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Setting up TCR registration and assigning numbers to your SMS campaigns

How to register your brand, campaign and phone numbers with The Campaign Registry (TCR) to enable SMS campaigns

If you’re a Canadian company and want to send SMS (text) messages to U.S. customers, you must register with The Campaign Registry (TCR). U.S. mobile carriers now require you to register your brand, campaign and number assignments with The Campaign Registry (TCR) before enabling SMS. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) and U.S. carrier rules must be followed to send text messages to U.S. customers.

This article will walk you through how to submit your brand and campaign registration, SMS usage plan and example use cases to mobile carriers. 

For a full overview of industry requirements related to A2P 10DLC (Application-to-Person 10-digit Long Code) and SMS messaging, see our registration guide
. It includes the process for registering your business with the TCR, methods of obtaining consent from recipients, opt-out option requirement, campaign number assignment and common reasons for SMS TCR registration rejections.

Note:

Mobile carriers review each submission carefully. You need to ensure you follow the exact instructions to avoid rejection. Failure to provide clear, detailed information will result in your application’s rejection.
If you're a Canadian company and want to send SMS messages to your Canadian customers, you don’t need to register with the TCR at this time.

To register with the TCR, you’ll need to complete the following steps in the order outlined below.

Create a brand

A brand works as your unique business registration, tied to your legal business name and federal or provincial corporation number. It lets carriers know who’s responsible for the SMS messages. Most customers will only need to register one brand.

Note
: Brand registration can take up to 10 minutes to get approval. Registering your brand also incurs a one-time registration fee which TELUS has waived for now.  

Request access to the Business SMS Registry from your installer or using the TELUS phone contact number:
1-844-626-6638
Go to the
Voice Manager
and sign in as a super admin
Click
Phone System
from the top menu
Go to
Enhanced Business SMS
>
U.S. SMS Registration
Click
Get started
In the
Add new brand
window, enter the required information for
Company details
What type of legal form is the organization?
Public, private, non-profit or government
Provincial or federal business incorporation number
: This must be the business registration number assigned to your business by Canada or the province
Note
: If you don’t have a federal or provincial business incorporation number, you’ll need to register for one with the CRA or provincial agency. Unfortunately, Business Personal accounts will not be able to do SMS to the U.S.
Legal company name
: This entry must match how your business is registered with the corresponding federal or provincial agency that issues your business registration number
Country of registration
: Enter the country where your business is registered
Federal or provincial corporation number
:
Alberta: Corporate Access Number
British Columbia: Requires an alpha prefix (BC)
Quebec: Quebec Business Number
Ontario: Federal Corporation Business Number (this begins with two zeros, but remove leading zeros in admin to verify)
Manitoba: Manitoba Corporation Number
DBA or brand name
: This is the name that your business is operating and sending SMS messages under
Select a
Vertical
(your service or product) from the dropdown under
Additional details
. You may also enter a website address (optional).
Note
: All fields are required and your legal business name and Federal Tax ID must match exactly, or your application will automatically be rejected. All applications are charged registration fees, whether successful or unsuccessful. For now, these fees will not be charged by TELUS.
Click
Next
Review the information listed
Note
: TCR charges for every application, regardless of whether your brand is accepted or rejected.
Check the box next to the acknowledgment statement, then click
Next
Click
Print
to get a copy of your submission, then click
Done
to close the window
Wait 5 to 10 minutes, then refresh the page to confirm you’ve registered your brand:
Registered
: Click
Campaigns
to complete the next step in the registration process
Registration unsuccessful
: Make the necessary changes TCR indicates in your application, then resubmit
Note
: If your brand registration remains pending after more than 24 hours, please contact
TELUS Business Connect support
.
Once successfully registered, go to the next section and follow the steps to create your campaign
Note
: Most accounts only require one brand. If you have multiple brands, like subsidiaries of your main company, you can add more by clicking
Add new brand
. Registration fees apply for each submission.

Create a campaign

Create a campaign after you’ve successfully registered your brand. Your campaign should clearly show how you use SMS to mobile carriers. You must register a campaign under your brand to comply with TCR requirements. Most accounts only have one campaign under their brand, but you can have multiple if needed.

If you haven’t created a brand
, you must do so first. Once you’ve set up a campaign, you can assign numbers and enable SMS.
If your brand was previously approved
, then you can follow the steps below to set up your campaign.
Note
: A campaign can take 20 to 30 business days to process and get accepted.

