In the world of health and wellness studios, SMS messaging is a critical tool for communicating with clients. However, new carrier requirements for A2P 10DLC (Application-to-Person 10-Digit Long Code) texting are causing some confusion and concern.

Kenko, a SaaS platform for health and wellness studios, is here to help. In this article, we'll break down what A2P 10DLC is, how it impacts your business texting practices, and what Kenko is doing to ensure your SMS messages are delivered.

What is A2P 10DLC?

A2P 10DLC is a system designed specifically for business text messaging from a local virtual number. The major US cell carriers have pushed for new guidelines around virtual phone services, aiming to minimise the amount of spam their customers receive. This new requirement helps improve your text message deliverability rates and eliminates the risk of carriers filtering your outbound messages on their network.

All major US carriers, including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint, are working towards A2P 10DLC support for 10-digit local numbers.

Businesses have two options moving forward: A2P Low Volume Standard and A2P Standard. Companies sending a lower amount of marketing messages per day (6,000 messages per day) fall under the A2P Low Volume Category. A2P Standard is for larger businesses with a much higher daily message volume.

How does A2P 10DLC impact current business texting practices?

A2P 10DLC requires businesses using a virtual phone service like Kenko to register their phone numbers, brand, and campaigns with a third-party organization, The Campaign Registry. Here’s how this breaks down:

• With brand registration, businesses identify who they are to all carrier networks.
• For campaign registration, brands must specify the type of messages they plan to send.

If you have business phone numbers with Kenko, you don’t need to register specific campaigns. However, you do need to register your brand and share specific examples of texts you typically send. All brands that register through our app fall under the Low Volume Mixed Use case for any campaigns through our carrier.

Once brands update their information with major carriers, they are assigned a trust score on a scale of 0 to 100 per campaign. These scores will determine the maximum number of sent messages allowed by your campaign according to use case, type, and size.

Vetting scores are separated into multiple categories and let you send out more texts. For example, a promotional campaign may have a lower trust score than an appointment confirmation text.

Additionally, carriers can assign a lower trust score if the business information (including the address) you provide in your carrier registration form doesn’t match the details on file with your business tax identification.

Carriers may also decrease an organization’s trust score if they discover spam originating from a specific party — as A2P 10DLC is all about preventing bad actors.

Keep in mind these message limits might change according to the carrier and campaign in question. These are just general guidelines to help guide your future decisions.

If you’re already using 10-digit local phone numbers, you won’t have to purchase a new number for 10DLC. However, you must register your business to minimize the odds of message filtering, blocking, or dropping by major carriers.

What Kenko is doing to implement A2P 10DLC for customers

At Kenko, we’re serious about helping customers make the most of their business communications. To comply with new A2P 10DLC requirements, our company is moving forward with a clear strategy to help everyone thrive. This includes a fast and relatively simple process to register for A2P 10DLC.

As an added perk, we’ll also help you clear STIR/SHAKEN protocols when you register. If you complete regular outbound calls, this can help legitimate businesses not be flagged as “scam likely” or “spam” on their outgoing caller ID.

How to register for A2P 10DLC and STIR/SHAKEN

All active workspace owner and admin users in Kenko can access our US carrier registration form to meet A2P Low Volume Standard and STIR/SHAKEN guidelines through the web or desktop app:

1. Open “Settings” from the left-hand menu.
2. Select “Trust”.
3. Click “Register” under “US carrier registration”.
4. Fill out the form with your business details based on your EIN or other business documentation. Keep in mind If you’re an individual, small business, or sole proprietor without a business ID and not prepared to get one, we’ll share additional registration paths from our carrier soon.

After you’ve submitted the form, Kenko passes your registration details along to the third-party organization the major US carriers approved to review your application, The Campaign Registry. The carriers will also manually vet every registration.

At a high level, you pay a $19 one-time registration fee and then a $1.50 monthly campaign fee. 100% of these fees go directly to The Campaign Registry and other third-party entities to help review and register your brand and campaigns.

We know these fees are surprising, but if it helps, think of them as a small tax to keep fraud out of texting, helping to make it a trusted channel of communication.

The most common reason The Campaign Registry may reject your application can occur due to an information mismatch. This typically occurs due to details you provide in your form being different than your EIN or other business documentation including:

• Legal business name
• Business ID
• Company address

Be sure to check out our Help Center guide to US carrier registration for more information on completing the form. Or watch the webinar below to learn more about 10DLC and the registration process:

Due to the amount of businesses across the world registering for A2P 10DLC, The Campaign Registry currently has a backlog of requests. So keep in mind that your registration may take weeks to process. However, we recommend you register as soon as possible.

You can check your registration status at any time in the Trust section of the app. Unless your registration status shows as rejected or failed, no additional action is needed once you’ve filled out the form.

The situation with A2P 10DLC is an evolving one — and likely to change over time as the digital landscape grows. And remember: a friendly face is always just a message away. Feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions or comments.

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