To someone who is unfamiliar to business text messaging, completing carrier registration is often one of the more shocking parts of text messaging.
We hear these types of things a lot:
"Why do I need to register my text messages, isn't it just like texting on a personal phone?"
The reality is, texting through software like MessageDesk isn't exactly like texting from your personal phone.
One of the key differences is you need to register your traffic. Though, this isn't as scary as it seems.
With your registration you are communicating to wireless carriers a few different things:
That you are a real business
The reason why you want to text your customers, staff, etc.
That you aren't going to send out malicious or SPAM messages
In this article, we'll take you through the benefits of registering and how to do so.
What is A2P?
A2P (application-to-person) messaging refers to texts that get sent using text messaging software.
A2P is a fancy way of saying that the text did not come from a personal phone.
These types of text messages are regulated much more than your personal messages.
Many of these regulations serve one overall purpose, to prevent SPAM messages from being delivered.
Why Do I Need to Register?
Reduced Message Failures
Registering your text messaging traffic prevents carriers from blocking your texts for SPAM.
Otherwise, you may see that the delivery rate of your broadcasts or other texts will drop.
Remember, even if you aren't texting for malicious purposes, your texts could still be blocked.
Increased Throughput
Registration also affords you better throughput.
Throughput is how quickly your messages could be sent out.
For example, if I send out a Broadcast to 100 people, those people will not receive the message right after you hit 'Send'. It will take a few minutes for those messages to be delivered to the recipient.
Carriers regulate how many messages can be sent out in a certain time period. Registering your traffic could afford you a better throughput rate so your messages get delivered faster.
Registration Checklist
Said simply, you need 3 things in order to register with the carriers:
You need to collect opt-in from the people you are texting
You need to use keywords like HELP and STOP (these are already in your MessageDesk account)
You need to complete your Carrier Registration
We go over these briefly below and include links to full guides on each of these three items to give you the best possible overview.
Collect Opt-in from the people you're texting
First, you need permission to text your contacts.
Specifically, you need express written consent in order to send texts to someone. This is because of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act which you can read more about here.
This consent cannot be hidden in fine print either, it needs to be clear and evident when someone is opting into receiving messages from you.
You can accomplish this by including a Call-to-Action that must meet a few criteria. This includes:
Type of Message: Information about the type of messages they are going to receive and the purpose.
Message Frequency: The frequency of the messages they should expect to receive.
Data & Rates: Carriers require you to inform those you're texting that they may incur costs as a result of signing up.
Terms and Conditions: This includes a few things like your Identity of your Company, Customer care contact information, and opt-out instructions.
Call to Action Template
Here's a template that you can use for your organization!
By checking this box you are agreeing to receiving automated marketing messages from MessageDesk LLC. This agreement is not a condition of purchase. Terms and Privacy Policy can be found at https://messagedesk.com/terms/. You may receive up to 4 msgs/mo. Reply STOP to opt out and HELP for help.
Even though this may seem like a lot to ask, it can be easily accomplished inside MessageDesk. Check out the below article for a full walkthrough on how to do so.
Use Keywords like HELP and STOP as required by law
Your STOP and HELP keywords are required for Registration.
Here's the good news, MessageDesk already has these set up for you! You can find all of your compliance messages in your Compliance Settings.
When either of these words are texted into your MessageDesk account the person sending them will receive an automatic response.
For STOP: Contacts who text this into your MessageDesk account will automatically be entered into your Opted Out group. This means you will no longer be able to message them. They can text into your number again to be removed from this group.
Read more about your compliance keywords and messages below.
⭐️ Complete your Carrier Registration
The final step is submitting your Carrier Registration.
It's required that you provide proof of the previous two steps in order for your registration to be accepted.
As long as you are collecting opt-ins with a clear call to action and using those keywords you're all set to start your registration.
Read the guide on completing the registration form below.