Go to the
Voice Manager
and sign in
Click
Phone System
in the top menu
Go to
Enhanced Business SMS
>
U.S. SMS Registration
Under
Add your standard campaign
, click
Start
Select your brand from the dropdown under
Which brand will the new campaign belong to?
Click
Select
next to the campaign type that best reflects how you will utilize SMS:
Conversational messages
: These messages are general, everyday texting, such as two-way conversations. For example, "Hi! Your cake is ready for pick up. Let us know when you’re on the way and we’ll box it up for you. We look forward to seeing you soon!"
Automated messages
: These message types include notifications, such as appointment reminders or mass-text alerts. For example, "We are canceling all classes and activities today due to severe weather conditions."
Under
Select use case
, choose which case best fits your SMS campaign:
Conversational messages
High volume
: Frequent text messages to customers (i.e., daily or weekly)
Low volume
: A few text messages to customers (e.g., monthly)
Automated messages
Dedicated campaign
: You’re using SMS for a single purpose. Choose an option from the dropdown under
Use case
, then click
Select
.
Mixed campaign
: You’re using SMS for multiple use cases. Select an option under the
Text messaging volume
dropdown, then up to five options from the
Use cases
dropdown. Then click
Select
.
Review the terms for all mobile network operators, regardless of the one you use, then click
Next

Note
: TELUS Business Connect limits SMS to 50 messages per minute per number.
Under
Add Campaign details
, enter the name, description, how you obtained consent and at least three sample messages (required by TCR)
Note
: You must obtain consent from consumers before sending them SMS messages.
There are six common ways you can obtain permission from consumers:
Consumer enters their phone number through a website: You must provide the website page and describe how they provide consent
Consumer clicks a button on a mobile webpage: You must provide screenshots of the mobile webpage and how the process works
Consumer sends a message from the their mobile device that contains an advertising keyword
Consumer initiates text message exchange in which the message sender replies to the consumer only with responsive information
Consumer signs up at a point-of-sale (POS) or other message sender on-site location
Consumer opts in over the phone using interactive voice response (IVR) technology
Click
Next
Type in your opt-in, opt-out and help keywords. By default,
STOP
and
HELP
are entered in the opt-out and help keywords boxes. These are required for any campaign and can’t be unchecked.
Check
I confirm that this campaign will not be used for Affiliate Marketing
Click
Next
Confirm your campaign information and registration costs. Your campaign fees will vary based on the type of campaign you selected.
Check the box next to the acknowledgment statement, then click
Next
Click
Print
to get your submission copy, then click
Done
to close the window

Once successfully submitted and registered, you can assign telephone numbers to your campaign or connect those numbers to the specified SMS use case.

Obtain consumer's consent

Before you can send consumers SMS messages, you need their consent
.

Example
: 
If your chocolate shop wants to send messages to customers, you can get their consent in several ways. Maybe you already use your website to obtain consent, so you can give details on your site to the TCR. You’d enter your details in our campaign registration form as follows:

Campaign Name
: Customers sign up for SMS to get updates on our chocolate shop.
Description
: Customers visit our website and sign up to receive SMS messages about deals, new flavours, holiday specials, etc.
How are you obtaining consent
: We provide an online form for our customers to enter information, where they have to check a box to provide consent to receive SMS messages.

You can implement one of the common methods to get your consumer’s consent:

Having a form for users to enter their phone number on your website
Sending users to a mobile website with a button to opt in for SMS messages
Getting their consent at your physical location using a paper form
Allowing users to call into your automated voice service phone number

Depending on the method you decide to use, TCR requires screenshots, examples and other relevant data as proof of consent. Ensure you submit the following information for your specific campaign method:

Timestamp of user’s consent
What you used to get their consent (e.g., online form, physical form, mobile button, etc.)
Language you used to ask for consent
The campaign you wanted consent to send messages about
IP address captured when user submitted information online
User’s phone number
User information (name, username, session ID, etc.)

Sample messaging guidelines

As part of your TCR registration, you’ll need to provide three sample messages. Each sample message must be unique—you can’t submit the same sentence three times. The sample messages you provide depend on what you intend to use their phone numbers for.

Don’t copy and paste the examples below as this will result in the rejection of your application.

Campaign type	Example message
Health Services	Your test results are in. Please call or reply to this text, so we can share them with you. Hi Customer Name . The office will be closed tomorrow. We apologize for the late notice. Text us back when possible to reschedule your appointment. Hi Customer Name . Please text us when you're in the parking lot. We'd like you to remain in your case, and we'll let you know when the doctor is ready for you and you can enter the office. Reply STOP to opt out of messaging at any time.
Customer Support	Hi Customer Name . I’m sorry you’re experiencing issues with our website. Please provide more details about what you’re experiencing. Reply STOP to opt out of messaging at any time. We received your request for appliance repair. Please text us a photo of the appliance that needs repair, so we can connect you to the correct maintenance specialist. Sorry your package was damaged. Please send us a photo of the damage, so we can send a replacement for your item.
Marketing	We just received a new shipment of cute blouses! Text us back for a special 20% discount code. Reply STOP to opt out of messaging at any time. Hey Customer Name , you wanted to know when our blouses were on sale. Well, they’re 70% off this week! Come on in or place your order on our website. Hi Customer Name , we are open for extended hours tomorrow. You can come in anytime between #am and # pm to get your favorite clothes!

Think about what your objective is when sending SMS messages to your customers:

Do you want them to come into your store more often?
Do you want to provide better, more personalized customer support?
Are you changing your business practices (e.g., hours, check-in procedures, etc.) and want to keep them updated?

By understanding your goals, you can craft sample messages that speak to your campaign and inform the TCR of your plans.

Assign phone number(s) to your campaign

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Setting up TCR registration and assigning numbers to your SMS campaigns

Create a brand

Create a campaign

Obtain consumer's consent

Assign phone number(s) to your campaign

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