Mobile carriers in the U.S. and Canada, including the major wireless operators who deliver SMS traffic, now require SMS messages sent from applications, like Grasshopper, to be registered. This mandatory cross-carrier initiative is designed to prevent unwanted texts or "spam" that has increased in recent years. Businesses not registered with The Campaign Registry (TCR) will not be able to send SMS/MMS messages across the mobile carriers’ network. This impacts all U.S. and Canadian customers; however, if the businesses are outside the U.S. and Canada and send a message to U.S. or Canadian customers they will also be impacted. The Campaign Registry (TCR) was created to ensure compliance with regulations passed by Congress and the FCC to protect customers from robocalls, spam texts, and makes opt-ins and opt-outs for messaging an industry standard.

Learn what ineligible use cases are when registering and verifying your phone number SMS campaigns.

The registration process involves $19 in one-time fees ($4 to register your company with TCR and $15 for carriers to vet your campaign) plus a fixed monthly fee to TCR based on the campaign registered (see table below). If your campaign is rejected by the vetting carrier due to missing or inaccurate information, the $15 fee will apply for each attempt. Grasshopper passes on these one-time and monthly fees without markup.

Opt-in

Customers who agree to receive text messages from a business "opt-in".

Opt-in example: Customers manually opt-in by selecting a button or checking a box to agree to receive text messages from a contact form on the business website.

Opt-out

Customers who unsubscribe to text messages from a business "opt-out".

Opt-out example: Customers must have the ability to opt-out in at least two ways:

• Customers who previously opted in to texting can opt-out by texting "STOP" to XXX-XXX-XXXX.
• Customers must also have the option to manually opt-out by selecting a button or checking a box to not receive text messages from a contact form on the business website.

A brand is otherwise known as who is sending a message. This is usually your business or company name.

Grasshopper is actively working with its carrier to support this campaign type, but it is not yet available. Please note, all customers with a tax ID or EIN can register and should follow the low volume / standard registration process.

Telecom companies require registration to send SMS from local numbers. An SMS Registration (10DLC campaign) contains information about your use case. You can associate one or more numbers to a campaign or create multiple campaigns.

1. Sign in at https://nuui.us.grasshopper.com/carrierregistration.
2. Select Register SMS.
3. Enter the following information:
   • Phone Number: Assign the phone numbers that you will use for the campaign that you have created.
   • Use Case: Choose the use case that best fits your SMS campaign.
     • More than 6000 texts/day: Frequent text messages to customers (i.e., daily or weekly).
     • Less than 6000 texts/day: A few text messages to customers (i.e., monthly).
   • Description: Provide information about how the number will be used, ensuring compliance with carrier policies and preventing spam or unsolicited messages. Learn about ineligible use cases.
   • How did you get permission to message your contacts?: Failure to obtain express end user consent (opt-in) or not respecting the end-user’s right to revoke consent (opt-out) will result in carrier rejection of your submission. An existing business relationship cannot obtain permission.
   • Example message: Enter an example of a message sent by the selected phone number for the campaign.
   • Embedded phone number: Check the box if the campaign uses an embedded phone number.
   • Embedded link: Check the box if the campaign uses an embedded link.
   • Direct lending or loan arrangement: Check the box if the campaign includes any content related to direct lending or other loan arrangements.
   • Age-gated content: Check the box if the campaign includes any age-gated content as defined by the carrier and CTIA guidelines.
   • Number pooling: Check this box if you intend on using 50+ numbers, as this will require a different provisioning process with T-Mobile.
4. Carefully review and verify the information is correct and the total cost, then enable the check box to confirm.
5. Check the box if the phone number will not be used for affiliate marketing.
6. Select Submit.
7. Repeat for other SMS campaigns.

The SMS campaign vetting process can take 10-30 business days. You can check the status of your brand registration at https://nuui.us.grasshopper.com/carrierregistration . The different statuses are In Progress, Carrier Approved, and Failed. If your SMS campaign registration has failed, you must complete the form again. Each new submission incurs an additional brand registration charge, which is non-refundable. All your numbers will automatically be associated with the campaign to send SMS.

Below is a list of common rejection reasons with guidance to avoid rejection.

• Is Grasshopper going to switch off my text messaging capabilities if I haven’t registered an SMS campaign by a specific date?
  • Customers who do not complete registration by September 30th, 2023 will incur SMS/MMS usage charges at a rate of $0.01 per sent or received SMS message and $0.017 per sent or received MMS message. These usage charges may change based on rates set by the carriers and are subject to taxes. Also, unregistered SMS traffic continues to be exposed to the risk that carriers will block delivery.
• I just obtained a new EIN with the IRS, how long should I wait to register?
  • A new EIN will not be immediately available in the IRS database used for SMS registration. The TCR has indicated that it may take approximately 4 weeks for a new EIN to be available. Customers that have just received a new EIN should allow for this processing time before submitting registration with their new EIN.
• Do I need to register each of my business phone numbers?
  • Yes, and multiple numbers can be registered at the same time. During registration, select all the phone numbers you'd like to register.
• I don’t send bulk messages. Do I still need to register?
  • Yes, registration is required for all SMS traffic.
• What happens if I don't register?
  • All customers must submit their registration to TCR before August 31, 2023. After this date, outgoing SMS/MMS messages will be at an increased risk of being blocked by carriers or may be subject to higher usage fees.
• I’m in Canada. Do I still need to register?
  • All Canadian customers that send SMS messages must register.
• Why am I getting an error saying my Tax ID doesn’t match the business name or type?
  • While we can’t know exactly the reason for the mismatch, some common issues are:
    • Special characters. The IRS doesn’t allow special characters in business names and accepts only: alpha (A-Z), numeric (0-9), hyphen (-), and ampersand (&).
    • INC or LLC: The registered name has or is missing a trailing “INC” or “LLC”. US customers can call the IRS helpline to verify their registered business name: +1 (800) 829-4933. At the IVR, select a language, 1 for EIN questions, then 3 for “I have an EIN”.