The Campaign Registry (TCR) is the telecom industry’s plan to reduce the growing problem of SMS text spam. It will protect your clients and your business. PocketSuite has made it easy for you to get registered with an in-app portal.
The regulation requires all local business lines to register with the TCR. Those who don’t will become subject to spam filtering. Every telecom carrier is involved, including AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and more. Every company that issues local business lines is affected, such as Google Voice, RingCentral, and PocketSuite.
In this article:
- Learn how to complete the TCR application
- Learn how to obtain an EIN (not required)
- Learn more about TCR for new PocketSuite users
- Find out what happens if you don't complete TCR registration
- What if you're porting an existing business number?
TCR Registration Process
To register your business number with PocketSuite, you will see a TCR Registration banner on your home screen. Tap “Register your number.”
You will be given information and a video on TCR Registration. Watch the video and tap “Register now.”
There will be two options for TCR application: Business Path (without EIN) or EIN Business Path (with EIN). Businesses can get an EIN number from the Internal Revenue Service (it will only take a few minutes), but it is not required.
If you already have an EIN, select “Yes, I have an EIN”
You will see a new screen that includes “EIN Business” registration questions. First, enter your legal first and last name.
Next, enter your personal address. (This should be your address. You will add your company’s legal address later on in the registration process.)
Then, enter the legal name of your company and your EIN.
Next, enter the legal address of your company.
On the next page, add your email address, website (optional), and your personal mobile phone number.
Note: Your mobile number here does not have to be your PocketSuite login number. However, you cannot enter a Google Voice number or VOIP number in the mobile number field. It must be a legitimate mobile voice number. TCR will complete a two-factor authentication using that number, and VOIP numbers are not allowed. However, a GoogleFi number is acceptable because they run on mobile carrier networks and are not considered a pure-play VOIP carrier.
Next, you must take a photo of your driver's license and a photo of yourself holding your driver’s license.
Finally, you must pay a $19 fee to complete your TCR application. Apart from that, PocketSuite has got you covered! When you register with us, we take care of the monthly fees – $1.50/mo for an EIN Business and $2.00/mo for a Business. There's no extra out of pocket costs with PocketSuite!
Once you have successfully completed your application, you will see a success screen below.
If you leave the application process early or your TCR registration fails, the "Register your number" banner will reappear on your home screen, displaying the number of steps you have left to complete.
TCR application times may vary. Applications pending approval will have full access to our SMS text feature.
What if I don’t have an EIN?
If you don’t have an EIN, tap “No, I do not have an EIN” when you’re asked during the TCR registration process.
You will see a new screen that includes “Business” registration questions. First, enter your business or brand name plus legal first and last name.
Next, enter your address.
On the next page, add your email address, website (optional), and your personal mobile phone number.
Note: Your mobile number here does not have to be your PocketSuite login number. However, you cannot enter a Google Voice number or VOIP number in the mobile number field. It must be a legitimate mobile voice number. TCR will complete a two-factor authentication using that number, and VOIP numbers are not allowed. However, a GoogleFi number is acceptable because they run on mobile carrier networks and are not considered a pure-play VOIP carrier.
Next, you must take a photo of your driver's license and a photo of yourself holding your driver’s license.
Finally, you must pay a $19 fee to complete your TCR application. Apart from that, PocketSuite has got you covered! When you register with us, we take care of the monthly fees – $1.50/mo for an EIN Business and $2.00/mo for a Business. There's no extra out of pocket costs with PocketSuite!
Once you have successfully completed your application, you will see a success screen below.
If you leave the application process early or your TCR registration fails, the "Register your number" banner will reappear on your home screen, displaying the number of steps you have left to complete.
Once your application is received, you will see a success screen immediately that shares information about the final OTP Step which says “Congratulations, you have submitted your business number registration! Once your application is received, you will see a banner on your PocketSuite home screen with one final step. PocketSuite’s business messaging carrier, Twilio, will send you a text to confirm your application.”
TCR application times may vary. Applications pending approval will have full access to our SMS text feature.
TCR Registration for New PocketSuite Pros
When you sign-up for PocketSuite, you’re issued a premium mobile business number.
After you sign into the app, you will see a TCR Registration Flow screen to register your business number. During this process, you will see a screen where you can enter your preferred area code:
These area code fields are open entries. The app auto-validates the area codes that you enter to ensure that they are real area codes in the United States.
Note: You cannot advance on this screen if you delete the auto-populated preference fields and both are left blank. One preference field will need to be filled.
You can skip these TCR registration screens and only fill out your business number area code preferences. However, if you do skip the TCR registration screens, the TCR Registration banner will remain on your home screen and in your Inbox until you complete all steps.
Once you complete the preferred area code screen (even if you skip the TCR registration screens), you will be automatically issued a Premium business number, and you will be notified in-app and via email. If your preferred area code #1 and #2 are not available, we will issue you a number with the next best option for local area codes.
Contact customer support in the app if you would prefer an alternative area code.
Important: We encourage you to share your business number on your website, in your email signature, and anywhere that you market your business. Anyone who contacts you on that number will automatically be added to your client list (if they’re not already), so you can follow up with them. Or, you can take advantage of text-marketing automation to follow up with those new leads using our Smart Campaigns feature.
Do I still need to register for TCR if I'm porting a business number that's already been registered?
If you have an existing mobile business number, make sure you register your business number with PocketSuite. Even if you’ve registered this business number on another platform, telephone carriers require you to register numbers on the current platform providing your business number. Now that you are porting your business number to PocketSuite, PocketSuite is now responsible for all aspects of ensuring your number is registered with the appropriate agencies.
What happens if I don't register for TCR?
If you take no action, PocketSuite will still work as before. Your text reminders will go out, and your scheduling and booking functionality will be unaffected. However, the 99.9% deliverability rate for the text messages that you currently enjoy on PocketSuite is likely to decline. Telephone carriers may block texts because of word choices in your text messages or for no reason at all without a successful TCR registration. If you use PocketSuite’s business SMS text features, we highly recommend that you complete a TCR registration.
I tried to complete the process but it keeps saying invalid number. The number that I am using is from Bandwidth/GoogleVoice/Grasshopper/Sideline/Some other VOIP telephone carrier.
To confirm your TCR registration, you just need to enter a valid mobile number in that field. Our telephone carrier, Twilio, just needs a mobile number to confirm the identity of the individual that owns and controls the PocketSuite designated business number (210) 239-1698. The mobile number that you use for this TCR registration confirmation process will not be used for anything else. If you can add a mobile number and not your Bandwidth/GoogleVoice/Grasshopper/Sideline/Some other VOIP telephone carrier number, which is a VOIP number, that would be great. A valid mobile number is a mobile number on AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile or any other major telephone carrier.
Will the number I enter be visible or open to the public?
Our telephone carrier, Twilio, just needs a mobile number to confirm the identity of the individual that owns and controls the PocketSuite designated business number ###-###-####. The mobile number that you use for this TCR registration confirmation process will not be used for anything else. Please add a mobile number and not a Google Voice number, which is a VOIP number.
If I change my network, do I need to do this process again?
When you refer to network, if you are referring to your mobile carrier, then the answer is no. Even if you switch your telephone carrier from Sprint to AT&T for example, no further action will be required by you. The request for your mobile number is just a one time authentication needed to confirm your TCR registration. Once complete, you are all set!