2022 Guide to Business Messaging Number Types
2022 Guide to Business Messaging Number Types
2023 Guide to Business Messaging Number Types
A key part of your business messaging strategy is choosing the right number type.
Our 2023 Guide to Business Messaging Number Types provides insights to the strengths of each number type, and the best number type for different use cases whether you’re an ISV looking to provide messaging as a feature for your customers or a business looking to drive consumer engagement through SMS and MMS.
INSIDE THE WHITEPAPER
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
US Messaging Landscape & Your Number Selection Strategy
Chapter 1
US Messaging Landscape & Your Number Selection Strategy
Chapter 2
Number Comparison
Chapter 2
Number Comparison
Chapter 3
Additional Considerations for Resellers and Global Business
Chapter 3
Additional Considerations for Resellers and Global Business
Chapter 4
Building with Twilio
Chapter 4
Building with Twilio
Chapter 1
1
1
US Messaging Landscape & Your Number Selection Strategy
SMS is uniquely positioned as a customer engagement channel. It has the highest engagement rates with 98 percent of messages opened and a 45 percent response rate. It also has global reach. Unlike many customer channels, SMS doesn’t require internet, data, or even a smartphone. Furthermore, consumers actively want businesses to message with them. Over 40 percent of customers prefer SMS for urgent communications.
However, understanding which number works best for your business model can be complicated and nuanced. Within the US alone, there are three types of numbers: Short Codes, Toll-Free numbers, and 10-digit Long Codes (10DLC). Depending on how you plan on using SMS in your business strategy, you will need a specific number type.
The first step in determining the best number type for your business is identifying your use case(s). For your business messaging strategy evaluate:
- The throughput and volume: How many messages do you need to send at once? How many messages do you need to send daily?
- Branding: Do you want one brand identity? Do you already have phone numbers associated with your brand in the marketplace?
- Localization: Do you desire local identities?
- Voice enablement: What should happen when consumers try to call the number?
- Use cases: Do you plan on using the same number for market, one-time passwords, notifications, and more?
- Geography: Where are your customers? What countries do you need to send messages too?
Chapter 2
2
Number Comparison
Short codes, typically 5-6 digits compared to the 10 digits in other types, are special telephone numbers designed for high-throughput messaging. Short codes come with guaranteed high throughput, starting at 100 messages per second (MPS), unlimited message volume, and the lowest amount of carrier filtering. Because of this, short codes are best suited for high volume, critical messages.
This unparalleled throughput and delivery does come at a cost. Number leasing fees for short codes are significantly higher than its two counterparts, Toll-Free and 10DLC numbers. Short codes were built for large-scale messages, and do not support voice functionality. Furthermore, in order to preserve a trusted channel and a low filter rate, short-codes require an application process that takes 6-10 weeks to approve.
Short Codes are best for high volume notifications such as letting customers know that a bill is ready, or an order was accepted. Because Short Codes have the highest delivery, and highest throughput they are best for urgent, large-scale alerts, such as account verification (one-time passwords), fraud alerts, and emergency notifications. In these use cases, messages are often mission critical, so the additional costs are worth the increased deliverability.
Outside of alerts and notifications, short codes are commonly used for promotional messaging. Businesses are able to send high volumes in short timeframes with high deliverability, making a Short Code a great option for limited time discounts or flash alerts to consumers.
Application-to-person 10-Digit Long Code, or A2P 10DLC, provides the capability to send SMS/MMS over local landline phone numbers. A2P 10DLC numbers offer high throughput and high delivery rates while providing your brand with a local identity. With A2P 10DLC you can leverage local numbers with recognized area codes (geomatching) to increase trust and engagement with your customers. A2P 10DLC can also be voice-enabled.
Similar to short codes, A2P 10DLC numbers also have a mandatory registration process to ensure compliance with industry policies. This process can take up to 3-5 weeks due to secondary industry vetting. Throughput on A2P 10DLC is variable. The registration process results in a Trust Score, which dictates the maximum throughput allocation and volume of messages. Depending on your brand and use case you could receive anywhere between 3 and 180 MPS.
The strongest attributes of 10DLC are the ability to text-enable existing business phone numbers and they are the only number type to provide you with a local identity. It is a great number for use cases where localized, personalized communication is valued. This includes scenarios like providing a messaging platform to realtors where a local area code brings trust and credibility into their transactions, and franchises that want local numbers for each of their offices.
It is also the best number for proxy conversations, allowing you to provide anonymity to members of the service industry in scenarios like last-mile delivery conversations or ride-share applications. A2P 10DLC numbers allow consumers to communicate with service industry members to identify lost items or provide additional delivery items over voice and messaging platforms, providing a better customer experience.
