What’s the Deal With A2P 10DLC

1. What’s the Deal With A2P 10DLC? 10DLC (stands for 10-digit long code) is the new standard for business text messaging with a local 10-digit phone number in the United States. Carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile have all rolled out their versions of 10DLC.

2. First, Verizon launched their new 10DLC. They didn’t require an application for 10DLC but imposed a fee on all A2P (application-to-person) messaging from local numbers in the U.S. At the time, SendHub increased prices and absorbed those fees into our subscription pricing. The global pandemic brought mobile messaging into the spotlight for contactless experiences, and Verizon’s 10DLC made it easy to messaging on local numbers to Verizon users. With 2020 also being an election year, text messaging became not only a necessary channel for SMBs (small to medium-sized businesses), but also a major route for political engagement. Of course, spammers have been busy as well. The downstream carriers tried increasing spam filtering of messages to protect consumers which many SendHub customers experienced, resulting in many essential and legitimate A2P messages relating to healthcare, education, transportation, recruiting/hiring, and other important messages from reaching their intended audiences.

3. Increased demand for high throughput messaging for legitimate use cases spurred other carriers to also launch their version of 10DLC. AT&T and T-Mobile are now eager to get their slice of the pie as they introduce more work and costs for organizations looking to send messages from local numbers with the rollouts of their 10DLC programs. AT&T, T-Mobile among other downstream carriers now require brands to have a 10DLC registered phone number in order to continue to message their contacts. 10DLC helps protect consumers; numbers approved will allow carriers to know that your text messages are not spam and will ensure a higher and faster delivery rate. In the past, businesses using local area code phone numbers were subject to low deliverability and the risk of being marked as spam. With 10DLC, your business can continue its communication via text message through a local area code by registering as a 10DLC phone number.

4. Am I A2P Or P2P? Application-to-person or A2P is when a text message is sent from a brand, business, or any third-party application. SendHub and other businesses like SendHub are all considered applications. Businesses sending messages to consumers are considered application-to-person (A2P) text messaging. Even if your business is sitting down and typing out each and every single text message, a text message from a brand is considered A2P text messaging. Marketing, promotional messages, appointment reminders, and more all fall under A2P text messaging, Person-to-person text messaging is when a text message is sent from one person to another. A text message from your cellphone to a friend, family member, or colleague is considered P2P text messaging and is probably something you engage in almost every single day. P2P text messaging is at a lower risk for spam as it doesn’t have the ability to mass message many people at one time.

5. What’s the Difference Between Local & Toll Free Numbers? At SendHub our users have the choice between having a 10-digit long code number or having a toll free number. Our local numbers are great from businesses that have no desire of sending mass text messages to 200 or more people at a time. Local numbers also give the advantage of a local area code, making recipients on the other end familiar with who is texting them. SOURCE https://www.sendhub.com/whats-a2p-10dlc/