An SMS short code is a five- or six-digit phone number used by businesses to enroll consumers in SMS programs and to send coupons, offers, promotions, and other messages. Sometimes they are referred to as CSCs (Common Short Codes).
How Short Codes Benefit Your Business
- Dedicated short codes have high messaging throughputs- 100 texts per second or more.
- Short codes become identifiable with your brand. Recognition is important in marketing. When you're competing for attention, you'll want your customers to recognize the message is from you, so they don't ignore it.
- Short codes are easy to type and can spell easy-to-remember words. Customers who want to reach you via text will find it easier to remember and type your number if it is shorter or spells something they quickly associate with your business. Maximize your marketing investment by using short codes instead of full phone numbers on your website, in printed materials, or in radio or TV ads.
- Running successful text campaigns can help build a better customer database. Used in conjunction with CTM tracking, short codes are an easy way to collect prospect or customer phone numbers for your database.
- CTM can help measure the effectiveness of your text campaign. Like any campaign you track with your CTM account, you can easily measure the success of a short code text campaign using CTM's reporting.
Short Code Pricing
Three Components of Short Codes
1. Setup Fees
Payment for the one-time setup fee is due before we can begin the approval process with our carriers. This applies to both new short codes and existing short codes.
Campaign registration fees apply and include consultation with the Carrier Relations & Regulatory team. For more information, please consult with your CTM Account Manager.
2. Recurring Annual Leases/Service Charges
Short code leases and service charges are billed on an annual (once yearly) basis. The initial lease payment is due before we can begin the approval process with our carriers.
| Country | Type | One Time Set Up Fee | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| USA | Random | $1,000* | $14,500 |
| USA | Vanity | $1,000* | $21,500 |
| Canada | Vanity | $4,500 | $14,500 |
* MMS enablement is an additional $1,000.
3. Usage Fees
Short code message usage is billed at a per-message rate consistent with your subscription plan. CTM short codes can send 100 messages per second by default, but this limit can be raised for an additional fee. Some wireless carriers charge additional per-message transaction fees. These fees vary by carrier and message type.
Obtaining a Short Code
- Contact us at sales@calltrackingmetrics.com to indicate your interest in setting up a short code, and let us know if you already have a short code you'd like to start using with our service. A member of our sales team will discuss the details with you, confirm pricing, and get your sign-off on a short code contract. An invoice will be sent to you for your setup and annual lease fees.
- We will send you our Short Code Request application. The application will ask for information about your use case and business, make sure you have all necessary documentation for compliance, and allow you to choose your vanity number if desired.
- Once your application is submitted, we will review it and advise you of any changes you may need to make to comply with carrier requirements, as well as any additional documentation we require. This process typically takes 1-4 days, depending on the time it takes to address any necessary changes.
- Once we have approved the application and received payment for your setup and annual lease fees, we will submit the application to our upstream carrier. Your application will then undergo review and testing before your short code is connected and ready for use. Carrier review and approval may take 8-12 weeks (or longer), even if you already have a short code and are transferring it to us. Your annual lease begins once your application is submitted to our upstream carrier.
Porting Your Short Code
It is in the customer's best interest for CTM to lease a short code on the customer's behalf to ensure the lease is always paid. Migrating your US short code from your current provider to CTM typically takes 8 to 12 weeks. We begin counting from the date of your initial payment and consider it complete once your short code is re-approved by all wireless carriers.
Please note that the migration process can vary considerably, as it depends on each mobile carrier's review of your short codes' use cases and campaign message flows. If you want to migrate a "live" code to CTM, you will have to manage traffic to and from both CTM and your current provider for a period of time — likely for two to six weeks. Each wireless carrier will migrate from your current provider to CTM on different dates.
We will provide instructions for using the Lease Transfer feature on usshortcodes.com to transfer the lease during the porting process.
Compliance for Short Codes
Per CTM's Terms of Service, the Customer must comply with carrier requirements, industry standards, and applicable law when using any short code provided.
Short Code Campaigns Prohibited by Carriers
There are certain categories of short code campaigns that carriers will not allow. These rejected categories include:
- Adult or otherwise inappropriate content
- Depictions or endorsements of violence
- Profanity or hate speech
- Endorsement of illegal or illicit drugs
In addition, carriers may at times reject—or indefinitely delay approval of—short code campaigns they deem competitive, such as those offering or advertising competitive communications services. Carriers may also decide to reject certain campaigns from time to time for reasons of their own. Carriers have considerable discretion over the SMS traffic that they decide to carry on their networks.
CTM will not provide the prohibited campaigns listed above or any campaign that violates our Terms of Service for all other campaigns. CTM will use good-faith efforts to obtain your short code approval from the relevant carriers. Unfortunately, we have no control over whether carriers approve or reject your use of a short code, or over how long it might take them to reach a decision. Therefore, because CTM has no control over carrier approval, customers bear the risk for any costs that CTM incurs to lease a short code on your behalf and/or any fees that CTM pays on your behalf to the carriers or regulatory authorities to provision your short code.
Special Rules for Campaigns Involving Health Information
If your short code has medical uses or deals with medical information, you will need to complete the following two steps:
- After purchasing a short code, you will need to complete an additional form provided to you by the short code team.