The last US messaging number type is toll-free, the most flexible number type. Toll-Free numbers are capable of sending high volume SMS/MMS communications and are capable of being voice enabled. Because they can be used across use cases and communication channels, they provide your company with a singular number for all your communication needs, creating a consistent experience for your customers.
Toll-Free numbers give you optionality, so if you are unsure of your use cases they can be a great starting point. Toll-Free numbers start at 3 MPS and for qualifying customers can reach throughput levels that rival Short Codes (also referred to as High Throughput Toll-Free). Additionally, there are no limits on the total volume of messages you can send.
Toll-Free numbers can be provisioned instantly and have the lowest friction when it comes to the onboarding process. These senders have a mandatory verification process to improve trust and decrease filtering. This process typically takes approximately 5-14 days for approval. The wait is worth it, however, because verifying your number will help you see lower filtering when you are applying best practices around opt-in and message content.
Toll-Free numbers provide your company with a universal brand identity. This, combined with their flexible nature makes toll free numbers particularly suited to support/sales lines where customers can call in or text in to get the support they need. Having the same brand identity lends itself to being a great number for sending out customer satisfaction surveys (e.g. how would you rate your experience today?).
In practice, Toll-Free numbers are also used for a variety of other use cases that require a high volume of messages to be delivered including marketing messages and notifications.
Number comparison table
Twilio offers 10-Digit Long Code, Toll-Free, and Short Codes for North American business messaging, allowing businesses to optimize their senders based on capabilities and use cases. Use the sender table below for an understanding of the various features and capabilities of North American sender types and contact sales to learn more.
1 Volume can be increased with a Special Business Review
2 Outbound voice calls not permitted
3 Varies based on campaign registration
Number comparison table
100+ guaranteed
Message volume
Unlimited
1 Over 200k messages can be sent daily with a Special Business Review
2 Deliverability improves with Toll-Free verification
3 Carrier fees are live on all major US carriers starting July 1, 2021
4 Detailed A2P 10DLC campaign information
Chapter 3
3
3
Additional Considerations for Resellers and Global Business
Independent Software Vendors (ISVs)
Independent software vendors or ISVs offer messaging as part of their services. If you are an ISV this means you are most likely providing numbers on behalf of your customers or text enabling existing business landlines which adds complexity to the number selection process.
Content Control
The first question that is unique to ISVs is who controls the content of the message––you or the brands or individuals you are servicing? Controlling the content means that you are providing a templated message, such as an appointment reminder, receipt, or order confirmation. Your platform does not allow customers to customize or change the majority of the message.
For example, restaurant reservation management software may offer SMS alerts for reservations. Controlled content would look something like:
You have a reservation at $restaurant_name at $time.
Please enter “confirm” to confirm and “cancel” to cancel.
If your customers control the content, we recommend approaching number selection using the criteria outlined above on behalf of your customers. If you are sending out templated Two Factor Authentication (2FA) or One Time Passwords (OTP) on behalf of your customers, you may also be able to use a short code.
Customer Needs
As an ISV, you are not just asking questions about throughput, identity, and voice on behalf of your business, but on behalf of your customers. Depending on your service and customer size, you may even want to offer multiple number types.
Operational Requirements
In addition to per phone number and per message costs, an important thing to factor in is operational costs and your customer onboarding experience. A2P 10DLC does require brand registration for your customers. This means that there are associated applications and information needed from your customers in addition to registration fees. Similarly, toll-free customers will need to be verified to reduce filtering of compliant messages. Short code has these registration requirements on top of a 6-10 week waiting period. Depending on the volume/throughput required by your customers you may even consider starting with one number type for a trial and migrating to a short code longer term.
Chapter 4
4
4
Building with Twilio
Navigating the complexities of SMS communications can be challenging. Twilio is your partner to ensure your customers receive the messages they want, when they want, where they want.
Build your ideal customer experience, anywhere in the world.
Twilio offers over 200 phone number types and over 65,000+ local prefixes reaching consumers in 180+ countries to ensure you can deliver compliant messages, no matter where your customers are.
Build lasting relationships.
Trust is at the core of any long term relationship with your customers. Twilio is here to help you build that trusted relationship. Streamline all know-your-customer (KYC) initiatives through Twilio’s Trust Hub and supporting APIs, whether you are looking to verify your business on 10DLC to SHAKEN/STIR. We make it easy to protect your customers through a variety of tools from privacy offerings to Advance Opt-Out flows.
Build on a platform that will scale reliably with you.
Reliability is key to any customer engagement strategy. Twilio Super Network provides access to 1500+ tier 1 carriers with an average route depth of 4+ carriers. On top of our connections we leverage over 900 million data points to optimize and rebalance traffic every 75 seconds. This means that Twilio routes around 98 percent of outages and latency before our customers ever notice an impact.