The toll-free verification process qualifies your number for messaging traffic. The Verified verification status shows that your number has carrier approval to send within the U.S. and Canada.

To verify your number, it must go through a review process that looks at the sender – the business sending the message – and the use case – why you're sending messages. Verification status is unique to the number, which means you don't verify the business; you must verify every number used by the business.

Verification can benefit your organization because it reduces the number of false-positive blocks and helps increase message deliverability on a single toll-free number.

However, verification doesn't guarantee that a number won't experience blocking. As long as the sent traffic aligns with the use case you outlined on your application, if blocking does happen, we can work quickly with our peers to share campaign details with the mobile operator and ask for blocks to be removed.

You must verify all toll-free numbers before September 30, 2022, when the new carrier requirement takes effect. This includes numbers that will only receive inbound content, as they will need to support STOP, HELP, and all other industry keywords that require a response.

Toll-free verification has come around as part of a more significant push from carriers and the telecom industry to crack down on spam and restore public trust in A2P text messaging. While verification sets us up for future success, some *costs must be considered today.

*These aren't direct costs – the application process is free – but rather indirect costs from longer timelines to start sending from a new number. Previously, you could purchase and begin sending traffic from toll-free numbers immediately. However, there is currently a verification backlog that can take 4-5 weeks, hopefully settling to 1-2 weeks in the future.

After September 30, 2022, if you try to send messaging traffic from a toll-free number that hasn't gone through the verification process, you will experience service interruptions that vary across carriers. In addition, if an unverified toll-free number is blocked, we will not be able to unblock the messaging traffic until the number is registered.

As your trusted partner, we're here to guide you through these changes and the toll-free verification process. You can register your toll-free messaging traffic through Dotdigital by completing the toll-free verification – a form is provided when you purchase in-app, or you can ask for one from ops@dotdigital.com. To speed up your application, complete the form entirely and include proof of opt-in documents. We will then submit your brief to the Toll-Free Messaging Aggregator on your behalf.