Please note: A2P registration only applies to SMS sent to US carriers and/or US phone numbers. Canadian shops that do not send SMS to US phone numbers do not need to apply for A2P registration.

Check out How do I register an SMS number for my shop? for a step-by-step guide on activating a Shopmonkey Messaging Number for your shop.

When you use your phone to send a message to another person, you’re using Person-to-Person (P2P) communication. You likely take a few seconds to type a message and send it to someone you know. You’re probably not sending multiple messages to multiple people at the same time. Sending multiple messages to multiple people in close succession might cause the phone carrier to delay your messages or even flag them as spam and block them.

Application-to-Person (A2P) was developed in partnership with the phone carriers to prevent the restrictions that might apply to sending multiple messages frequently. A2P communication is when someone uses an application (like Shopmonkey) to send SMS messages to their customers. A2P communication has specific rules and regulations. Shopmonkey has stepped in to help you abide by these regulations when messaging your customers.

AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon require A2P registration to be completed on any phone number used for messages from systems like Shopmonkey. By registering your phone number, the phone carriers agree to deliver more messages without delays or concerns about your messages being flagged as spam. For these reasons, and to ensure a positive experience for you and your customers, Shopmonkey will help you with the registration process.

Shopmonkey will act as your representative to the phone carriers should they need anything. We’ll let you know if there are any issues with your registration status or the information provided. The information collected is only used to submit your registration to the centralized A2P registry for identity verification purposes. No credit check will be run and the information you provide will not be used for any purpose outside of A2P registration and related items.

The governing bodies manually process these requests and have varying timetables of response. Because this process is handled by an actual human, sometimes they move very quickly, other times they take much longer. In our experience, we’ve seen approvals take anywhere from 2-20 days. The process may take longer if there is a denial that requires correction and re-submission. If this occurs, you will hear from a Shopmonkey team member to assist you with any changes that need to be made and to resubmit your application for you. This is unlikely to happen as Shopmonkey has taken the steps necessary to get ahead of common denial reasons on your behalf.

There are several reasons why an SMS application can get denied but the following reasons are the most common. During the business verification process during your shop’s onboarding, Shopmonkey collects the information needed to handle the items below to avoid an application being denied.

Company information mismatch. The carriers are unable to verify some combination of the legal business name, the business registration number, the business address, etc.

Opt-In language. When requiring phone numbers from your customers, there are strict requirements around the language and mechanisms related to a customer “opting-in” to receive SMS/text messages from your shop.

To remain compliant when requiring customers to provide their phone number, it is required to add “opt-in” text paired with a checkbox for customers to provide consent. This needs to be included in every place where you’ve made phone numbers a required data entry field (this applies to contact pages, booking pages, etc.).

Please refer to the CTIA guidelines if you’re curious to learn detailed instructions and best practices for handling consumer consent.

Brand / Campaign mismatch. Even though Shopmonkey is sending the SMS messages, the SMS registration is still specific to your brand (which includes your website). It’s possible for content on your website to generate a registration failure. For example, if your business area is in automotive repair but your website represents a food business, this discrepancy can cause a failure.

We’re in this with you. The Shopmonkey team will communicate with you throughout the process. Should an application be denied, we will reach out, remedy, and resubmit on your behalf.

Still have questions? Feel free to reach out to us through the chat icon. Thanks for reading!