What is A2P 10DLC and How Does it Impact My Business?

A2P 10DLC refers to a system in the United States that allows businesses to send Application-to-Person (A2P) type messaging via standard 10-digit long code (10DLC) phone numbers.

US phone carriers (AT&T, Verizon & T-Mobile) have banded together to require this system be in place for any A2P phone number to be eligible for delivering text messages to US cell phone recipients. Effective August 31, 2023 all unregistered A2P traffic will not be delivered.

In addition to registration, phone carriers have also put in place new requirements in how consumers capture, store and use customer data. This means we have had to make a few changes to how you send text messages to your leads and how we gather consent for those leads to be contacted through the Real Geeks platform.

What do I need to do?

Real Geeks has contacted impacted customers via email and through our application requesting information about your business. Real Geeks is handling this registration process for the Real Geeks CRM’s texting capabilities, but we need your help. If you have not done so already, please fill out the A2P 10DLC registration form here. That’s it! We’ll take care of the rest.

Depending on the carriers ' backlog of pending registrations, this registration process can take anywhere from one to several weeks. On average, this process takes 10 days, and failure to be fully registered by August 31, 2023 will result in text messaging service disruption in your Real Geeks CRM, so be sure to fill out the form if you have not done so already. 

Here’s that link once again: https://www.realgeeks.com/a2p10dlc.

What other changes should I expect?

US cell phone carriers are requiring a few things in addition to registration to maintain a high level of security for their customers. With an increase in spam calls and texts carriers are limiting what content is allowed and required in text messages and how permission is granted to send text messages to leads. The first round of changes was outlined in one of our earlier blog posts this year. Below we share all of the existing and upcoming updates.

• Sender Identification: All texts to a lead must contain sender identification until a response is received from the lead. We add sender identification where necessary automatically by affixing the website URL of the company sending the text message.
• Opt-out Language: The first text to a lead must contain opt-out language as well as once every 30 days until a response is received. We add opt-out language where necessary automatically by affixing If you prefer I only call you, reply STOP to opt out of all texts.
• TCPA Language: Details that historically have been housed in the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for each Real Geeks website now must be exposed directly in the sign-up form that leads view. The new information available in the sign-up form includes consent to receive text messages related to real estate, opt-out and help phrases, and a notice of message and data rates.
• Optional SMS Opt-in: Registration on websites is no longer considered full consent to send text messages to leads. An optional checkbox is now required on registration that opts a lead into text messaging. This mechanism is not on Real Geeks websites at this time but will be coming in the very near future.

Imported & Manually Created Leads: All of the above consent requirements apply to manually created or imported leads as well. This means we will require proof of consent for imported and manually created leads.