Objective
Configure SMS A2P Campaign registration using 8x8 Admin Console.
Applies To
- SMS
- 8x8 Admin Console
Procedure
IMPORTANT!
The information you enter into the SMS Your Brand and Your Campaign forms is validated by external third-party organizations with strict guidelines. Attention to detail is critical when filling out the forms.
Incomplete, incorrect, or otherwise insufficient entries can result in significant delays and additional effort in registering your SMS campaign.
When registering an SMS Campaign, you must ensure that:
- You have a valid online presence (a website or Facebook page).
- Your website or Facebook page contains a privacy policy and disclaimer about SMS.
- The privacy policy must describe how you collect, use, and share information from end users. It must be clear that the end user’s information, including mobile phone number, will not be shared or sold to third parties for marketing purposes.
- The disclaimer must describe any applicable terms and conditions related to the messaging program (e.g., how to opt out, customer care contact information, and a link to any applicable privacy policy).
Note that it is the SMS carrier that approves or rejects the campaign. 8x8 does not handle the approval of SMS campaigns.
For additional campaign registration guidance, see SMS Campaign Registration: SMS Usage and Content Policies.
Instant Messaging (IM) vs SMS
8x8 Work has a built-in instant messaging (IM) feature designed to allow users of 8x8 Work on the same 8x8 service to chat directly with each other.
Even though this IM feature uses the same Messages interface as SMS messages do in 8x8 Work, IM is not SMS. If you use IM internal to your company, and do not send any SMS messages to any mobile phone subscribers, SMS campaign registration is not required in your case.
Follow the procedures below to register your Brand and SMS campaign:
Brand Verification
The Your Brand section of the SMS campaign registration form describes "Who we are" as a business.
This must be completed and marked as Verified before you can proceed to complete the Your Campaign section of the form.
- Log in to 8x8 Admin Console.
- Under Home > Phone System, select SMS.
- Complete the form for Your Brand. (See the screenshot below)
- Fields must be filled with the most accurate information available when the company EIN (Employer Identification Number) was filed. The Campaign Registry registration is based on information contained in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) database.
- Scroll down and click Submit.
- Once the Brand is confirmed as verified, you can move on to the next step of Campaign creation.
Brand Verification Fields
| Legal Company Name | Legally registered company name. This is the name that appears in your IRS documentation. Include the complete listed name to avoid delays in verification. You can find more information about this, here. |
|---|---|
| DBA or Brand Name | Doing Business As (Trade Name), or the Brand name of the company. This is the registered, public identity of your company. If you don't have a DBA that's different from the Legal Company Name, just enter the Legal Company Name. |
| What type of legal form is the organization? | Click the drop-down menu and select the appropriate option:
When selecting Public Company, the Stock Symbol and Stock Exchange fields become mandatory. About Private Company Registration: If registering your SMS campaign as a Private Company (including sole proprietorships), you must register using your IRS Employer ID Number (EIN). Due to Carrier requirements, 8x8 cannot support SMS campaigns for any customer that does not have an EIN. |
| Tax Number/ID/EIN/UTR | Tax Number ID or Employer Identification Number (EIN). EIN is a 9 digit number assigned to a business by the IRS. For UK customers, this is the UTR. |
| Tax Number/ID/EIN/UTR Issuing Country | The country where the Tax ID, EIN, or UTR was issued. |
| Alternative Business ID (DUNS, GINN, or LEI) | If your business has an alternative business identification number using DUNS, GINN, or LEI, you can use this optional field to input that information. This can help further validate your business. |
| Stock Symbol | Required if your company is a Publicly Traded Company. This form is set as required only when you select Public Company in the field What type of legal form is the organization? |
| Stock Exchange | Required if your company is a Publicly Traded Company. This form is set as required only when you select Public Company in the field What type of legal form is the organization? |
| Website | Provide your company's website URL. If you do not have a company website, provide a link to any online presence that your business has. For example, a Yelp or Etsy page, etc. |
| Vertical | Select the closest match from the provided options. This is a predetermined list provided by The Campaign Registry. |
| Brand Address | The address used to register your business. |
| State | When selecting United States as the Country your business is registered in, the State field will change to a drop-down menu. Select the US state that your business is registered in. |
| Country | Select the country your business is registered in. |
| Brand Contact Details | Contact details are provided to the mobile cell carriers in the rare instance they would need to contact your business. |
Campaign Verification
Assuming no changes are required campaign verification may take around a month after submission, as the underlying carrier will review your submission and approve it manually. Once your campaign is approved, you must also assign phone numbers to the campaigns. It can take up to 3 weeks for the carrier's first event to show up.
The presence of required entries for Subscriber Opt-In, Opt-Out, and Help does not indicate that 8x8 can perform automated reply responses to mobile phone subscriber messages. Customers using the 8x8 SMS service must manually send such responses to mobile phone subscribers, when needed.
Note about Automation: Note that the presence of required entries for Subscriber Opt-In, Opt-Out, and Help does not indicate that 8x8 can perform automated reply responses to mobile phone subscriber messages. Customers using the 8x8 SMS service must manually send such responses to mobile phone subscribers, when needed.
