Mobile text marketing requires an identifying FROM phone number that distributes text messages and there are several different setups. The industry has been historically dominated by what is known as short codes. Most people are familiar with a short code, which is a 5 or 6 digit phone number that is designed for high volume, commercial text message and easy to remember phone numbers for opting in since the digits are abbreviated (i.e., Text “Joinme” to 67550). One of the most common types of short codes is what’s known as a shared short code, which 100s, potentially 1000s of businesses share. On a shared shortcode, your business has a unique keyword assigned to your business but the phone number (short code) is used by lots of other companies.
However, the era of the shared short code is coming to an end . . .
The major wireless carriers (AT&T, Rogers, T-Mobile, Verizon etc.) in the US and Canada have already or are in the process of phasing out shared short codes and forcing operators to transition to either a dedicated short code or a dedicated long code. The carriers want every business to have their own identifying phone number for mobile text marketing to improve spam filtering and opt in compliance. Shared short codes will likely be fully unsupported by early 2022. Operators can request a dedicated short code that is leased just for your business and not shared by others. However, unless your business is very large and you’re sending over 1M+ messages monthly, this option is not feasible for the vast majority of small businesses due to the high setup and monthly fees. It other words, unless you’re messaging on the level of Starbucks or Target, chances are you don’t need a dedicated short code.
The trend in the industry for most small businesses is to adopt a toll free or local long code (10 digit phone number). We offer both message options.
10 digit long codes are used for one on one or bulk messaging between a business and its opted in subscribers. Existing business phone lines can be “text enabled” and activated for text messaging. This process does NOT impact existing voice service. Your existing land line phone number can support text and voice simultaneously without impact. This means customers can be talking to you on the SAME phone line that is sending text messages without any interruption or disruption in service.
There’s a lot to like about reserving your own dedicated local or toll-free long code. Here is a summary of benefits:
Private Number: A long code is a dedicated phone number that belongs to only your business. It’s not shared by any other business. In fact, it can be your own land line business phone number.
Choose Your Keyword(s): We can setup any keyword(s) you desire under your own long code. This includes common words like “bowl”, “pizza”, “beauty” “auto” that may have previously been unavailable on a shared short code due to their popularity.
Fast Setup: We can usually complete the setup process within 1 business day.
SMS and MMS supported. Either of these options support the Short Message Send (160 characters or less) or the longer Multimedia Message Send (MMS) which supports longer messages up to 500 characters and multimedia (images/video). MMS can deliver a variety of media, including up to forty seconds of video, one image, a slideshow of multiple images, or audio.
High bandwidth. Both Text Enabled Local DLC and Toll Free numbers support high volume (A2P) messaging. Outbound marketing campaigns will send messages at the rate of 40-100 messages per second depending on traffic congestion at time of campaign send. NOTE: 10-DLCs are now updating to high volume capabilities so the perceived disadvantage of lower bandwidth with local numbers compared to toll free is going away.
US and Canada supported. If you serve customers in both countries they can use the same keyword(s) and long code from their wireless carrier. You don’t need separate number or text messaging accounts.
Low Cost: Activating a 10 DLC or Toll Free number is a low expense option compared to dedicated short code setup and maintenance fees.
On the downside, spam filters on messages can sometimes result in false positives but this issue can easily be corrected. Spam filtering at the carrier level will look for and potentially reject messages containing:
The answer is whatever you want and we’ll set it up for you. One nice thing about using an existing local number is its easier for your staff to remember if you are telling people verbally how to join your list by texting your keyword to your local phone number. Secondly, this number will be your FROM phone number for text communications so customers may trust it more if they recognize it. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter and the vast majority of people don’t care. If they want to receive messages from your business they will opt in or out regardless of the phone number’s area code.
This article covers the types of mobile text marketing setups, including the differences between a short code, 10 digit local long code or toll free number long code.
Mobile text marketing requires an identifying FROM phone number that distributes text messages and there are several different setups. The industry has been historically dominated by what is known as short codes. Most people are familiar with a short code, which is a 5 or 6 digit phone number that is designed for high volume, commercial text message and easy to remember phone numbers for opting in since the digits are abbreviated (i.e., Text “Joinme” to 67550). One of the most common types of short codes is what’s known as a shared short code, which 100s, potentially 1000s of businesses share. On a shared shortcode, your business has a unique keyword assigned to your business but the phone number (short code) is used by lots of other companies.
However, the era of the shared short code is coming to an end . . .
The major wireless carriers (AT&T, Rogers, T-Mobile, Verizon etc.) in the US and Canada have already or are in the process of phasing out shared short codes and forcing operators to transition to either a dedicated short code or a dedicated long code. The carriers want every business to have their own identifying phone number for mobile text marketing to improve spam filtering and opt in compliance. Shared short codes will likely be fully unsupported by early 2022. Operators can request a dedicated short code that is leased just for your business and not shared by others. However, unless your business is very large and you’re sending over 1M+ messages monthly, this option is not feasible for the vast majority of small businesses due to the high setup and monthly fees. It other words, unless you’re messaging on the level of Starbucks or Target, chances are you don’t need a dedicated short code.
The trend in the industry for most small businesses is to adopt a toll free or local long code (10 digit phone number). We offer both message options.
10 digit long codes are used for one on one or bulk messaging between a business and its opted in subscribers. Existing business phone lines can be “text enabled” and activated for text messaging. This process does NOT impact existing voice service. Your existing land line phone number can support text and voice simultaneously without impact. This means customers can be talking to you on the SAME phone line that is sending text messages without any interruption or disruption in service.
There’s a lot to like about reserving your own dedicated local or toll-free long code. Here is a summary of benefits:
Private Number: A long code is a dedicated phone number that belongs to only your business. It’s not shared by any other business. In fact, it can be your own land line business phone number.
Choose Your Keyword(s): We can setup any keyword(s) you desire under your own long code. This includes common words like “bowl”, “pizza”, “beauty” “auto” that may have previously been unavailable on a shared short code due to their popularity.
Fast Setup: We can usually complete the setup process within 1 business day.
SMS and MMS supported. Either of these options support the Short Message Send (160 characters or less) or the longer Multimedia Message Send (MMS) which supports longer messages up to 500 characters and multimedia (images/video). MMS can deliver a variety of media, including up to forty seconds of video, one image, a slideshow of multiple images, or audio.
High bandwidth. Both Text Enabled Local DLC and Toll Free numbers support high volume (A2P) messaging. Outbound marketing campaigns will send messages at the rate of 40-100 messages per second depending on traffic congestion at time of campaign send. NOTE: 10-DLCs are now updating to high volume capabilities so the perceived disadvantage of lower bandwidth with local numbers compared to toll free is going away.
US and Canada supported. If you serve customers in both countries they can use the same keyword(s) and long code from their wireless carrier. You don’t need separate number or text messaging accounts.
Low Cost: Activating a 10 DLC or Toll Free number is a low expense option compared to dedicated short code setup and maintenance fees.
On the downside, spam filters on messages can sometimes result in false positives but this issue can easily be corrected. Spam filtering at the carrier level will look for and potentially reject messages containing:
The answer is whatever you want and we’ll set it up for you. One nice thing about using an existing local number is its easier for your staff to remember if you are telling people verbally how to join your list by texting your keyword to your local phone number. Secondly, this number will be your FROM phone number for text communications so customers may trust it more if they recognize it. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter and the vast majority of people don’t care. If they want to receive messages from your business they will opt in or out regardless of the phone number’s area code.
