Registering Your Business to Maintain Texting Compliance

November 17th, 2023

Ruby’s texting feature utilizes a 10-digit long code (10DLC) phone number, and the text messages you send through the Ruby app are considered Application-to-Person (A2P) messaging by our contracted telephony provider, Twilio.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in accordance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, are rolling out new A2P requirements to reduce spam/unwanted messages that will ultimately result in a full blocking of all unregistered message traffic by all US carriers (including Twilio) beginning on August 31, 2023.

Twilio is requiring all businesses who utilize its service to send text messages (which includes Ruby customers) to register with them beginning July 31, 2023.  

If you want to continue to use Ruby’s texting feature on your local number*, you will need to fill out the registration form that is linked below. Ruby will then complete Twilio’s 10DLC registration on your behalf, as well as cover the one-time registration fee for your brand, campaign vetting fees, ongoing monthly fees and monthly usage fees. The registration process typically takes 7-10 business days. 

You can get more information about the registration process in general at this link and your messaging responsibilities from Twilio here. If you are completing the registration as a sole proprieter, as part of the registration our provider Twilio will send a One Time Password (OTP) to your cell phone number as part of the registration process. 

Opt-In Requirements
Before any message can be sent to a customer, the sender must have direct consent from that end-user. The sender must also maintain a record of that consent. Ruby, as an intermediary messaging service, cannot acquire or confer this consent from customers on the behalf of our clients. To navigate this, the obligation falls to the sender to have their customer send the first message to their dedicated number, which will confirm consent to opt-in to receive messages.

Opt-Out Message
The first SMS you send to your customer will now have a standard ‘Opt-out’ message. Should the customer reply with STOP, per industry standard any further SMS attempts to that customer will not be sent. Any other reply from the customer will be interpreted as implied consent to continue receiving messages.

*Ruby toll-free numbers will no longer have texting capability, due to new, strict requirements for proof of recipient consent to receive texts from toll-free numbers.  This is in order to remain compliant with updated FCC regulations, and Ruby is unable to support communicating this proof for all recipients. If you would like to utilize the SMS feature, Ruby is happy to provide a local phone number, which would need to be registered before you are able to use the SMS feature. We apologize for the inconvenience; unfortunately this has become an industry wide requirement.

We appreciate your continued support and apologize for any inconvenience brought on by these new industry requirements.