10 things to know before committing to a shortcode
TRANSCRIPT
2SMS RESOURCES
RESOURCE COMMITMENT
FINANCIAL COMMITMENT
10 THING YOU NEED NEED TO
KNOW ABOUT A SHORTCODE BEFORE
COMMITTING
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TIME COMMITMENT
2SMS RESOURCES
1. DO I REALLY NEED A SHORTCODE
• Dedicated Shorcode Business Requirement • 2-way communication with an enduser • Endusers want an easy, efficient 2-way
communications system • Complete control of how 2-way communications
are handled and stored • Brand recognition and protection
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2SMS RESOURCES
2. TYPE OF SHORTCODE• Generic
• Randomly generated 5-6 digit number • Monthly leasing cost: $500 in US
• Vanity
• Hand picked 5-6 digit number (like a vanity license plate. e.g. ILUVTX)
• Monthly leasing cost: $,1000 in US
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2SMS RESOURCES
3. GATEWAY SELECTION• Direct connect to an aggregator
• Cut out the middleman
• Cheap SMS unit cost
• Connection to A2P providers
• Prebuilt platforms
• SMS unit cost + Value add cost
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2SMS RESOURCES
4. GLOBAL SHORTCODE• No such thing as a “Global Number” • Each country has it’s own rules, regulations
and fees associated with a shortcode • Provisioning timeline is random • It can be de-regulated by a government and
you can lose your deposit, if geopolitical landscape changes
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2SMS RESOURCES
5. YOUR SHORTCODE IS IN MERCY OF WIRELESS
CARRIERS• Any wireless carrier can shut down the
SMS traffic, if you do or send something they don’t like. No warnings. It takes months to reactivate a shortcode.
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2SMS RESOURCES
6. RANDOM AUDITS• Wireless carrier hires a third party vendor to
randomly audit your shortcode • They will Google your shortcode and identify
any CTA (Call To Action) violations or campaigns without a proper campaign application
• They love shutting you down if you don’t react fast to their audit fail notice
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2SMS RESOURCES
7. YOUR CONTENT MUST ADHERE TO CTIA RULES &
REGULATIONS• CTIA says you have to: “Agree not to
transmit political marketing, religious, pornographic, prostitution/escort, gambling, hate, alcohol or drug related content.”
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2SMS RESOURCES
8. DID I MENTION, WIRELESS CARRIERS
CONTROL EVERYTHING?• Wireless carrier will delay provisioning a
shortcode for months without a good reason. Generic statement, such as “…need a better experience for an enduser” is used to stall the launch
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2SMS RESOURCES
9. STOP & HELP WORDS• See “How to Opt In & Out Your Subscribers”
slideshow for details • These words are setup to help endusers to
understand why they are getting SMS from a shortcode and gives them the ability to Opt Out immediately
• If your system fails to respond to these keywords, you automatically fail the audit and put your shortcode in jeopardy
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2SMS RESOURCES
10. CAMPAIGN UPDATES
• If you are running a different SMS campaign or changed a workflow on an existing shortcode, you need to add/modify/update the campaign
• Yup, your provisioning process starts all over again. FUN!
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