SMS for individuals (10DLC)

[eli-hu]

I am an individual. I do not own or run a business. I got a Zoom phone so I could talk and text and hold unlimited Zoom meetings with my family across the country. My account type is Pro (Named Host). I am the Owner and Admin.

Like all the other Zoom phone users, I received multiple emails about setting up a brand and a campaign so I can continue to use SMS.

I don't see how to set this up as an individual (not a business).

People in other threads are referring people to Setting up Zoom SMS with 10DLC Compliance for conversational messaging. That page says:

If you are currently using Zoom Phone SMS as a conversational (person-to-person) messaging tool, you can follow the guidelines below to set up your campaign. This will allow you to set up your account to work similarly to how it did before 10DLC registration was required.

Great! So I start following the instructions. The first step is to create your brand. Step 6 of creating your brand is:

In the Brand Summary page, enter the following:

• Legal Company Name
• DBA/Brand Name (if applicable)
• Your Company’s Legal Form.
• Tax Number, ID, or EIN (Employer Identification Number)
• Your Business Location Address
  • Select or enter your Country of Registration.
  • Enter your business address, city, and zip code.

There are several problems with these instructions:

1. I am not a company and do not have a Legal Company Name.
2. The only options for Legal Form are the following, none of which apply to an individual:
   • Private Profit
   • Public Profit
   • Non Profit
   • Government
3. I am not going to provide my Social Security Number to Zoom.

Is there a FAQ or specific instructions for how an individual is supposed to fill this out to keep SMS working?

 

[sachinzoom]

Hi @eli-hu 

I will update you on this shortly

[y2jimmy]

Is there any update on this? 
I have the same question too. 

Only using SMS as individual and not Business. 

Is there an individual option? 

[melanacious]

I sent a ticket to Customer Service and this is the reply I received:

I understand that you have a concern regarding signing up for an SMS campaign without an EIN (Employer Identification Number). I apologize for any inconvenience caused, but it's important to note that this requirement is imposed by network carriers and is beyond our control.
 
Network carriers require the EIN number to ensure compliance and security when creating an SMS campaign. Unfortunately, we are unable to bypass or remove this requirement.

It seems that, according to Zoom's response, that there is no alternative for those of us who are without EIN and as of mid-July we will no longer be able to utilize SMS with our numbers, taking away a key element that we are paying for. How a large section of paying clientele were not considered when this regulation was crafted is beyond me. Since I am a freelancer (and use my number for work and contacting clients), the US gov't does not require me to have an EIN. I'm not sure why this requirement is included in this new regulation. It essentially makes internet numbers only useful for employers and companies? What will stop this?  A class action lawsuit?

[ddgconsultant]

This issue is FOUR MONTHS old -- when can we expect an update/support for individuals / SMS as a conversational (person-to-person) messaging ???

[eli-hu]

@sachinzoomIt's been more than a year since you said you would update me shortly. I'm still getting emails about being required to create a 10DLC Brand and Campaign.

Is there any update on this issue?

What is the recommendation for individuals with a Pro level account?

[melanacious]

I'm having the same problem, only I am a freelancer and use the number for work, but have no EIN. Have you found a way to register as an individual or without an EIN?

[y2jimmy]

hmmm does SMS work for you at all right now? Or you must "verify" in order to use SMS. 

Which Plan are you on? 

I'm on the Basic Plan and it works right now. 

Where does it say "Mid-July"? Does that mean SMS will stop working after Mid July? 

I saw this post here, so I'm wondering if "Basic" Plan is not affected and only the latter. 

Prerequisites for 10-Digit Long Code compliance

• Pro, Business, Enterprise, or Education account
• Zoom phone license
• Account owner or admin privileges with SMS Campaigns privileges

[melanacious]

SMS does work for me currently. Zoom sent out an email stating that they were allowing SMS to continue through mid-July without creating campaigns but come mid-July they would disable SMS for anyone who had not complied with the campaign creation requirement. I have a Pro account, so I'm not sure what the difference might be for a basic plan. The requirements might be different.

[aalejo]

Hello!

I just opened a Zoom Phone account and ran into that problem since all the SMS sent from my own account were immediately rejected by the app.

After doing some research I ended up reading about 10DLC compliance and SMS campaign. I totally agree that is super confusing and not intuitive on the platform, especially for individuals like me who is a Real Estate Agent, as I'm not planning on running any marketing campaign by SMS. All the wording and the user interface is obviously meant for brands and large companies. But it looks like that's the only way.

