SMS Registration Guide

Before we get started, first, make sure you have access to the following:

• Company Information
• Company Settings (again, you'll need to be a Company Admin)
• An understanding of why and how your organization messages US mobile numbers 

Brand and Campaign approval is required for registration. Don't worry, we've done the heavy lifting and you can now upload your data in a single step.

Let's dive into the details. 

Campaign Registration Dashboard

The Campaign Registration Dashboard allows Company Admins to easily view the status of their registration submissions, as well as any issues or errors encountered during the registration process.

To access your Campaign Registration Dashboard, head to your Admin Settings from Dialpad.com

1. Select Company Settings
2. Navigate to SMS Management
3. Select SMS Registration

Registering a brand for your organization

The Company & Brand Information Form is critical to the verification process — for a successful registration, each field must be filled in accurately. 

Let's go over what needs to be entered into each field.

Company Type

Here, you'll see the following 5 choices:

• Private Profit
  • Your company has a valid Tax ID (see below)
  • Is not listed on a public stock exchange
  • Is not a non-profit organization
• Public Profit
  • Your company is listed on a public stock exchange
• Sole Proprietor
  • Your company does NOT have a valid Tax ID (see below)
  • See the Sole Proprietor Campaign section below for details on other restrictions
• Non-Profit
  • Only to be used by designated "NON PROFIT" status businesses
  • Organizations with a "NOT FOR PROFIT" status need to register as a "Private Profit Company"
• Government
  • Only to be used by Government-run organizations
• Sole Proprietor
  • Allows customers without an EIN (US) to register and send A2P 10DLC messaging
  • Selecting the Sole Proprietor option will restrict your entire brand to sending text messages from only 1 number — this number can be selected during the registration process
  • It is mandatory to pass a two-step validation process and in order to complete the One Time Password (OTP) verification process, users need to provide a cell-phone number (not a Dialpad number) to receive the code. 
    • If you experience any difficulty when sending the OTP code, please contact our Support Team

Legal Company Name

The legal name of your business, as noted with the IRS. Don't worry, this name is not shown to any consumer or message recipient.

The only accepted characters are:

• Alpha (A-Z)
• Numeric (0-9)
• Hyphen (-)
• Ampersand (&)

If the legal name of your business includes any characters other than those listed above, you'll need to adjust your verbiage so that the regulator understands. 

For example, if your legal name contains:

• A symbol or character ("+", "@" or ".")
  • Spell out the symbol (ie "plus"), or drop the symbol and leave a space
• A ".com" notation (Jones.com)
  • Note this as Jones Dot Com or Jones Com
• A backward (\) or forward (/) slash
  • Note this as a hyphen (-)
• Apostrophe (')
  • Drop the apostrophe and do not leave a space

Brand Name

If your company does business under a different name than the one you registered with the IRS, you'll need to enter that in the ‘Doing Business As’ (DBA) field.

Company Tax ID number

The Tax ID number is used in conjunction with the company’s name, address, and other information to ensure we perform a background investigation on the correct company. Please see the per region guidance:

United States

If you are a US company or a foreign company with a US IRS Employer Identification Number (EIN), enter that nine-digit number in the EIN field and ensure that your legal company name is consistent with your IRS registration and is properly spelled. The address you enter should also be the same as that used in registering with the IRS.

Canada

If your primary business registration is in Canada, enter your Canadian Corporation Number, which may be federal or provincial. Please do NOT enter your business number or federal tax ID number, as that is not readily cross-referenced. Ensure that your legal company name is consistent with your corporation registration and is properly spelled. The address entered needs to be the same as that used in registering with Corporations Canada.

• Alberta: Corporate Access Number 
• British Columbia: Requires an alpha prefix (BC)
• Quebec: Quebec Business Number
• Ontario: Federal Corporation Business Number (begins with two zeros, but remove leading zeros in admin to verify)
• Manitoba: Manitoba Corporation Number 

If your company is registered in a region without specifications for the Tax ID, you will need to contact the A2P Trust Vendor to get the latest guidance for your region. You can indicate your intention to register with Dialpad as your Campaign Service Provider.

