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✅ Verification Guide for BONZO
✅ Verification Guide for BONZO

A quick run-down of what verification is and why is it important.

Updated over a week ago

Verification Requirements are always changing - starting September 1, 2023 carriers banned unverified traffic preventing many CRM systems like BONZO from sending messages

  • Luckily, we saw the writing on the wall and acted fast; we live on the front lines of innovation–and intimately understanding regulatory requirements/foreshadowing impending changes is central to that ethos.

  • Verification guidelines are known only by the carriers, and their partner companies. To remain ahead of the curve, we have partnered with one such entity to get the most up-to-date and accurate information possible to keep YOU communicating effectively.

    • We supplement this direct insight through data analysis to determine new or changing requirements within the verification landscape

    • Requirements by the DCAs have loosened, but this can always change. We are currently seeing some approvals as quickly as 24 hours, while others still take a full business week. Rest assured, however, we are keeping our ear to the ground to ensure quick turnarounds.

    • Ensuring your business is fully verified is important for a few reasons:

      1. Messaging throughput increases: the number of messages you can send per second increases with verified traffic

      2. Trust with carriers drastically improves, decreasing chances of being flagged as spam and increasing the delivery rate

      3. Soon, no unverified 10DLC messaging traffic will be allowed

Step 1: Verifying Your Business

  • When you register an account with BONZO one of the first things you do is input your business information in the "Verification HUB"

  • Performing this step accurately is one of the most important steps in getting your account verified

  • Verifying your Brand (Business) will happen within minutes of inputting your information

Business Info Input Fields

  • Full Legal Name - This should match the company name you have on file with the IRS that is associated with your EIN.

  • Doing Business As (DBA Name) - The DBA needs to match the Brand represented by a given website or online presence. This is important as a mismatch will result in a rejection.

  • Type/Vertical - These should reflect whatever best describes your business.

  • Registration Number (EIN) - Fill out with caution! A typo can result in a rejection. This should match IRS tax document information.

  • Website - This section is the cause of many rejections. We will dive into website requirements more below; each website, at a baseline, must be completed and secure. A website that lands on a domain parking site like GoDaddy, Wix, etc. will be rejected. A website that is an empty placeholder (e.g. Coming soon! ) will also be rejected.

  • Address - Identically replicate the address, city, state, zip code, and country that is on file with the IRS through your EIN.

  • Authorized Representative Info - Name, Mobile Number: This should be the contact info for the person who manages the messaging. It’s okay if this doesn't match what’s on the website, but if the Brand uses a social media page for an online presence, this should match what’s on the social media page. The email domain should also match the website and DBA domain and name.

  • How to check the status of your Business (Brand) verification

    • From your homepage, click "Settings"

    • Navigate to "Verification HUB"

    • Note: If any field is empty and "business verification" is in pink text, your verification is not submitted. Rejected verifications will also appear this way!

    • If your Business Verification has been rejected double-check your Business's full Legal Name and EIN and ensure they match proper Tax Documents. These are the most common causes of Business verification failing.. These are the most common causes of Business verification failing.

Step 2: Verifying Your Campaign

  • Once your Brand (Business) is verified, a "campaign" will be created and associated with that Brand. In other words, once your business is verified, the way you intend to utilize messaging must then be reviewed and dispositioned.

Campaign Verification Checklist

  • Website

    • Your listed website must be secure and active. Make sure your website is still working properly before submitting a Campaign. It needs to be secured, an active link, and not a domain parking site. Incomplete websites will not pass verification either (e.g. “Coming soon!”).

    • If you have a webform on your website that requires phone number submission, you must include an SMS Disclosure underneath the webform. Make sure it’s visible, complete, and clear. If you do not have this, your campaign will be rejected!

      • SMS Disclosure Checklist

        • The message frequency expected - in other words, the number of messages that will be sent per day/week/month/etc. You can also state “messaging frequency may vary” “message frequency varies”, or “recurring messages” instead.

        • Opt-out verbiage - “Reply [insert opt-out keyword, e.g. STOP] to opt-out of future messaging.”

        • Help verbiage - “Reply HELP for more information.”

        • Rates - “Message & Data rates may apply”

        • A link to your Privacy Policy (and Terms & Conditions, if there are any).

        • Make sure the SMS Disclosure is on ANY digital or physical form your end user receives in which their phone number is a requested field. Sometimes, forms can be buried deep within a website so be sure to check all possible locations.

        • It is also an option to provide a checkbox with a short consent so that users can explicitly opt-in to receive messages from your Brand.

Examples of SMS Disclosures for Your Website

By clicking "Submit", you agree to [YOUR BUSINESS NAME]’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You consent to receive phone calls and SMS messages from [YOUR BUSINESS NAME] to provide updates on your order and/or for marketing purposes. Message frequency depends on your activity. You may opt-out by texting "STOP". Message and data rates may apply. Reply "HELP" to receive help.
By providing a telephone number and submitting the form you are consenting to be contacted by SMS text message (our message frequency may vary). Message & data rates apply. Reply STOP to unsubscribe from further messaging. Reply HELP for more information. See our Privacy Policy.
⏹️ By checking this box and submitting your phone number you are authorizing [YOUR BUSINESS NAME] to send you text messages and notifications. Message frequency may vary. Message/data rates apply. Reply "STOP" to unsubscribe to a message sent from us or "HELP" for more information. See our Privacy Policy here for more details."

  • Include a Privacy Policy! This is mandatory for all businesses of all sizes in all verticals. Your Privacy Policy needs to be easy to find on your website.

    • If the website has a web form mandatorily collecting phone numbers, include a Privacy Policy link at the end of the SMS disclosure. This is to make it easy to locate and check. Your Privacy Policy needs to disclose whether or not data will be shared with third parties.

    • If data will be shared with third parties, you must include that data will not be shared with third parties for marketing or promotion purposes – this is critical. Include verbiage similar to: “We do not share data with third parties for marketing/promotional purposes”. If data will not be shared with third parties, including “We don’t share data with third parties” will be sufficient.

    • The Privacy Policy should also reiterate your SMS Disclosure such as: "By submitting your phone number to [YOUR BUSINESS NAME], you are authorizing a representative of our company to send you text messages and notifications. Message frequency may vary. Message/data rates apply. Reply STOP to unsubscribe to a message sent from us, and HELP to receive help."

Video for Website Compliance

This quick video explains the importance of verification and how to properly submit your business information.

What is Verification?

Verification is an important step to complete within your Bonzo Settings to ensure your messages and calls are properly delivered.

  1. We here at Bonzo work diligently to stay up-to-date with mass communication requirements, eliminating interruptions in your conversations.

  2. Our verification process reduces the likelihood of your Bonzo number being flagged as "spam" by phone carriers, which is how Bonzo maintains our industry-leading sms delivery rates.

How to verify your business in Bonzo

  1. From your homepage, click "Settings"

  2. Navigate to "Verification hub"

  3. Fill in all business information fields exactly as it appears on your tax forms (i.e., the forms submitted to, and received from, the IRS)

  4. Double check that all business information is correct.

  5. Click "Verify" in pink at the bottom of the page.

How to check the status of your verification

  1. From your homepage, click "Settings"

  2. Navigate to "Verification hub"

    Note: If any field is empty and "business verification" is in pink text, your verification is not submitted. Rejected verifications will also appear this way!

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