Regarding the EIN, it is true that it's not required for a sole proprietor, and it's super annoying that we cannot use our SSN. Though you can easily request one from the IRS as it's free and instantaneously generated online. From what I can read in different places the benefits are: preventing identity theft, credibility, loan applications, separate credit score, business bank account, etc.

Anyway, I just did the 10DLC application but for now all my attempts are getting "rejected" because my brand is unverified. Though it looks like I can send SMS now 🙃

Good luck everyone.

[melanacious]

I went ahead an applied for an EIN after checking with my accountant to ensure it would not complicate my tax filings as a freelancer. My use of SMS is limited to communications regarding appointments and certainly there are no “campaigns” involved. After going back and forth with Zoom customer support regarding my inability to submit an application without an EIN, I was offered the opportunity to submit my SSN but by that point I had already obtained an EIN. That said, my SMS capabilities stopped today, 8/3/23.

[pammy543]

WOW. I see that I'm not the only one with this issue. I can't get Zoom to even reply to my support ticket. Thinking I need to cancel my Zoom phone and go with Google. I don't have an EIN and there should be a workaround for people like us. 

[sylvialam]

I have an EIN and still having issues with their instructions.  No one at Zoom responds to my support ticket.

[melanacious]

Same. I have a ticket and Zoom has ceased responding. Despite submitting an application, I no longer have access to SMS. I'm hoping it's simply a backlog and texting abilities will be restored soon. As of now, customers have no way of texting me and if they try, their attempts will fail, which does not look for a business (or a freelancer such as myself).

Scratch that. I just looked up my Campaign application and it seems that it has been rejected. Zoom never contacted me about this nor is there any information on why I've been rejected. Suffice it to say, Zoom has really failed its smaller customers here. The phone abilities that I have purchased through them are my lifeline to customers on the day of their appointments. This failure to support their smaller clientele directly affects my ability to sustain the effectiveness of my communication to and support of my clients. 

[jeffster]

Today, my texting just stopped. I guess Aug 1st was the deadline for a campaign. I also don't send outbound texts other then responding to people who call me. The thing about campaigns is you need to add the words " reply stop to cancel" which I really don't want to add to every single reply text. any thoughts? 

[davidjurado]

This is irresponsible from Zoom and the regulator to not have resolve a solution for this regulation for individual users of Zoom accounts.  The Zoom Support reps take it personally that one tells them that Zoom is failing to resolve options. This is very unacceptable. 

[davidjurado]

It makes no sense that as an individual I would have to register as a company and pay corporate taxes and report as a company to be able to send text messages.

[gavonrud76]

If I may make a suggestion. It's a stupid poorly thought out system. You can't do anything to change it, so "game it." Consider yourself a Sole Proprietor. It costs you nothing and you don't have to make any money doing so. Herre's an idea. Rather than complain, find a loophole. Create a website. There are literally places where you can make a free site to advertise your sole proprietorship business. And get an online presence for your sole proprietorship which is just your name and social.  You don't have a business? Offer to email someone a silly birthday wish for the low low price of 20 thousand dollars. Technically not illegal and if someone actually hires you, I will laugh. But you have a Sole Proprietor business. There is no law saying that you must be profitable.  Now, take this number, create a brand, point it to your website. The website should state clearly that anyone providing their number is opting in for SMS and they can cancel anytime by replying with the words "STOP."  And technically if Aunt Mildred doesn't want you to text her,  I guess she can also reply "STOP" to be in compliance. Congrats, you can now text on your "business line."  

[byounghealth]

this is what I'm doing. It's possible it will require a business license, but if there's no profit you can every 4 years or so show the on paper and you get away with a very minimal fee instead of the one they propose

[eli-hu]

Since @sachinzoom  hasn't replied, maybe they are no longer a Zoom employee and/or monitoring this forum, so I'm tagging @IP-Man  and @crissyd  who have both responded here within the past month to posts about SMS problems.

[davidjurado]

Are there any updates on how to comply as individuals with 10DLC, so we can text message our friends and families again?

[eli-hu]

Still waiting for an official response on this. I do not have a business or a website or an EIN, and none of the choices under "Your Company's Legal Form" are appropriate for an individual.

