The Campaign Registry FAQ

What is The Campaign Registry (TCR)?

The Campaign Registry ("TCR") is a third-party organization that works directly with the carriers and text messaging providers like Community to protect the SMS communication channel. The U.S. mobile carriers require all 10 digit long-code (10DLC) phone numbers to be vetted and registered with TCR in order to send SMS messages at scale. This registry enables carriers to restrict or increase the rate of SMS activity (throughput) based on trust of the business entity. This helps reduce spam texts and helps individuals build more trust in the SMS medium.

Is registration required?

Yes. Basic business information is required from all Community customers. Additionally, any business that needs scalable texting (see information about throughput and daily limits below), registration of your business EIN is required. Our platform may block certain bulk texting features, such as the sending of multiple texts at the same time (i.e., Campaigns).

Registration Process

Community helps manage your TCR registration on your behalf. Most customers will either see a prompt to enter this information in the product or will receive a message from their account manager. For customers seeking a very high message limit or throughput in the U.S., please work with your account manager. You will need to have some basic information about the business entity, including the Employer Identification Number (EIN) and business address. If you’re a public company, your ticker symbol will also be required. We will only use this submitted information for TCR purposes only. Inaccurate information may result in delays, denials of increased throughput, or additional fees.

Registering with an EIN

Registering with a tax EIN that is associated with your business may be required by our telecom partners and ensures you will receive optimum performance and message throughput for your Community number. The Campaign Registry uses the EIN as a pre-vetting for businesses and individuals wanting to send SMS traffic over 10DLC. If you’re a small business that needs high throughput but you do not have an EIN, please visit the IRS website to learn more about how to obtain an EIN. If registering on behalf of a business, you should generally register the EIN of the business that Community Members will be texting with. If you have multiple EINs or businesses relating to your phone number, the best strategy for your registrations will depend on balancing your expected Trust Scores and managing the risk of violations being associated with your EIN.

Registration Fees

Registration Fees apply and are subject to change at any time. Current rates and fees are provided when signing up for Services and as changes occur. These fees apply per phone number. Additional fees may apply to enable multiple use cases for a phone number. If you switch SMS providers, you may need to repay these registration fees.

Maximum Throughput

Your registration type will determine the rate at which you can send texts (“throughput”). Throughput is measured by the industry in segments.  A message segment, as defined by third party providers, is approximately 140 bytes of content, which roughly equals 160 GSM-7 encoded characters for one simple SMS message. Emojis, links, and media count as multiple segments, depending on the length of the raw characters required to encode them. By default, a business will be allowed to send roughly 1 segment per second between all carriers. Once your registration is processed, the Trust Score and campaign type will determine an increased rate, which will be disclosed to you in product. Mobile carriers may take a week after registration to initially approve your throughput. If you exceed your maximum throughput, your messages will still be sent but the messages will be sent more slowly because of the rate limits. For more information on throughput, please read here.

Daily message limits

Additionally, there may be limits on the maximum number of messages you can send per day. Message limits are determined by mobile carriers and are subject to change at any time.  If a campaign exceeds the thresholds for daily message limits, the messages exceeding the threshold may be dropped. For more information on daily message limits, please read here.

Violations

TCR is intended for carriers to better enforce blocks and bans. This means that bad behavior will be flagged at the EIN/business level, not just the phone number. If you attempt to get a new 10DLC phone number on Community or another platform, the existing record associated with your EIN may affect your throughput. As part of the shift to a more trusted SMS environment, carriers may also impose additional fees and penalties for bad behavior. This may include large fines for snowshoeing or for multiple violations of carrier content guidelines. To avoid receiving fines or bans, we recommend avoiding any attempts to bypass TCR throughput limitations and to pay close attention to carrier acceptable use policies.

Questions

If you have any questions, please reach out to us at accountservices@community.com.