- When compiling your short code application, you will need to include the following in your terms of service or end-user agreement:
“This short code program does not contain medically sensitive information. While the Content on the Site is about specific medical and healthcare issues, the Content is not a substitute for or replacement of personalized medical advice and is not intended to be used as the sole basis for making individualized medical or health-related decisions.”
Additional Compliance Guidelines
The compliance guidelines in the links below are provided as a courtesy to help you build a short code message flow and advertising that complies with carrier requirements and industry standards. You should expect that your short code campaign will be audited at some point by a carrier or industry organization. Campaigns are typically audited for compliance with the industry guidance found at the links below. Each carrier reserves the right to suspend short code service for any user at any time, and following the compliance guidance at the links below does not guarantee against such suspension.
- US Short Code Campaigns: CTIA Short Code Monitoring Handbook
- Canada Short Code Campaigns: Canada Wireless Telecommunications Association txt.ca website
- UK Short Code Campaigns: UK Campaign Handbook
In addition, any text messaging campaigns, whether using short codes or long codes, may be subject to compliance requirements under applicable laws and regulations. You should not assume that complying only with carrier requirements will result in a fully compliant text messaging campaign. The laws and regulations that apply will depend on the specifics of the campaign, including where the messages originate, where recipients are located, where the company is located, the industry involved, and the content of the messages.
CTM is not in a position to interpret any laws, rules, or regulations and is providing this information only as a courtesy. You should consult with their legal counsel to ensure that your text messaging campaign is compliant with all laws, regulations, and requirements that apply to your particular text messaging campaign.
International Coverage for Short Codes
Short codes are provisioned on a country-by-country basis. A short code can only send and receive messages from phone numbers in the same country on carrier networks that have approved the short code.
US short codes can only be sent to US phone numbers on US carrier networks that have approved the short code. If the end-user is on a supported US carrier network but is out of the country (or in a US territory such as Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands), the message may be delivered successfully, but delivery is not guaranteed.
For Canada and the UK, the same principle applies. Please note that UK short code coverage extends to England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, the Isle of Man, and the Guernsey islands. UK short codes will not work for end-users in the Republic of Ireland.
Supported Carriers
Please note that even though a carrier is supported, short code messaging capabilities may not be enabled for all end users’ plans.
United States
CTM US short codes can deliver SMS messages to the following mobile phone carriers in the United States:
Major carriers: AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile USA.
Minor carriers: Aio Wireless, Alaska Communications Systems (ACS), Appalachian Wireless (EKN), Bluegrass Cellular, Boost Mobile, Carolina West Wireless, CellCom, Cellular One of East Central IL (ECIT), Cellular One of Northeast Arizona, Cellular One of Northeast Pennsylvania, Chariton Valley Cellular, Cricket, Coral Wireless (Mobi PCS), Cross, C-Spire (CellSouth), Duet IP (Maximum Communications New Core Wireless), Element Mobile (Flat Wireless), Epic Touch (Elkhart Telephone), GCI, Golden State, Google Voice, Hawkeye (Chat Mobility), Hawkeye (NW Missouri), Illinois Valley Cellular, Inland Cellular, iWireless (Iowa Wireless), Keystone Wireless (Immix Wireless/PC Man), Metro PCS, Mosaic (Consolidated or CTC Telecom), MTA Communications, MTPCS (Cellular One Nation), Nex-Tech Wireless, Panhandle Communications, Peoples Wireless, Pine Cellular, Pioneer, RINA, Sagebrush Cellular (Nemont), SI Wireless/Mobile Nation, Simmetry (TMP Corporation), SouthernLinc, SRT Wireless, Thumb Cellular, Union Wireless, United Wireless, U.S. Cellular, Viaero Wireless, Virgin Mobile, and West Central (WCC or 5 Star Wireless).
MMS-enabled US short codes can deliver MMS messages to the following mobile carriers: AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile.
Puerto Rico: Local carriers Claro and PR Wireless are not reachable via short codes. Users in Puerto Rico on AT&T, T-Mobile, or Sprint may receive SMS messages from a US short code; however, delivery is not guaranteed. Short code SMS to Verizon is not supported in Puerto Rico.
Deprecated carriers: The following carriers have recently been deprecated across the industry. Nextel was acquired by Sprint in 2008, and Nextel's services were deprecated in 2013. Nextel customers are now Sprint or Boost customers. The remaining parts of Alltel (Allied Wireless) were purchased by AT&T in 2013 and fully integrated into the AT&T brand in 2015. Cincinnati Bell Wireless ceased offering short code provisioning in February 2015, and all short codes previously active on CBW have been deprovisioned on that carrier.
United Kingdom
CTM UK short codes can deliver SMS messages to the following mobile phone carriers in the United Kingdom: Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile, Orange, Virgin Mobile, Three, Everything Everywhere, C&W Guernsey, and Manx Telecom.
Canada
CTM Canadian short codes can deliver SMS messages to the following mobile phone carriers in Canada: Bell (including NorthernTel, Solo Mobile, and Telebec), Fido, MTS, Rogers, SaskTel, Telus (including Koodo Mobile and Public Mobile), Videotron, Virgin Mobile, and Wind.
Comments
Article is closed for comments.