The Your Campaign section of the form is about "What we are doing, and why." It must be completed and marked as Verified before you can proceed with enabling SMS for your users and assign them to the campaign.
While still In Home > Phone System > SMS:
- Fill in the form in Your Campaign. See the screenshot of the completed form and Verified message, below.
- Scroll down and acknowledge the Registration Fee by checking the box.
- Click Create to complete the process.
Campaign Verification Fields
| Use Case | This is defaulted to UCaaS Low Volume as the only option. 8x8’s Work SMS is designed to be used as a business phone number that allows SMS communications on a conversational level. |
|---|---|
| Campaign Description | Provide a description of how your business leverages SMS to conduct your business. Important: This field has a minimum requirement of 40 characters. |
| Call-to-action message flow | Describe how a consumer opts-in to the campaign, therefore giving consent to the sender to receive their message. There are many ways this can be done:
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| Subscriber Opt-In | This is how a user opts-in to this campaign. This is set to On and cannot be disabled. It is required that customers agree to this in order to use business SMS.
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| Subscriber Opt-Out | This is how a user opt-outs of this campaign. This is set to On and cannot be disabled. It is required that customers agree to this in order to use business SMS. A minimum of 20 characters is required.
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| Subscriber Help | This is how a user solicits helps or more information. This is set to On and cannot be disabled. It is required that customers agree to this in order to use business SMS. A minimum of 20 characters is required.
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| Direct Lending or Loan Arrangement | Will this campaign include content related to direct lending or other loan arrangements? |
| Embedded Link | Are you using an embedded link of any kind? Note that public URL shorteners (tinyurl, bitly, etc) are not allowed. |
| Embedded Phone Number | Are you using an embedded phone number other than what is used in the HELP message? |
| Campaign will not be used for Affiliate Marketing | This is always On and cannot be changed. As part of the CTIA messaging guidelines, customers are required to agree to not use business SMS for Affiliate marketing. |
| Age-Gated Content | Will this campaign contain any age-gated content as defined by the CTIA messaging guidelines? |
| Sample Messages | Provide a common sample message that your users may send using SMS. More than one sample can be provided. A minimum of 20 characters is required. |
Sample Scripts for SMS Campaign Approval
Call to Action Message (for use when collecting phone numbers online)
Thank you for reaching BRAND NAME. No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. All the above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.
Call to Action Message (for use when not collecting phone numbers online)
Please contact BRAND NAME at xxx-xxx-xxxx and let us know if we can continue communicating via SMS messages which you have an option to opt-out of future messages at any time by replying STOP.
Campaign and Content Attributes
Opt-In keywords: START
Sample Opt-In Message
Thank you for reaching BRAND NAME. Text “START” if you wish to receive our message. Please text “STOP” to end, or “HELP” for further assistance. Message frequency will vary. Msg&Data Rates May Apply.
Opt-Out keywords: STOP
Sample Opt-Out Message
You have successfully unsubscribed from BRAND NAME text messages. Msg&Data Rates May Apply.
Help keywords: HELP
Sample Help Message
Please call BRAND NAME at <ENTER your MAIN LINE> for further assistance. Msg&Data Rates May Apply
Sample Message Prompting Stop and Help
Hello, Welcome to BRAND NAME. We will be in contact shortly. To end this message Text "STOP", for further assistance, please Text "HELP”. Msg&Data Rates May Apply.
SMS Disclaimer
An SMS Disclaimer must be added to your Contact Us form before your customers submit their details. If your business is utilizing a Facebook page, this can be added to the About section of the page. This is only needed if your website has a form that collects phone numbers.
Sample SMS Disclaimer Message
(Note: The following verbiage is recommended as it is based on campaigns that have been approved. Customers who followed this sample had a very high chance of getting SMS campaign approved by the carrier.)
By providing my phone number to “Company Name”, I agree and acknowledge that BRAND NAME may send text messages to my wireless phone number for any purpose. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency will vary, and you will be able to Opt-out by replying “STOP”. For more information on how your data will be handled, please visit <ENTER PRIVACY POLICY HYPERLINK>.
For websites that have a Contact Us page but are not collecting mobile numbers, add the below disclaimer at the top of your Contact Us page.
For more information on how your data will be handled, please visit <ENTER PRIVACY POLICY HYPERLINK>.
SMS Privacy Policy Statement
If your website has an existing privacy policy section, you must add an SMS Privacy Policy statement. If not, then you need to have a section of your webpage dedicated to your Privacy Policy Statement. If you are utilizing a Facebook page, this can be added in the About section of the page.
Sample SMS Privacy Policy
(Note: The following verbiage is recommended as it is based on campaigns that have been approved. Customers who followed this sample had a very high chance of getting SMS campaign approved by the carrier. This is also the sample message suggested by carriers.)
No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. All the above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.
For websites that do not have a Privacy Policy page but do have a Contact Us page, combine the recommended Disclaimer (minus the sentence “For more information…”) and recommended Privacy Policy statement in the Contact Us page.
Additional Information
For more information, see SMS Campaign Registration: Assign an SMS Campaign to a Phone Number.