Europe, Eastern Europe, North Atlantic, Middle East, South America, and APAC

Please enter the numeric portion of your VAT ID number. Automated VAT identification matching is currently optimized for the following list of countries. If your country is not on this list, please provide the primary corporation registration number or tax ID number for your country. 

• Croatia HR
• Hungary HU
• Ireland IE
• Italy IT
• Lithuania LT
• Luxembourg LU
• Latvia LV
• Malta MT
• Netherlands NL
• Norway NO
• Poland PL
• Portugal PT
• Romania RO
• Sweden SE
• Slovenia SI
• Slovakia SK
• Northern Ireland XI
• United Arab Emirates AE
• Australia AU
• Belarus BY
• Chile CL
• Iceland IS
• Malaysia MY
• New Zealand NZ
• Saudi Arabia SA
• Singapore SG
• Taiwan TW

Contact Information

Please provide the email address and phone number for a contact at your company with knowledge of the registration details. Ie: who can we contact about this campaign registration if there are any issues?

Industry

Select the industry category that best aligns with your organization.

Website

Your company's primary website.

You must provide the full URL such as: http://www.example.com  or https://www.example.com

Company address

The legal address associated with your business registration and Tax ID.

Registering your messages for your organization

The Campaign or Message registration describes how your organization sends messages to Consumers. The terminology here can be misleading — a Campaign is the general reason you're sending a message, not a specific or targeted communication campaign, or an electoral campaign. This provides the mobile wireless providers with context, allowing them to approve the Campaign. Understanding Dialpad’s Messaging Principles and Best Practices will help you answer the questions in this form.

Message Description

Here, you must detail the use of your messages and what your main activity is.

You're providing information on the what, the when, and the how you send messages to your consumers. 

These are not internal communications between Dialpad accounts, but messages sent to mobile phone users.

For example, a local pharmacy could provide:

Our pharmacy staff will send a message to customers who have provided their phone number and approval to receive an SMS notification when their order is ready to be picked up.

An educational institution could provide:

Our institution's leadership sends messages to parents of our students, who previously provided their phone numbers, to invite them to participate in monthly talks, general school communication meetings, or meetings on specific topics that may occur spontaneously.

Restricted Content Declarations

The Yes/No and checkbox questions are declarations of the content your organization’s messages sent to Consumers.

Age-gated message content, lending or loan arrangements

If, due to your main activity, you are sending content of this nature, it should be made clear.

This highly regulated content should be clearly described in message descriptions and sample messages to avoid false warnings and fees.

Requirement Verification

Here, you'll need to provide examples of your OPT-IN, OUP-OUT and HELP messages, and keyword examples.

In the event your business does not have the OPT-OUT and HELP options, you can use the ones that Dialpad offers. 

Messaging types

In this section, specify the main use of your SMS/MMS messages in your business, either conversational messaging, or automated communication. 

• Conversational messages are an active dialogue with customers, with a back-and-forth format of queries and responses.
• Automated communications use pre-formatted messages, such as marketing campaigns, password retrieval, meeting or appointment reminders, delivery tracking, etc. They are not conversations or messages that are composed by individuals at the time of sending.

If your business actively uses both cases, select both options.

If selecting automated cases you are required to provide examples in the next step.

OPT-IN

In the Opt-In section, you must describe how a consumer opts in and consents to start receiving your messages.

Select the opt-in methods your company uses.

• If you send only Conversational text messages, select "Manually with consent" (meaning you obtained consent verbally, via text message, or in person).
• If you send mostly Automated messages, select "Customer provides their number through an opt-in service".

Be sure to check all applicable opt-in methods:

• Customers enter a telephone number through a website
• Customers tapp a button on a mobile website
• Customers send a message with an advertising keyword 
• Customers initiate the text message conversation after obtaining the number from a public source (website, advertisement, etc.)
• Customer sign up at a point-of-sale (POS) or other on-site Message Sender 
• Customers opt-in over the phone using interactive voice response (IVR) technology

Example 1

Your customers register by visiting www.example.com and adding their telephone number. 

➡️ Check the box where clients agree to receive text messages by entering a number through a website.

Example 2

Consumers register by sending a text message with the word START to (111) 222-3333.

