How Does Carrier Filtering Work

How do I prevent my messages from being filtered?

If you see an increase in carrier filtering your messages, these questions are a good guide for sending messages:

Is it a good user experience?

A confusing message to users might seem like someone they don’t know has their contact information. Suspicious users are more likely to report messages to their carrier, and when messages are reported to carriers it becomes very likely that future messages from that number or with similar content will be filtered. In some cases, the user may have forgotten that they requested the message. Also, how the message is formatted and written is important: overly long messages, overly capitalized messages, mysterious links, hyperbole, and using aggressive language can raise the level of suspicion users feel about a message.

Do users have clear opt out instructions?

If users do not understand how to opt out, they may feel they have no choice but to contact their carrier to request that messages are blocked. Always add opt out language like: “Reply Stop to unsubscribe” it’s not only a Best Practice, it’s the law!

Is a single number being overworked?

In countries where rate based filtering takes place, sending too many messages from a single phone number or alpha sender ID during a time period could cause that phone number or sender ID to be blacklisted. You may want to take a period of time to “cool down” by halting sending for a day or two.

Filtering Mechanisms

Carriers in the U.S. and Canada appear to be using adaptive (machine learning) software systems to protect their users. These systems take into account both the rate of send, as well as the content of the messages and behave very much like email filtering systems. Messages receive a cumulative score based on how many messages have come from a phone number during a time period, how many similar messages have transited the carrier’s network, or if the message contains content that makes it a high match for spam. Time periods are measured by the second, minute, hour and day.

Betwext does not definitively know how many messages can be sent from a longcode before a user can expect to hit a filter. However, we are sure that sending more than one message per-second, per-number will cause a message to be blocked. To prevent this, we will queue messages and release them at this rate to protect users from inadvertently getting their numbers blacklisted. Beyond that, we have seen carriers blacklist numbers after users try to send more than five messages per-minute or more than 250 messages per-day, but this is not a rule and does not happen to all users.

Carriers in the US sometimes report to us when a message has been filtered. If you suddenly here that a large number of your messages are being reported to you as Undelivered, the carrier may have taken some sort of action which has caused your message to be filtered.

Frequently Asked Questions

I think my number has been blacklisted by a carrier. Can I get it removed?

No. However most blacklists in the US and Canada use a “cooling off” period, which means that most numbers will automatically be removed from the blacklist after a period of time. This period of time varies based on how many messages were blocked by the carrier from this number, and carriers do NOT share this time period with us.

Can I get my messages whitelisted by the carriers?

US Carriers do not whitelist messages from longcode numbers. If you are sending many messages with identical content to a large number of users, you are at high risk of having your messages filtered by carriers, word craft your messages or take some time to cool off and try again.

Please carefully read through the following information:
If you have questions about the laws surrounding text messages and phone calls, you can learn more at the following here

The following information is not intended to replace your responsibility of familiarization with current laws but is provided as a courtesy to assist you with and your choice to abide by the legal requirements pertaining to any sending campaigns prior to using Betwext services.

Along with responsible sending, you are solely responsible for obtaining any rights or licenses to any data, including image or sound files, that may be included in any outbound sending from the Betwext platform. If you are unclear or require more information on the legalities of any message or campaign, you must consult with your attorney prior to your use of the Betwext Services.

You agree to become familiar and abide by all applicable regulations such as local, state, national and international laws, and agree that you are solely responsible for all acts or omissions that occur under your account. This includes content of the messages and mass texting that you create and initiate through the Betwext Services without any limitations. You further agree to the legalities of any sends, texts, messages, campaigns and broadcasts transmitted through the Betwext Services by visiting the following websites or areas:

DoNotCall Registry Info, http://www.donotcall.gov

Federal Trade Commission, http://www.ftc.gov

Federal Communications Commission, http://www.fcc.gov

Individual State Do Not Call Lists

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), along with the sites above and various state laws, regulations and rules place restrictions on certain types of phone calls and text messages. Betwext owners are not attorneys and are in no way attempting to interpret any rules, laws, or regulations. You are ultimately responsible to make your own informed decisions regarding your messages, broadcasts, and campaigns.

Specifically you should be familiar with the fines that can occur from texting someone on a do not call list. They may vary from State to State and it is the account holder’s responsibility to follow theses laws to avoid potential legal action and fines that could be imposed by Government agencies.

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http://www.betwext.com/terms/http://www.betwext.com/acceptuse/

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