Agency Text Messaging Compliance Registration

New compliance rules around text messaging went into effect September 1, 2023. All businesses using numbers for outbound text messaging are required to register their business with the Campaign Registry (TCR) and be in full compliance with text messaging laws and best practices.

As an agency, we understand that your account configuration may differ based on your use case. The information below will equip you to make a more informed decision on how to register your business and your clients.

This article is for marketing agencies and multi-location businesses that use CallRail. If you are not an agency, please view this article instead. 

Getting started

In this article, we will cover all the information you need to register. We recommend reviewing the list below before proceeding with registration.

For more information about The Campaign Registry (TCR), 10DLC, and the registration process, check out these helpful resources.

• Text Messaging Compliance overview.
• Agency Text Messaging Compliance FAQs.
• Text message Compliance (10DLC) rules and regulations.

You can also review Twilio's documentation for campaign and brand approval best practices.

• A2P 10DLC Brand Approval Best Practices.
• A2P 10DLC Campaign Approval Requirements.

If you are not using Account Center

If you have multiple companies within a single CallRail account, there are a few registration options for you and your clients. 

1. Registering your agency and all clients within your account using your business information. With this option, you accept the limitations, responsibilities, and risks associated with clients sending text messages as part of your business registration. After registering, you will be charged the one-time registration fee ($19) and monthly fees ($1.50) on your monthly invoice. Risks with this method include:
   • Registration applications for agencies representing multiple businesses will take longer to review and receive increased scrutiny. Approval by TCR may require additional information including text use cases, opt-in and opt-out language, and processes from each business etc.
   • Each business has a maximum number of text messages they can send each day (as low as 2000 for “low volume” registered businesses, depending on TCR trust score).
   • Your business will receive a trust score, as determined by TCR, that is based on the sending practices of all client numbers associated with your registered business.
   • You accept the responsibility for messages containing spam, phishing, and SHAFT (Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco) content. Each violation may result in significant penalty fees and/or the loss of text messaging access for all numbers.
     
     
2. Contacting your dedicated account manager to create separate CallRail account(s) for each client that utilizes text messaging through CallRail, or for every client in your account regardless of current or future text messaging usage.
   • Applications for individual businesses will be more likely to be approved by TCR.
   • This will require the client to start their own CallRail account, and register for Text Messaging Compliance with their own business information.
   • Each separate CallRail account that registers will be charged the one-time registration ($19) and monthly fees ($1.50/mo).
     
     
3. If outbound text messaging is not a significant part of your client business, you may choose not to register in any way. Businesses not registered with TCR are blocked from outbound texting by mobile carriers. As a result, those businesses will be blocked from sending text messages through the CallRail web and mobile apps. You can register or make account changes needed to register a client business at any point in the future. To register, please review the checklist below of information you’ll need to successfully register and then click here to fill out the registration application form.

If you are using Account Center

Encourage your client accounts that use outbound text messaging capabilities to complete the registration form with their business information (including Tax ID). If your agency business uses outbound text messages via CallRail, you should also complete a registration form specific to your use case and business. 

To register, please review the checklist below of information you will need to successfully register and then click here to fill out the registration application form. If there are multiple companies you have access to, you will need to select one before being sent to the registration page.

What will I need to register?

You or your clients will need to submit the following information as soon as possible in order to ensure your business can be verified and registered by TCR.

• Basic information:
  • First and last name.
  • Email address.
  • CallRail account number.
• Business information:
  • Legal business name.
  • Business address.
• Business identifier (EIN for businesses based in the United States, or CBN for business based in Canada): If your business wants to send text messages, including the use of automated lead response to send a text message in response to a missed call or form submission, will need to provide your legal business name and your business identifier.
• Business website: you will need to provide the website associated with your business. If you do not have a standalone website you can use a social media page like Facebook or Yelp but you must provide a link to some web presence associated with your business. Do not use www.callrail.com or any related CallRail URLs as these will be rejected.
• Consent to receive messages: individuals must consent to receiving messages from your business. This consent can be gained verbally, digitally, or in person. If you send texts to remind customers of appointments or respond to inbound text inquiries, make sure your phone scripts or initial text responses include language that collects consent from the lead or customer to receive text messages from your business. You only need to gain consent once, but you should keep a record of it for the future. For more information and examples on opt-in language, please refer to our text messaging regulations and best practices and opt-out and opt-in for text messaging documentation.
• Online opt-in consent for messaging: If your website collects contact information that includes phone numbers, this form or page must include an explicit text message opt-in statement that confirms consent. If you collect phone numbers on your website and do not collect explicit consent to text on that page, you will not be able to register your business. For more information and examples on opt-in language, please refer to our text messaging regulations and best practices and opt-out and opt-in for text messaging documentation.
• Opt-in keywords: please provide a list of the keywords that customers can use to start receiving text messages from your business. For example: "Subscribe" or "Start". If you don't support opt-in via text, you can leave this section blank.
  To learn more about opt-in language, click here.
• Opt-in message: please provide the auto-reply message that customers will receive after opting in to receiving text messages from your business. The auto-reply message should include:
  
  • Your business (brand) name.
  • A confirmation of the customer's opt-in enrollment.
  • A keyword for how to get help.
  • A clear description of how to opt-out of receiving text messages.
  For example, "Acme Corporation: You are now opted-in. For help, reply HELP. To opt-out, reply STOP."
  If you do not support opt-in via text, you can leave this section blank.
• Region of operation: choose all the regions where your company does business.
• Business type: choose the option that best describes your business.
• Industry: choose the industry type that best suits your business.
• Company status: let us know if your company is publicly traded or a private entity.
• Stock ticker: if your business is publicly traded please enter the stock ticker.
• Campaign description: a campaign identifies any use case you have for sending text messages to leads or customers. For example, if you want to send out appointment reminders via text, your campaign would be “appointment reminders”. Companies can have several campaigns. Make sure you list all of your text message use cases.
• Message samples: provide two samples of the messages you want to send. This helps us understand how you are using text messages to interact with your customers. These samples should be similar to the typical messages you send. If you listed more than one campaign description use case, it is advisable to use sample messages that have different use cases. 

Once you have submitted the form, CallRail will confirm the information matches our data, add technical specifications around your use of texting and send the information to our text messaging partner Twilio and TCR. Twilio and TCR will verify your business information (brand) first, and then your text message usage and processes (campaign). If your brand and campaign are verified, you will be added to the list of businesses verified and approved for outbound texting. Mobile carriers use this list to allow or deny messages to their customers.