UPDATE - September 19, 2022 -
This is a reminder that effective October 1, 2022, changes will be implemented across the messaging industry to the volumes of messages permitted from unverified toll-free numbers.
If your numbers have already been verified, no further action is needed. If one or more of your toll-free numbers have not been verified, read on to learn how to verify your unverified toll-free numbers.
The new industry-wide U.S. messaging limits per unverified Toll-Free numbers are listed below:
• Daily Limit: 2,000 messages per day
• Weekly Limit: 12,000 messages per week
• Monthly Limit: 25,000 messages per month
To continue sending messages in the toll-free space without these thresholds applied to your numbers:
- Complete the Verified Sender Request Form– one per use case. Note that use-cases that utilize multiple toll-free numbers must explain the reasoning for that fact.
- Submit your completed form before October 1, 2022. Note that all fields are required for all use cases. Omitting information will result in delays in processing and submitting your verification.
- If you have a large inventory of numbers, prioritize the toll-free numbers that send the greatest volume.
Once submitted, the verification process will take approximately one month to complete. During this time, your toll-free numbers will be placed in a “pending verification” state for the duration of the verification review. Numbers in this pending state will not be subject to the messaging limits.
Please complete the Toll-free Sender Verification process as soon as possible to avoid these new limitations to your traffic. https://support.tsgglobal.com/hc/en-us/article_attachments/6291778410267/TSG_-_Verified-Sender-Request_June_2022_.docx
As always, please reach out if you have any questions.
UPDATE - September 8, 2022 -
– Important –
UPDATE - JUNE 15, 2022 -
As of this date, the technical constraint to add net-new toll-free numbers via API has been lifted. Please continue to make your best effort to provide the Verified Sender form for new numbers but, we will temporarily not require the form prior to enablement unless the number is blocked.
The September 30, 2022 deadline is still in place for ALL Toll-Free Numbers to have the traffic verified. It is advised to begin your submissions ASAP and not wait until the deadline to submit to avoid any disruption to your messaging services.
Toll-Free US numbers are designated for business messaging use by all major carriers in the United States, and by most major mobile carriers in Canada. This makes Toll-Free numbers a popular alternative to long code or shortcode numbers in the US and Canada.
TSG has historically offered a traffic verification process for customers using Toll-Free numbers to send messages to the US and Canada. As of April 14, 2022, there are upcoming changes to Toll-Free verification that will make this process mandatory in order to send messages from Toll-Free numbers.
Starting May 15, 2022, any newly-purchased Toll-Free number on TSG will need to be verified before sending messages. Customers with existing Toll-Free numbers already on their accounts have until September 30, 2022, to verify traffic for those numbers.
I already have Toll-Free numbers. Am I affected by this change?
Toll-Free Verification is currently conducted via a support ticket (see below). If in doubt, check your ticket history or email communications with TSG, or contact us and we can check whether your number(s) are already verified.
In addition, if you have purchased High-Throughput Toll-Free capabilities for increased MPS sending rate on one or more of your Toll-Free numbers, those numbers are already verified.
What is Toll-Free Message Verification?
Verified Toll-Free Messaging simply means that your business and use case has been reviewed in advance of sending traffic via Toll-Free, and you have received carrier approval for messaging via Toll-Free numbers to the US/Canada. This verification process is free of cost.
Verification greatly reduces the risk of message filtering on Toll-Free traffic toward all major networks in the US and some in Canada, as long as you adhere to your stated use case and all applicable rules, such as TSG's AUP Messaging Policy.
This verification affects messaging to mobile users in the United States as well as the Fido, Rogers, Telus, and Videotron networks in Canada.
Other (non-US/Canada) countries do not treat Toll-Free SMS any differently than other international SMS, and you should consult that country’s SMS Guidelines page to learn more about compliance considerations for messaging.
Toll-Free Verification Process
To begin the process, download this form and complete it. Be sure to include all required information. Omitting information will result in delays in processing your verification.
Once you have completed the form, you may submit it via a support ticket. Please include “Toll-Free Verification for (your business name or number)” in the ticket subject line. The verification process on average can take approximately 5 business days for completion.
The form linked above includes the following fields. All of this information is required to verify traffic for your Toll-Free number:
- Business Name
- Company Website
- Business Address
- Compliance Contact (someone at your business who can respond to compliance questions if they arise)
- Expected Monthly Message Volume
- Toll-Free numbers to be verified
- Use Case / Description of the Use Case
- Production Message Content (samples that reflect the type of messages you will be sending)
- Opt-in Description (how do your recipients provide consent to receive messages?)
- Opt-in details (link to, image of, or scanned copy of opt-in page or process)
Please note, it is not necessary to include samples of every different variation on your messaging, but it is strongly recommended that your message samples are representative of the majority of the messaging you plan to send.
I use many Toll-Free numbers. How can I verify in bulk?
If you need to complete verification for a large amount of numbers, for example as an ISV with clients using different Toll-Free numbers, please download this template to fill out the required information for multiple numbers.
To download this template, open the above link, then use the in-page menu option for File -> Download -> Comma Separated Values (.csv). Then, send the completed file to us via a support ticket. For details/examples on formatting, please see the sample data located in the first two rows of the verification template.
Is an API available?
As of April 2022, no API is available for submitting Toll-Free verification requests.
Comments
0 comments
Article is closed for comments.