In an effort to combat fraudulent calls and text messages, the United States telecommunications industry has acted on a number of regulatory changes that require businesses to obtain an attestation trust score through the creation of a business profile. This trust score will provide the underlying carrier with information to verify that the communications are not spam.

Clients can improve overall SMS and telecommunication reliability by submitting a single business profile through Slate for each of the following areas:

These compliance measures are required industrywide and their associated business profiles are relatively quick to submit, with approval taking up to 6 weeks.

Setting Up Your Business Profiles

Setting up your institution's Business Profile requires the following information:

• Employer Identification Number (EIN)

• Website information

• Social Media Information

• Address

• Authorized Representative Information - Designated Staff Member.

To edit your business profile:

1. Select Database from the main navigation.

2. Under Communications, select Compliance Dashboard.

3. Click Edit Profile. A popup appears.

4. Complete each field in the profile, then click Submit. You can also click Save for Later. 

Refer to the following sections for more information on each compliance area.

SMS Deliverability via A2P 10DLC

The new registration process for businesses using 10DLC for A2P messaging is intended to decrease spammers and increase deliverability, giving your messages more credibility in the long run.

To comply with carriers, you will need to register for A2P 10DLC by filling out the Business Profile found within the Compliance Dashboard, as illustrated in the previous section. Once completed, carriers review the information provided and assign a Trust Score to your institution.

Lingo

• A2P: Application-to-person texting (that is, using an SMS provider to send and receive messages).

• 10DLC: 10-digit long code number (that is, a standard phone number).

Trust Score and Delivery Rates

The Trust Score is based on a scale from 0 to 100. A higher score allows for a greater rate of message delivery:

If you are sending more than 3,000 text messages per day, or use more than 5 phone numbers, registration with the carriers via A2P 10DLC is considered to be required.

Caller ID Name (CNAM)

CNAM data—the 15-character textual name for a phone call—identifies incoming callers with either an individual or business name, associating their caller ID information with the phone number's registration data.

A terminating service provider retrieves the CNAM data when an individual receives a call. However, the CNAM data must first be registered to a known database that the carrier can scan.

Once your institution has established its Business Profile and has submitted the Voice Call Certification profile, you will be able to specify a Caller ID Name (CNAM) for outbound calls.

Voice Call Certification via SHAKEN/STIR – STIR/SHAKEN

The FCC requires all voice service providers to implement STIR/SHAKEN or SHAKEN/STIR, a validation standard that ensures Caller IDs for calls traveling via an interconnected phone network are marked as legitimate by the originating carrier, and validated by the receiving carrier, before getting to the consumer.

Phone Numbers that are conducting outbound calls are given one of three attestations.

• Full Attestation (A)

• Partial Attestation (B)

• Gateway Attestation (C)

If your institution submits its Voice Call Certification (SHAKEN/STIR) profile, it will be reviewed for the A-level attestation. If the Voice Call Certification is not submitted, then your institution will receive the B-level Attestation.

Lingo

• STIR: Secure Telephone Identity Revisited

• SHAKEN: Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs

Frequently Asked Questions

When trying to pick our use case in the A2P Campaign, the only option we see is Charity. Are we doing this right?

If Charity is the only option available, that means that your institutions non-profit status has been validated by Twilio. This is a preferable option to Higher-Ed or K-12.

Is this only for US-based institutions, or is this open to international institutions?

At this time, this is just for organizations based in the United States, but will be expanded to international institutions in the future.

Who should be listed as the authorized representative on the business profile?

This should be someone reasonably senior in the organization (for example, the Vice President of Enrollment), or someone with "Director" in their title, whose name and title are publicly visible (listed on your website). This will enable the form reviewer to more easily verify the information. Please note that this contact is for the Business Profile only and is a component of the Know Your Customer validation process. There is no public directory, and the individual will likely not be contacted.

What do I select for Regions of Operation on the business profile?

Regions of Operation refers to any region where your institution has a physical or staff presence.

If there are two legal entities sharing a database, which one should be listed as the legal name on the Compliance Dashboard?

We recommend selecting the organization that “owns” the database.

Is the Employer Identification Number (EIN) treated as a unique identifier for the purpose of the Business Profile, or are there separate validations/certifications per Slate instance based on the Compliance Dashboard submission?

The Employer Identification Number (EIN) is used solely for business verification and validation by the mobile carriers. Therefore even if an institution’s campuses need to operate separately, they should still submit the form with the most relevant EIN for this one-time verification.

Is there a way to know which individual completed the Business Profile?

At this time, there is no way to view which Slate user filled out or submitted the Business Profile.

If the Business Profile was submitted with incorrect information (for example, with an incorrect business address), is there a way to update those items?

Once the Business Profile is submitted, it enters a review process where it can no longer be updated. If it is ultimately rejected, then the profile will become editable again. Please note however that the Business Profile is only used for the one-time verification by the mobile carriers. It should not pose a problem if the Business Profile is submitted and approved with the incorrect business address.

Can the Caller ID Name (CNAM) be changed after being submitted?

At this time, the Caller ID Name (CNAM) cannot be altered once submitted. We hope to provide a mechanism within Slate in the near future that allows the CNAM to be edited as desired.

If a college/university has multiple instances of Slate (i.e. undergrad and grad, or admissions and student success) does the college/university only have to register/certify once, or once per instance? Would the entire college/university share a trust score?

The A2P Registration will need to be completed for each database with SMS numbers.

What if the A2P 10DLC registration returns a low Trust Score?

If the Trust Score returned is less than the usual thresholds, an appeal is handled automatically.

Are there fees associated with A2P 10DLC?

There is a one-time registration fee, as well as a monthly fee. The fee is assessed and charged by the telecommunications carriers, passed to Twilio, and then passed on to Slate.

When trying to pick our use case in the A2P Campaign, the only option we see is Charity. Are we doing this right?

If Charity is the only option available, that means that your institutions non-profit status has been validated by Twilio. This is a preferable option to Higher-Ed or K-12.

Why is my Caller ID Name (CNAM) not displaying on calls?

Caller IDs are passed from carrier to carrier when a call is transmitted. Twilio performs normalization to display Caller IDs using standard E.164 formatting. However, different carriers vary in their preferred Caller ID formatting. Since calls can go through several different networks before reaching their destination, it isn't possible to see how your Caller ID Name might have been altered by carriers. In addition, Caller ID Names can be lost or replaced if the call crosses international borders.

Does Technolutions bill each Slate instance with the new monthly fee?

The fees will be debited from your Slate Credits automatically on a monthly basis.

Everything that we have to do in the Compliance Dashboard has recently been approved. However, we're seeing bounces and an error message 30024. What is happening here?

If your A2P 10DLC Compliance has just been registered it can take some time before all carriers associate your phone number with your A2P Campaign. If you're seeing a lot of texts skip_fail with that error code, that means a carrier hasn't updated their code.

In this case, we had Twilio Engineers look into this behavior. They have concluded that there is a provisioning delay with T-Mobile. As of July 19, 2023 - the average expected delay is approximately 10 days for your Compliance information to take effect on their side.