➡️ Check the box where clients agree to receive text messages by sending a keyword message from their mobile device.

Example 3

Customers register by visiting www.example.com and adding their telephone number. They then check a box agreeing to receive text messages from the example brand. In addition, consumers can also sign up by texting START to (111) 222-3333.

➡️ Check the boxes where clients enter a telephone number through a website, click a button on a mobile page and send a message containing a keyword. 

Next, you'll need to write the message that your consumers will receive once they've agreed to opt-in. The response must include the brand name, confirmation of the message subscription, how to get help, and a clear description of how to unsubscribe (opt-out).

Examples: 

• "You are now subscribed to Company-Name. Notifications Msg frequently varies. To get help, reply HELP. To unsubscribe, reply STOP".
• “Welcome to Company-Name. You will start receiving text messages. If you need assistance text HELP replying to this message. Reply STOP to cancel subscription”.
• “Company-Name: Reply YES to subscribe to mobile alerts. You’ll start receiving periodic messages delivered via automated technology. Text HELP for help. Text STOP 2 stop”.

OPT-OUT

In the opt-out section, you'll detail the response the consumer will receive once they have unsubscribed by sending the word STOP. 

You need to detail the brand name, acknowledgement of receipt of the unsubscribe request, and confirmation that no further messages will be sent.

Examples: 

• "Company-Name: You have been opted out and will not receive any further messages".
• “You have successfully unsubscribed from Company-Name. You will not receive any more notifications from us. Reply UNSTOP to resubscribe”
• “Company-Name: You have opted out and will no longer receive messages from this service. To resubscribe reply UNSTOP” 

HELP

For the HELP section, you'll need to detail the response the consumer receives when they send the HELP keyword. 

You must include the brand name, contact information, and the the option to unsubscribe.

Examples: 

• "Company-Name: For help, send an email to support@example.com. To unsubscribe, reply STOP".
• “Welcome to Company-Name. Reply w/ HELP for more information. Send END to unsubscribe”.
• “This is Company-Name. If you have any doubts click on company-name.com/help, if you need further assistance type HELP. Send STOP 2 cancel”.

Messaging details - generic best practices 

If you selected "Automated-driven communication" in the previous section, you will need to provide examples of the main message type you send — Regulators are looking for specific information, in a specific way. 

Select the type of message you send in your campaign, and when adding the examples don’t forget to add the mandatory information, such as Help and Stop keywords.

Let's break down the following messages, which clearly identifies the following:  

1. A real-world example of messaging a consumer
2. Clear identification of the message sender
3. Clear call to action
4. Displays  common URLs or Phone numbers 
5. Opt-out keywords and instructions

Take a look at the below sample message:

"Hi Carla, this is Susie from  checking to see how your launch of the AI CSAT feature was proceeding and if you had any problems you needed help with? You can always get a hold of our support team at  URL. You can also stop receiving these messages by replying STOP."

• Clear identification of the sender
• Clear call to action, respond back with questions
• Sample shows our link to our domain for support contacts
• Opt-out instructions for initial contact messages.

Things like “Hi, how are you doing today?” are considered conversational messaging, and without confirmation of who is sending the message or why, it will likely be rejected by the approvers.

Have a look at the following real-life examples:

• “Thank you for your order at Company-Name. We’ll notify you when it ships. Check your order at example.com/order-detail. Unsubscribe example.com/unsubscribe”
• “Visit Restaurant-Name today and get a 25% discount. Show this message at the pay box. 2 cancel reply STOP”
• “Welcome to Company-Name. For your first login you need your activation PIN: 865478. To stop reply STOP”
• “Hi Anna, this is John from Company-Name. You have booked a hair cutting appointment on 20th Jan, 2 pm. Reply Y to confirm, N to cancel. Send STOP 2 stop”.
• “This is Company-Name. Hi John. Thank you for sending me an inbound text message to my work phone number. My name is Peter, and I am your dedicated Customer Success Manager. I will be assisting you with your question. Is this a good time to call you back? Text HELP for Help or STOP to opt-out”

More information

Have a read through the following articles for more information:

• Text Message Campaign Registry FAQs
• Messaging Principles and Best Practices 
• Text Message Campaign for Dialpad Customers