AWS End User Messaging FAQ

Q: How can I try AWS End User Messaging?

AWS End User Messaging is self-service so you can try before you buy, without talking to sales, completing RFPs, or hiring for consultants or professional services. Simply log in to the AWS End User Messaging console using your AWS account and set up an AWS End User Messaging channel. To learn how to set up AWS End User Messaging, see the Getting Started tutorial.

Q: What is a sender ID?

A sender ID is an alphabetic name that identifies the sender of an SMS message. When you send an SMS message using a sender ID, and the recipient is in an area where sender ID authentication is supported, your sender ID appears on the recipient's device instead of a phone number. A sender ID provides SMS recipients with more information about the sender than a phone number or short code provides.

Sender IDs are supported in select countries and regions around the world. In certain places, if you're a business that sends SMS messages to individual customers, you must use a sender ID that's pre-registered with a regulatory agency or industry group. For a complete list of countries and regions that support or require sender IDs, see Supported countries and regions (SMS channel).

For advantages and disadvantages of sender IDs see the AWS End User Messaging User Guide.

Q: What is a short code?

Short codes are numeric sequences that consist of fewer digits than regular phone numbers. For example, in the United States and Canada, standard phone numbers (long codes) contain 11 digits, while short codes contain five or six digits. If you send a large volume of SMS messages to recipients in the United States or Canada, you can purchase a short code. This short code is reserved for your exclusive use.

For advantages and disadvantages of using short codes see the AWS End User Messaging User Guide.

Q: Am I able to port a number from an external provider to End User Messaging?

While End User Messaging does not support porting numbers from external providers, if short codes satisfy your SMS use case, you are able to request a vanity (i.e. custom or preferred digits) Short Code in select countries.

More information on requesting short codes and long codes can be found in Request support for SMS messaging with AWS End User Messaging.

Q: Am I able to register my Sender ID

Yes, AWS End User Messaging supports Sender ID registration in select countries.

For a complete list of countries and regions that End User Messaging supports Sender ID registration in, visit Supported countries and regions (SMS channel).

Q: Can I use my Short or long code in multiple AWS accounts or regions?

While End User Messaging does not support the same SMS numbers in multiple accounts or regions, by using IAM policies you can setup cross-account access by delegating other AWS accounts to use your numbers.

For more information on setting up cross-account permissions through IAM policies, seeing Setting up 10DLC cross-account access.

Q: What is 10DLC?

10DLC is a new standard for sending messages from applications such as AWS End User Messaging to individual recipients. This type of sending is known as Application-to-Person or A2P messaging. You can use 10DLC phone numbers to send text messages to your customers with high throughput and high rates of message delivery.

To use 10DLC numbers, carriers require that you register information related to your company as well as your use case (also called your 10DLC campaign). You complete these registration processes directly in the AWS End User Messaging console. After your company and 10DLC campaign are approved, you can purchase a phone number and associate it with your campaign.

Q: Will I still be able to purchase US long codes after June 1, 2021?

After June 1, 2021, unregistered US long codes will only be available for use with the voice channel. You won’t be able to use unregistered US long codes to send SMS messages.

To send SMS messages to recipients in the US, you must use either a short code, a 10DLC phone number, or a toll-free number.

Q: Should I delete the existing unregistered long code(s) for US that I have in my AWS account?

If you don’t do anything, unregistered long codes will remain in your account. You’ll continue to pay $1 per month for each unregistered long code. However, you won’t be able to use unregistered US long codes to send text messages.

You can keep your unregistered long codes if you plan to use them to send voice messages to your customers. You can also convert unregistered long codes to 10DLC phone numbers if you want to continue to use them to send text messages.

If you don’t want to keep your unregistered long codes, you can delete them in the AWS End User Messaging console.

Q: If I convert my unregistered long codes to 10DLC numbers, will I experience any downtime?

If you complete the 10DLC conversion process before June 1st, 2021, you won’t experience any downtime. If you begin the conversion process after this date, you may experience several days of downtime.

Q: What is a 10DLC campaign? What information do I need to provide to create one?

It’s important to note that 10DLC campaigns are completely separate from and unrelated to AWS End User Messaging campaigns.

A 10DLC campaign is a description of your use case. During the 10DLC campaign registration process, you must describe the use case and provide the message templates that you plan to use. For more information, see Registering a 10DLC Campaign in the AWS End User Messaging User Guide.

Q: If I have just one 10DLC phone number in my account, will every SMS message I send to US recipients be sent using this phone number?

Yes. If you only have one US phone number in your account—whether it’s a 10DLC number, a short code, or toll-free number—all of the messages that you send to recipients in the US will be sent through that number.

If you have multiple numbers in your AWS End User Messaging account, you can specify your Origination Number in your call to the AWS End User Messaging API. If you don’t specify an originating number, AWS End User Messaging looks for the best number to use to send your message. If you have a short code in your account, AWS End User Messaging will send using that number. If you don’t have a short code, it looks for a 10DLC phone number, and attempts to send using that number. If you don’t have a 10DLC number, it looks for a toll-free number, and attempts to send using that number.

Q: Can I use multiple 10DLC numbers for one campaign?

