It is now a requirement that all businesses sending text messages to contacts in the USA register their business and their use case for sending text messages. This ensures that your messages are delivered to the intended recipients and increases trust and engagement with your company. We’re committed to helping you take steps to have your business registered right away, so you can get started texting faster.

Carriers and authorities overseeing the registration process levee fees for registering companies based on use cases and message velocity. We have simplified these costs as follows:

• One-time setup fee: $20

The registration process involves submitting a form available to administrators under “SMS Registration” in the upper-right dashboard menu. This form will ask for basic information about the business and the messages it intends to send across all text-enabled phone numbers. This guide will take you through each section of the SMS Registration Form:

• About Your Business

• Primary Contact

• Intended SMS Use

• Subscriber Opt-In, Help, and Opt-Out

• Special Use Cases

• Sample Messages

About Your Business

Here are some things to remember as you complete the business details section.

• The values you enter for the legal company name and tax ID number (EIN) must match the values on your tax registration document. If you have any doubts, we recommend double-checking your tax forms before filling out the registration.

• Provide the URL to the website that represents your business.

Primary Contact

Your primary contact is the person responsible for texting on this particular phone number. We’ll follow up with them should any questions arise during registration or in the future.

Intended SMS Use

In this field, “Describe Typical Use,” describe the content your company will be sending via SMS from this phone number. What is the purpose of these messages?

Next, categorize the type of messages. Here are some guidelines on the type of messages that you might be sending:

• UCaaS Low Volume

These are messages which contain information that is necessary for your customers to use your product or service. These texts usually contain information that customers have requested and most businesses will fall under this use case. Think of the following:

• Order confirmations with tracking numbers
• Two-factor authentication
• Password resets
• Transactional messages
• Reservation confirmations (With prompt to reply Y/N to confirm)

Sample Message: Order number 31415 is on its way. Visit example.com/31415 to track your shipment.

• Marketing Messages

These are messages sent with the purpose of increasing sales, promoting your product, or raising awareness about your business. Any text message that is intended to promote your organization is considered promotional, including the following:

• Coupons, discounts, and offers
• New product announcements
• Sweepstakes
• Fundraising requests

Sample Message: Thanks for shopping with us! Based on your purchase, we think you’d love this product: example.com/productrecommendation

Subscriber Opt-In, Help, and Opt-Out

Regardless of the type of messages, you are sending – informational or marketing – a critical aspect of compliant business texting is consent. Businesses can only text contacts that have provided their express consent. Express consent can never be assumed. For example, if a patient provides their number for verification purposes when scheduling an appointment, they’re not automatically consenting to future appointment reminders. Likewise, just because someone is your customer does not grant you the ability to send them weekly marketing messages. Common opt-in methods include:

• A website/signup form that includes a checkbox requesting their consent to send your particular use case’s messages (Ex: I consent to receive marketing text messages)

• Texting an opt-in keyword to your phone number (Ex: Text “welcome” to (phone number) to get updates about our weekly specials)

Please also provide the keyword and message for your customers to receive help.

As important as opting-in, is the ability to opt-out and no longer receive messages. This too, is required. VirtualPBX’s VirtualText App includes the following keyword-based opt-out by default, but you may add additional options within your account:

• Text “STOP” to opt-out of text messages from this number

Special Use Cases

Depending on how and why you’ll be messaging your customers, you may fall under a special use case. Filling out your answers here will help us determine how to correctly register your company and avoid common account flags at the mobile carrier level.

Sample Messages

Next, please provide samples of the messages that you’ll be sending.

That’s it! After you submit your SMS Registration, our team will review and process the information provided. You’ll be able to track the status of your registration through your dashboard and our team will reach out to you when registration has been approved, or if we need additional information.