[sachinzoom]

Hello @eli-hu and All,

I have been following up on this feature with internal teams. After the industry regulations compliance, Zoom is planning to release Sole proprietor campaigns hopefully in the second half of this year. Please note all future releases are subject to change and I strongly encourage everyone to bookmark the Zoom phone release notes so you can track the feature when it goes live.

https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0062333

[eli-hu]

Another Monday, another email about the urgency of creating a brand and a campaign.

Still no guidance on how to create a brand for an individual. Everything I needed to say I said in the OP at the top of this thread.

TL;DR: How should an individual fill out the Brand page?

[airwolf2tv]

I know this is an old thread that dies like every other similar to it, but let me clarify a couple things.

1.  Like MANY other folks out there....there ARE people like myself and this person who use Zoom for PERSONAL HOME PHONE AND MEETING SERVICE.  For communicating with family and the such.  It is also a cost-effective way to have home phone service which is integrated to all the other Zoom features.  

2. These PERSONAL-USE users which are not associated with a business in any way, use the SMS feature conversationally in the EXACT same manner as one uses SMS on their mobile device.  Yet mobile devices don't require a 10DLC campaign.

3.  The PERSONAL-USE class of SMS users are simply a gap in the governments efforts to regulate the industry.  Should we be surprised that the FCC and all their executive project managers and high-paid consultants overlook this segment of the communications industry and technology?  Of course not, that's what we get from every government product and service....mediocrity and permanent dysfunction.  This problem will only be fixed by congressional due-process.  And since most of us don't have the time to "complain to out politicians"....and there is no apparent advocacy for the issue/gap....it will never be fixed.

4.  Ignore anything that Zoom tells you,  they're reading the script.  I HAVE CONSIDERABLE KNOWLEDGE OF THIS ON THE BUSINESS SIDE OF 10DLC, AND THERE IS NO WAY TO REGISTER A BRAND AND CAMPAIGN AS AN "INDIVIDUAL" PRIVATE ENTITY.  Even if there was, who in their right mind would fill out the equivalent of all that business information and turn it over to some appointed quasi-government extension?  NOBODY.

5.  I read comments that Zoom will assist with campaigns.  NEGATIVE.  Zoom has nothing do it and will offer nothing but some canned remarks which are categorically inaccurate.  All that business about "conversational SMS".  For all practical purposes, there is no such thing.  Even 10DLC erroneously documents a conversational use-case which suggests that an incoming SMS to a line shall serve as implied-consent to receive messages.  That is BS and Zoom certainly doesn't apply that logic.  Zoom is either ON or OFF....not evaluating whether a remote subscriber has initiated implied-consent and therefore permit an outbound SMS from Zoom to that subscriber.

6.  When I have some free time, I will escalate this to the Zoom executive office.  I believe this is a fair issue to escalate to C-suite because it seems that Zoom's own staff don't recognize or acknowledge the "personal use" class of Zoom subscriber.  Any Zoom subscriber who is not a business entity should be waived from 10DLC scrutiny.....and Zoom could do that tomorrow.  Nobody at Zoom is going to jail because apply reason to a misguided FCC rule.  It's that simple.  And they should immediately respect the direct requests by personal users for SMS enablement until such time they're able to automate that distinction between personal and business accounts.

7. CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSPERSON AND COMPLAIN...AND DEMAND A CARVE-OUT FOR NON-BUSINESS ENTITIES. 

[davidjurado]

It is unfortunate that this simple issue has to go this far, but I will do so with my congress person.

[airwolf2tv]

Thanks for efforts David!

Honestly, I thought over the last year while 10DLC enforcement has been in limbo and deferred several times, that management of VOIP companies and the wireless carriers would recognize this problem and actively advocate for an exemption on non-business entities and/or conversational transmissions.  I've written to the 10DLC organization and never received a response.  I believe that ANY SMS initiated through a conversational or interactive typing method should be exempt, otherwise impose the 10DLC requirements on every mobile phone line in the USA and see how long 10DLC lasts!!!  How is my sending a message to my wife in my Zoom Phone client any different than picking up my cell phone and doing it?  NO DIFFERENT.....AND IT ACTUALLY SHOULDN'T MATTER IF IT'S A BUSINESS OR PERSONAL LINE.  