You can associate multiple phone numbers with a 10DLC campaign. However, you can’t associate a single phone number with more than one 10DLC campaign. Using multiple phone numbers for the same campaign doesn’t provide any added benefit in terms of throughput.

Q: I registered my 10DLC company and campaign successfully, but the status of the 10DLC number I associated with the 10DLC campaign is ‘Pending.’ Why is this happening?

It takes up to 14 business days to associate a new phone number with a 10DLC campaign. When the association process is complete, the status changes to ‘Ready.’

Q: Can I use AWS APIs to purchase 10DLC phone numbers instead of using the AWS End User Messaging console?

Yes, it is possible to purchase a 10DLC phone number through the AWS End User Messaging SMS console or AWS CLI.

Q: How can I use 10DLC for different AWS Regions in my AWS account?

The 10DLC company and campaign registration processes are connected to your AWS account, and is not tied to a specific AWS Region. You can have multiple 10DLC numbers that unique to a specific AWS Region. These phone numbers can all be associated with the same 10DLC campaign.

Q: Can I get a 10DLC phone number with a specific area code?

No, we don’t currently provide the option of specifying an area code when you purchase a phone number.

Q: Can I use 10DLC numbers as originating identities for sending texts to recipients outside the US?

No, 10DLC is a concept that only applies to messages sent to recipients in the US who have US phone numbers.

Q: Can I use 10DLC phone numbers to send voice messages?

Yes. When you purchase a phone number to use with a 10DLC campaign, you can specify whether you want to use the number to send SMS messages, voice messages, or both. As long as you enable the voice capability when you purchase a number, you can use that number to send voice messages.

Q: How can I enter the variable content to my sample messages while creating a 10DLC campaign?

You can use placeholders for variables in your sample messages to indicate variable content. For example, for the below sample message: “Hi John, your OTP is 1234” can be written as “Hi {#var}, your OTP is {#var}.”

Q: How long does it take to migrate 10DLC registrations from one AWS account to another?

While it is possible to migrate 10DLC registrations between AWS accounts, it may take several weeks to complete the transfer process. For this reason, we recommend that you complete the 10DLC registration process in your primary production account. You can then use cross-account access to share your 10DLC phone numbers with other AWS accounts, such as your test or development accounts.

Q: I registered my company directly via the Campaign Registry portal. Can the same registration be used for my AWS account?

No. In this situation, you would have to register again through the AWS End User Messaging console.

Q: Is it possible to share 10DLC phone numbers across AWS Regions?

10DLC company and campaign registrations apply to your entire AWS account, but individual phone numbers are specific to each AWS Region. You can register your 10DLC company and campaign in one Region, and then use cross-account access to share phone numbers across Regions.

Q: If I publish at a higher rate than my 10DLC campaign supports, will I receive a throttling error?

By default, AWS End User Messaging limits the number of SMS messages that you can send to 20 per second. If you exceed this account-level limit, you will receive throttling errors. However, you can request an increase to this limit.

With 10DLC, the mobile carriers calculate a trust score for each sender during the company and campaign registration processes. This trust score determines how many messages each carrier will accept from you. If you exceed the limits for your campaign for a particular carrier, that carrier will begin rejecting your messages. We highly recommend that you enable event streaming in order to track these events.

Q: Is two-way messaging supported with 10DLC numbers?

Yes, 10DLC phone numbers support two-way messaging.

Q: How can I register my company in two different AWS accounts?

10DLC company and campaign registrations are managed through a third-party organization called the Campaign Registry. Currently, the Campaign Registry only allows a company to be registered once for each sending application (such as End User Messaging). However, you can use cross-account access to allow multiple AWS accounts to send SMS messages using the same 10DLC phone number.

Q: Can I use URL shorteners for 10DLC messages?

The mobile carriers don’t allow senders to use links that have been shortened using services such as bit.ly or TinyURL. We recommend that you use the full domain of your URLs when you include links in your messages. Alternatively, there are commercial URL shortening services that let you use dedication domains. You can even build a URL shortener using AWS services. If you use a custom URL shortening domain, the domain name should be obviously related to your brand. During the 10DLC campaign registration process, you should provide examples of your shortened URLs when you provide your message templates.

Q: I only use Amazon SNS to send text messages. Should I still use AWS End User Messaging to register my 10DLC campaign?

Yes. The Amazon SNS console currently doesn’t include a way to register 10DLC companies and campaigns. However, you can use the 10DLC phone numbers that you configured in the AWS End User Messaging console to send messages using Amazon SNS.

Q: How does AWS End User Messaging voice channel differ from Amazon Connect?

With AWS End User Messaging voice, you can engage with your customers by delivering voice messages over the phone. End User Messaging voice gives customers a great way to deliver transactional messages—such as one-time passwords, appointment reminders, order confirmations, and more. With End User Messaging voice capabilities, you can convert a text script to lifelike speech, and then deliver the personalized voice message to your customer. Call metrics—such as number of calls completed and number of calls failed—help you to optimize future voice engagements. With both End User Messaging voice and SMS channels available to you, you can send SMS messages to customers who prefer text and deliver voice messages to those who are either unable to receive SMS messages. With the addition of the voice channel, you can now use AWS End User Messaging to seamlessly engage your customers with timely, relevant content through push notifications, email, SMS, and voice calls.
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