Table of Contents
“I didn’t know that’s how it [10DLC] all worked,” I overheard an audience member say at the MEF Leadership Forum in Miami in 2023. The presentation on 10DLC had just been delivered by Sinch’s Jonathan Vimont, Meredith Wiegman, Brien Jones-Lantzy, and David Schwind. It was the first time the industry had seen the progress made since 2020. That remark got me thinking: if these ultimate insiders were surprised, imagine how challenging it must be for brands trying to understand it all. What if I could create a neutral, factual roadmap to help brands understand how 10DLC works?
The Supporters
For the guide to be truly neutral, it required support from a broad spectrum of players, not limited to a single CSP or DCA, and it needed a trade organization’s structure. I reached out to MEF CEO Dario Betti, netnumber CEO Steve Legge, Campaign Registry CEO Soren Schaft, Aegis CEO John Bruner, WMC Global CEO Ian Matthews, Syniverse’s Douwe van der Heij, Bandwidth’s Stephanie Lashley, and Sinch’s Jonathan Vimont. Each of them became enthusiastic and steadfast supporters.
The Process
With the legalities addressed and the initial collaborators identified, I began the process of collecting, collating, and synthesizing all relevant literature. The most challenging task was to simplify—to keep the Brand at the center and determine whether each nuance or detail served their goal or unnecessarily clouded their roadmap.
Every two weeks, a version of the document was sent to all sponsors, adhering to the agile principle of consistently delivering a “working product.” This approach helped to expose any discrepancies early on. The frequent updates promoted both velocity and transparency. As the project progressed, the number of collaborators doubled, as did the depth of feedback, edits, and new material contributed. Consequently, as the document grew in size, so did the time required for all involved to review and provide feedback. What was initially a four-month project extended to fifteen months.
The Result
The end result is a core fifty-page document with quick-start guides and a step-by-step practical approach on how to understanding the onboarding process for the brand and for a campaign. The goal is not to replace any documentation that a CSP or a DCA may provide but to have a more informed conversation with them. Think of this document like the Google search you do before you meet your doctor.
Finally
As comprehensive as the document is, it is not complete. In the CPaaS parlance, “Brand” is a euphemism for the enterprise—the big senders and the big spenders. In such organizations, the sender and the spender are two different entities with different incentive structures and goals. For an SMB, the sender and the spender are often the same person creating a pressure cooker timeline to educate and inform. A future version of the document must address how to simplify the process even further for this business group.
Notwithstanding that, I am very proud of this effort and the hard work that my co-collaborators put into a project that will make a difference in the industry. I know it will be useful for the businesses wanting to use 10DLC texting.