messaging Campaign to be approved for A2P messaging. Your Campaign should outline how your company plans to utilize text messaging services within CATS.

Regulations require specifying Campaign types and Use Cases. All Campaigns will be submitted under the "Low Volume Mixed" type, which is defined as multiple messaging use cases with low throughput (less than 15,000 messages per month). Use Cases will also be set as "Customer Care" and "Marketing" for all Campaigns. CATS will make these selections automatically on your behalf.

Perhaps the most important part of the vetting process is providing examples of some of your most frequently used text messages. This helps the vetting service gain insight into your actual use of A2P messaging. This is a crucial step that you must complete in order for your Campaign to be approved.

The vetting service will also look into your online presence. Campaigns are commonly rejected due to information they find (on your company's website, for example) that doesn't match the submitted Campaign details.

Vetting Timeline

Brand verification is usually finalized within minutes of submission. Once your Brand is verified, we'll review and submit your Campaign for vetting.

However, the Campaign vetting process is more subjective and may take 3-10 days to finalize. You'll receive a notification once your Campaign is approved and your A2P registration is fully processed.

Registration Form

To get started on a new registration go to Settings > Administration and click on A2P.