As of May 15, 2022, any new US toll-free number cannot send SMS messages unless it has been verified. By verifying your number with your carrier, you are less likely to experience carrier filtering because your phone number will have a “verified” tag associated with it.
SMS sending only works for US toll-free numbers.
What’s an unverified number?
Any number that was rejected during the verification process or is currently undergoing verification.
What’s a verified number?
Any number that completed the verification process - a company can only have one toll-free number. That verified number will be associated directly with their brand and carry a “verified” tag.
How do I get verified?
We do the heavy lifting for you! When you activate a US toll-free number from Settings > Channels > SMS in the Countries and phone numbers section, we will submit a verification request to your carrier on your behalf with the information gathered during the signup process.
While you wait for review, you'll be able to see the status of the number in your workspace and you'll receive an email notification each time the request changes status.
Review of a submission can take 8–10 business days.
Once the review is complete, you'll receive an email confirming whether your number has been approved or rejected.
Submitting for verification
Twilio has released a comprehensive Toll-Free Verification Onboarding Guide with requirements and instructions to ensure that your application is approved. We recommend reviewing this thoroughly to avoid delays due to non-compliance and subsequent rejection.
Why was my verification denied?
The email and SMS settings dashboard will include an error code that outlines the reason for rejection and a link to an article with information on changes to be made.
Some common reasons a number may fail verification:
The website provided didn’t match your company details.
Opt-in/consent was insufficient; resubmittable after correcting the opt-in flow.
DBA/business name must accurately match the registered business information; resubmittable.
Opt In - Consent for messaging is a requirement for Service.
Your company’s industry or use case is restricted in the US (e.g., SHAFT or illicit/restricted substances).*
*In some cases, we may not be able to support SMS for your business. Please reach out to our team if you have any questions.
If your SMS verification submission is rejected because of your Opt-In setup, here is a rejection-proof format that you can use to guide you:
End-users must be provided with the option to opt out of marketing-related messages. Opt-out choices for account notifications and marketing messages must be separate; these two types of communication should not be combined under a single opt-out setting.
Additionally, whenever phone numbers are collected, it must be clearly disclosed how those numbers will be used. This includes specifying the types of communications users can expect to receive (e.g. account updates, marketing promotions).
For more detailed guidance, refer to Twilio's Toll-Free Verification Onboarding Guide.
What happens if I fail verification?
If your company is not a restricted industry or use case in the US, you are able to edit your application in the SMS phone settings dashboard and resubmit with any changes outlined by the error code.
Attachments are not cleared from the original submission so reach out to the Support team for assistance if you require submitting new attachments.
What can I do while waiting for my number to be verified?
While the verification process is going on, you can start to set-up your SMS campaigns in Intercom by:
Setting up your keyword handling, consent management, and quiet hours.
If you have any questions about the verification or set up processes, please reach out to us via Messenger.
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