Last updated June 5, 2023

There are some significant changes upcoming in the cellular industry that will affect the way you communicate with your customers through text messaging.

This is part of an ongoing effort to ensure consumers are only receiving wanted text messages from companies that they have consented to communicate with.

Beginning July 5th, carriers will begin to gradually block text messages from businesses that have not completed the registration process. By August 31, the block will be in full effect, meaning that unregistered business texts will not reach their intended recipients.

We've been told that the registration process can take 21+ days to complete, so we strongly recommend that you submit your business registration as soon as possible after June 1 to avoid disruption. (Third-party verification delays may push some approvals past the July 5 deadline, so it is important to submit your business registration as soon as possible after June 1. We’re working with our phone provider to reduce these timelines and disruption as much as possible.)

During the registration process, you will be asked to provide the following:

Also note that the carriers have adopted a manual verification process, which entails a one time $19 up-front fee, charged upon registration. Once approved, the carriers are charging $1.50 per month on an ongoing basis.

Expect more details and information about the webinar in the next few days. We understand these changes may be disruptive, and we apologize for the short notice. Our team is here for you, and we look forward to helping you navigate this process.

The new registration process is a requirement from major cell phone carriers for businesses that send text messages. It includes providing your business information, industry, how you're using text messages, and proof of opt-in consent from your customers.

This change is part of ongoing efforts by cell phone carriers to regulate the industry and protect consumers from unwanted or intrusive text messages.

The registration process has been in flux until recently, and we didn’t want to commit to something that wasn’t ready for you to use. Additionally, this was the first clear deadline we’ve received from the carriers. A lot of businesses are in a similar situation. But we are committed to moving quickly based on what we know now.

We’ve been told that some text messages will start being blocked on July 5, for businesses that have not completed the registration process by then. The rate of blocking will increase until August 31, when all unregistered text messages will be disallowed by the major carriers.

Unfortunately, our phone provider has told us that the process can take 21+ days to complete. As a result, it will be important to be ready to submit your business registration as soon as possible after June 1 to limit disruption to your text messaging practices.

Express written consent means that your clients have knowingly agreed (in writing or verbally) to receive text messages from you. It's a legal requirement that ensures your clients want to be contacted in this way.

In other words, you cannot assume opt-in until your contacts opt-out. Instead, you must confirm opt-in before texting them. Texting them to get consent is not recommended as it is a sign that you have not collected consent prior to texting them.

Gathering consent for future clients and leads ought to look like including a checkbox on your lead collection forms on your website and including a paper agreement on your lease and management agreements. Example of a paper agreement here.

If you're unsure, we recommend revisiting your contact forms, property management agreements and lease agreements to ensure they're compliant with these requirements.

We are creating a consent collection form that will be able to be sent to your current leads and clients. This will be live in the next couple weeks. We will notify you when it is available.

No, the requirements are the same in both cases: prospects and clients both need to opt in to receive text messages. More information about consent requirements.

We are working on adding a new functionality that will import their opt-in/opt-out preferences, avoid sending text messages to leads who have not opted-in, show them in the app, and allow them to be updated if the contact opts-in or out verbally on the phone.

Contacts can opt-out of text messages by replying with any of the standard opt-out words. (STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT). These are not case-sensitive.

When a contact opts-out, they will be automatically unsubscribed from text messages in LeadSimple going forward. We will be adding an addition to LeadSimple's UI that will allow you to see which contacts have opted out.

The {{first_name}} merge tag will not use "Unidentified Caller" or "Unknown" as the first name in the message. Instead, it will use the default word in the merge tag {{first_name | there}} or leave the merge tag blank and notify you that the text did not go out.

Registration is now available in LeadSimple at https://app.leadsimple.com/v2/settings/sms-inbound-calling!

You will need to provide your business name, website, tax ID, your industry, examples of how you're using text messages, and documentation of how contacts opted in to receive your texts.

No, the registration process is for your whole LeadSimple account and will include all your current and future phone numbers.

If you are using those platforms to send business and commercial text messages (both promotional and informational), you will need to register there as well. They should provide you with a similar registration process.

If you have already registered with another phone provider, you will also need to register with LeadSimple, as registration is not transferrable between applications and must be completed with each application.

Text messages sent manually from a personal cell phone are considered person-to-person rather than business-to-consumer, and currently aren't subject to registration.

All messages sent from an application (like LeadSimple, Google Voice, Ring Central, etc), are considered business-to-consumer messages.

Yes, you will still need to register even if you only send informational texts. This requirement is for any SMS exchange with leads or clients.

We're here to guide you every step of the way. We will provide information, resources, tools, and we'll also host a webinar to help you understand and meet these new requirements.

The carriers are charging an up front fee of $19 for a new business registration ($4 for business registration, and $15 for verifying your SMS use case). These fees will be passed through upon registration. Once approved, the carriers are charging $1.50 per month on an ongoing basis. Note that these fees are for your whole account, not for each individual phone number.

You can always reach out to our customer support team with any questions or concerns: support@leadsimple.com.