Numbers and registration

Live messages go from your organization's own phone numbers, and US carriers only deliver application-to-person (A2P) SMS from numbers registered with them. coss.com buys the numbers and submits the registrations for you, through its SMS provider (Twilio): owners and admins do both on the dashboard's organization SMS page. Sandbox environments need neither: their messages are simulated.

Numbers belong to the organization, so every environment's keys can send from them. Live SMS needs a paid plan, which also sets how many numbers you can hold (see the plans).

Numbers

Search by area code (local) or for any toll-free number and buy one. A number is billed monthly, from the day you buy it until you release it (pricing). Releasing one stops it sending at once; messages still waiting for it fail with sender_unavailable.

Each number has a receiving environment: the live environment its replies go to (receiving). Without one, replies are dropped, though STOP and START still apply.

const { data: numbers } = await coss.sms.numbers.list();
const ready = numbers?.data.filter((number) => number.can_send);
// e.g. [{ phone_number: "+14155550123", kind: "local", registration_status: "approved", … }]

coss.sms.numbers.list() returns every number of the organization with its registration_status (draft, submitted, in_review, approved, rejected or failed), can_send (live messages can go from it now) and receives_here (its replies arrive in the environment of the key you call with).

US A2P 10DLC (local numbers)

An organization has one 10DLC registration, and every local number it holds, bought before or after, sends under it once it is approved. You fill in one form; coss.com then submits, in order:

1. Your business profile: legal name, company type, tax ID (EIN for US companies), industry, website, address and an authorized contact (name, title, email and phone number). Public companies add their stock exchange and ticker.
2. The brand, your business as carriers know it. Choose:
   • Low-volume standard, for fewer than 6,000 segments a day. No secondary vetting, and a lower monthly campaign fee; its campaign's use case is always low-volume mixed.
   • Standard, for higher volumes. It adds secondary vetting, which sets its throughput with the carriers.
3. The campaign: what you send and to whom. Pick a use case (one-time codes, account notifications, customer care, delivery notifications, fraud alerts, marketing, mixed or low volume mixed), describe the messages and how people opt in, give two to five sample messages, and say whether they contain links or phone numbers.

Each step waits for its review before the next one is submitted; together they usually take a few days. The dashboard shows each registration's status, and the reason when one is rejected: fix it and submit again.

Carriers reject campaigns most often because the opt-in isn't clear. Describe exactly where people give you their number and agree to messages (a sign-up form with an unchecked consent box, a keyword they text you), make sure your website shows the same, and write samples that match the use case and name your business.

Toll-free verification

A toll-free number is verified on its own: buy it, then submit the same business profile and a campaign for it, with a public URL that shows where people opt in. Verification usually takes a few days. Toll-free numbers can't send outside the US and Canada.

Fees

Numbers and US carrier fees are passed through at cost, on your coss.com invoice:

• Numbers: monthly, from the day you buy one.
• Brand registration: once, when the brand is submitted; standard brands add the secondary vetting fee.
• Campaign vetting: once, when the campaign is submitted.
• Campaign: monthly from its approval (lower for low-volume standard brands).

Registration fees are charged when a step is submitted, whether or not carriers approve it. Toll-free verification has no fee. Current prices: