Overview
Text messages continue to be a highly preferred method of consumer engagement for many businesses including within healthcare. Mobile carriers (e.g. Verizon) have implemented a series of policies and procedures to increase trust across the messaging ecosystem and reduce the spam that consumers may receive through SMS messaging. These policies require phone numbers to go through a registration process to confirm who is sending the message, the types of message contents, and whether the consumer consented to receive these messages.
Types Of Phone Numbers
There are 2 main number types used at Updox for practice to patient text messaging products such as Reminders, Video Chat invites, Secure Text, and Broadcast.
NOTE: We only support service in the United States and its territories.
10 DLC – A local number
Sanctioned business text messages using a local phone number otherwise known as a 10-digit long code. To send messages using a 10DLC number, the business must register their brand, campaign content, and be carrier-approved.
These can be helpful if you want to show your business locality (area code) to the customers.
Toll-Free
Sanctioned business text messages using a toll-free number which is a ten-digit number starting with 8XX such as 800, 877, 888, etc. All traffic through toll-free numbers needs to go through a verification process and gain carrier approval.
While a toll-free number does not have the same tie to locality, it provides a lower-cost method of sending SMS messages.
Registration Processes
Each number will undergo a registration process to be verified by the carriers. Updox will provision a Toll-Free number and complete the number registration on your behalf once we have collected all necessary business details. The verification requires details such as business name, address, phone number, contact, email, and company website. This new registration process can take between 2-5 business days to complete. Please note that carriers will not allow any SMS traffic to be sent on a provisioned number until it has completed the verification process.
10 DLC (Local Number)
Use of a 10 DLC number requires the submission of a campaign to the carriers. The campaign requires details such as business name, address, phone number, contact, email, company website, and EIN (What is an EIN?). Along with business details, the campaign requires examples of message contents and end-user consent. This also requires a one-time campaign registration fee of $25 as well as monthly campaign fees of $12 per number.
Toll-Free
Use of a toll-free number requires the number to go through a verification process with the carriers. The verification requires details such as business name, address, phone number, contact, email, and company website. There are no additional fees for verifying a toll-free number.
How do I know if I am impacted?
Partners that are impacted by this change would be those who are leveraging either of the two APIs listed below to send SMS messages.
EventNotificationBulkCreateSMS Send
If any of your customers have contracted directly with Updox to leverage our SMS-based products we will be working directly with those customers to aid in the verification process.
HEADS UP! In addition, if you are leveraging our Broadcast or Reminders products inside of the Updox application you may also be impacted.
What do I need to do?
Over the next several weeks we will be working directly with our partners who are leveraging our SMS APIs or SMS-based products to better understand what type of messages your customers may be sending through our APIs or products and with that information come up with recommendations and best practices to aid in developing a strategy to help with message delivery and phone number verification processes.