Zoom could also implement an auto-consent dialog and STOP mechanism into their platform as a 'good citizen' so that message recipients are clearly provided a consent and STOP option periodically as the Zoom subscriber sends messages.  But nobody is doing ANYTHING.  Nobody is even acknowledging that non-mobile-phone lines have the ability to exchange SMS!  And since 10DLC doesn't recognize non-business entities as stakeholders in SMS communications, Zoom and others should defy the order and grant the exemption to at least non-business lines until the public policy is fixed.  And congress should impose an injunction on 10DLC until it is fixed as well.

I will escalate this to the Zoom COO at my first opportunity.  I found her to be very responsive on a past business-related matter.

Hope others will also get behind this so we can it resolved.

[ddgconsultant]

Thank you for recognizing and articulating something that I ripped into my Zoom Account Manager about.

It is simply absurd to think that Zoom technology and services are "only" for business purposes and not recognize that individuals would use them for family and friends.
You have my support.  Let me know if there is anything I can assist with.

- Richard

[airwolf2tv]

Richard - I recently installed and managed a 100+ user Zoom Phone platform and also went after account management with ZERO results or interest.  The business use-case is not without 10DLC gaps of its own.  For example, in addition to the Zoom phone lines, we own nearly 100 cellular phones.  Why should a business...a private business enterprise....be restricted from sending whatever SMS messages we want to the devices we own and subscribe??!!!  So we faced the same challenges....conversational messages cutoff, routine business alerts and IT alerts CUTOFF.  And yes, sending adhoc messages to clients, family and friends CUTOFF.  Exactly what 'campaign pattern' do you file to be authorized to invite a client to lunch??  But I don't need permission to do that on my cell phone.

For some reason, it seems that Zoom has decided its better business to become an extension of the regulatory state, rather than exercise restraint and common sense to serve its customers....even if that means defying a bogus regulation framework.

I need to get all this into a PowerPoint that can be spammed to congress and communications company executives....who are sleeping.

Thanks

Nick

[airwolf2tv]

I can't emphasize enough, that people affected by this problem need to do the following things...at the least:

1. Contact Zoom sales, support and management....even this will get you nowhere.  Apparently nobody at Zoom or the communications industry has yet to acknowledge the gaps in the 10DLC project.

2. Contact The Campaign Registry directly and COMPLAIN.  ***********, ***********.  I'm not an expert on this by any means, but it sure seems like the 'industry' has appointed a private organization to "create communication law" which surely circumvents all existing due-process and communications oversight.  I don't understand how the GOVERNMENT permits this to happen while dismantling our private individual rights to SMS communications.

3.  Contact your congresspeople.  They are oblivious to these kinds of matters and don't even know that somebody self-appointed themselves to do their job....and actually do a worse job than congress and the FCC would do.  That should be some motivation for congress to shut down TCR or seek an injunction and congressional review of their actions.

If you are an individual who has their SMS shut down by Zoom, DEMAND YOUR SERVICE BE RESTORED AND COMPLAIN TO EVERYBODY YOU CAN THINK OF.

[airwolf2tv]

Since my last message had the contact emails blocked out, let me clarify.  The 10DLC policy and registration is administered by "The Campaign Registry".  You can google their name to reach their website and contact emails.  Actually, they have been responsive and insist that 10DLC doesn't apply to non-business lines.  So this matter could be resolved for all affected....quickly and efficiently by Zoom.  So this really looks like a Zoom issue.  Contrary to what you are told by ZOOM, it is Zoom and the carriers who hold the discretion and validation of the registrations....NOT the campaign registry or 10DLC which people are always referred.

If you're affected by this, reach out to Zoom management, reach out to The Campaign Registry, and reach out to your congresspeople who were circumvented by this process.

Since this blog restricts pasting images, below is a quoted response from The Campaign Registry when I made an inquiry to them:

"Hello Nick,

Registration with us is only required for business messaging. If this is your personal number that you are only using for personal messaging with friends and family, then you should not need to register. Additionally, the review, approval, and/or rejection of campaigns is done by your messaging provider and their upstream partners. Because of this, we cannot force through approvals as we are not the ones doing the reviews. Typically, the best course of action is to reach out to your messaging provider and ask them to escalate this to their upstream partner."

[airwolf2tv]

I checked with VOIPLY phone service.  Here is their response to my inquiry about 10DLC.  It looks like they properly recognize THREE key conditions to requirements for 10DLC registration; 1) A2P, 2) Business line, and 3) message volume.

"That's correct, 10DLC regulations primarily apply to business lines for A2P messaging. Conversational SMS, typically seen in residential usage, is not subject to the same registration requirements and is generally exempt from these regulations. However, it's always important to use messaging services in compliance with your provider's terms of service and applicable regulations to ensure uninterrupted service. If you have any specific concerns or need assistance with Voiply's policies regarding SMS, we're here to help."

I'm going to live test Voiply on a new line, then port out of Zoom.  We thought it was need alternative to other 'Home Phone" options to use Zoom with phone.  Being able to Zoom with family....even our Zoom meeting ID is the same as our home phone #.  But all this aggravation about blocked SMS isn't worth the trouble.  We can move to another phone service....save money...and use Zoom Meeting for free on the mostly rare occasions.

[melanacious]

Just wanted to chime in and say thank you for your efforts and providing such detailed information about the  10DLC nightmare. I'm a solo practitioner who uses my Zoom number to contact clients about their appointments, if necessary. I also chose to purchase a Zoom number so that I could have a contact number on the internet that is not my personal phone number. I applied for an EIN just to satisfy the  10DLC criteria and went through multiple submissions for a campaign to keep my SMS functioning. Each submission was rejected and I've now lost the ability to text back clients if they reach out with a question. Instead of continuing to put energy into this ridiculous situation, I went ahead and cancelled both my Zoom phone and my Zoom pro account. Not sure if the comparative small numbers of individuals, freelancers, practitioners, etc who choose to leave Zoom as a consequence of their policies will make a dent, but I hope it at least catches someone's attention. Best of luck to you and all on finding the best solution for your phone needs!

[airwolf2tv]

Thanks for sharing your story and use-case, it's needed to build momentum and eventually curb or shut down 10DLC which is an ill-conceived BOONDOGGLE.  I am also not surprised by the results of your campaign registration efforts....I have had the same results on the business side like most others.  And Zoom refers you to their ridiculously inadequate and ineffective articles and notes which result in REJECTION.

Your example and use-case also reflects a huge gap in SMS message "control" which 10DLC fails to even address the obvious.  To emphasize, when one of your customers sends a message to your Zoom line requesting an appointment, that ACTION should serve as EXPRESS CONSENT and therefore permit YOU to send messages back to that person.  In addition, EVERY carrier and company who processes SMS should host, maintain and respect a working STOP list and respond to the STOP keyword.  Every carrier could implement those TWO steps without any 10DLC or policy....it's common sense....just implement it so that individuals can make their block election at will.

As I've said a hundred times, the problem is that 10DLC is over-reaching and overlooks an entire segment of the communicating public.  Eventually all phone lines will support UC (unified communications) features, and the 10DLC gaps and complaints will expand.  The Campaign Registry and the carriers like Zoom are absolutely defiant and unwavering about these gaps.  It will take legislative action to shut them down.

1.  You can contact The Campaign Registry (TCR) support about your rejections.  Give them your CampaignID and they maybe they can help you.  They offered to assist me in that manner, but I refuse to get an EIN and share all my personal information for the privilege to SMS.

2. Please contact your politicians and complain.  I'm putting together a powerpoint which I hope to publish and share to the public domain as an informational piece.  A lot of people will need to be educated about the problem before they'll be willing or able to take legislative or legal action.  After all, Zoom support suggests that 10DLC is a LAW....they are very uninformed and IGNORANT.....because there is nothing lawful or any laws related to 10DLC....it is a private policy conceived by private companies to interfere with my INDIVIDUAL right to access to the public communications network....a public utility.

[TMBA]

While compliance around anti spamming regulations is required, the issue here is Zoom, and not a regulation issue.

We have our primary number set to send and receive text from a third party.  Not real happy about how it works right now, but at least our customer can send us text messages.

And recommend to my solo clients to use other services so they can text from same system as their phone and there are no massive hoops to jump through.  But, they monitor like a hawk around spamming people.

[airwolf2tv]

Do you mind sharing any other services you're familiar with that are less aggressive on 10DLC?

I mentioned VOIPLY earlier in this thread, but later discovered that the rep who I was speaking to made mis-statements about their position....i.e. "non-business" accounts, etc..  So like you and small clients, I'm still interested in exploring other services to get beyond this.

Thanks for your input and support on the subject matter!

Nick