10DLC - Campaign subscription migration to a monthly billing model

Quick access:

• Summary
• Context
• What does that mean for me?
• Is there any change to the actual cost of my campaigns?
• Do I need to take any action?
• What happens if I do not have enough credit on my account?
• Conclusion

Summary

On December 4th, 2023, Vonage will transition to a monthly billing model for 10DLC campaign subscriptions.

Context

Vonage currently starts charging 10DLC campaigns when you have submitted your campaign; we charge the first three (3) months of the campaign subscription at registration, which represent the minimum lifespan of all 10DLC campaigns and charge the campaign on a rolling quarterly basis. The Campaign Registry (TCR), the entity designated by the carriers to centralize all the 10DLC registrations and establish the requirements for the 10DLC network, is also determining and charging all the registration and subscription costs related to 10DLC.

A few months ago, TCR updated their service logic and we can now leverage campaign events we receive from them, when a new monthly subscription fee is applied to the campaign. Thanks to this change, we are now able to align our billing model with TCR's events, and ensure more flexibility, as well as unlocking new capabilities to our customers.

What does that mean for me?

There are a few important consequences resulting from the transition to a monthly billing model:

• Campaign billing date
  On the quarterly model, Vonage charges customers for campaigns from the day of the registration of the campaign. On the monthly model, we can now align with TCR's campaign registration date, and charge customers only after we have been able to review the campaign, and deem it to be compliant with the 10DLC requirements. Note that the campaign will still require to go through a second review from the carriers, so it does not align with the moment when the campaign becomes active and you can start sending messages, but it will at least further reduce the delay from billing to activation.
• The campaign is charged every month
  With the new model, you will see the monthly campaign subscription fee being applied to your monthly Vonage invoice every month.
• Allowing to revert "pending cancellations"
  When requesting the cancellation of a campaign (by setting the 'auto-renewal' of the campaign to false), the campaign status becomes "Pending Cancellation" until the next campaign renewal date. Previously, we were unable to allow customers to revert that change to keep the campaign active and avoid its definitive cancellation. With the new billing model, we can now allow customers to revert that change to avoid the cancellation of campaigns which were updated by mistake. Please note that the operation is only possible whilst the campaign is still in the "Pending Cancellation" status. Once the campaign is "Canceled" -- either because the next renewal date has passed, or because an immediate cancellation was requested; there is no longer any option to reactivate the campaign (this is a limitation from The Campaign Registry).

Is there any change to the actual cost of my campaigns?

Simply, no. The current 10DLC pricing remains exactly the same across all our 10DLC campaign subscriptions. When checking our campaign price table, we list both the quarterly and monthly cost for each campaign use case. 

Do I need to take any action?

No. You do not need to take any action. The transition will be seamless for our customers. On the transition date, we will switch all new campaign registration to the new model, and we will automatically migrate all existing campaigns from a quarterly subscription to a monthly one. This means that following the transition, you will not be charged for your existing campaign until the end of your previous paid subscription cycle. For example, a campaign that renewed for three months on November 15th will not be charged until February 2024.

Please note that you might see a different billing date when the billing restarts, due to the difference between the old 'campaign creation date' to the new 'campaign registration date' serving as the new reference for the billing.

What happens if I do not have enough credit on my account?

If you do not have enough credit on your account at the time we charge your account for a 10DLC campaign, we will suspend the campaign and give you one month to add money into your account. We will send you an email notification (don't forget to enable your 10DLC Notifications), and then retry to charge the account every day, until the eve of the next renewal date. On the last day before the renewal date, we will terminate the campaign if the payment has again failed. 

If you have added money into your account before that, we will automatically unsuspend the campaign, so you can restart sending traffic for that campaign.

Note that if the payment fails right after the campaign registration (within the first 3 months of the minimum lifespan of a campaign), you will have up to three months to pay money into your account to resolve the issue.

Conclusion

We are making this change to help you better understand the 10DLC campaigns subscriptions, remove complexity, and improve alignment with TCR. There is no cost impact for our customers, and we will now be able to offer a better customer experience, as well as more flexibility to manage your campaign. You do not need to take any action for this change. If you have any further questions, please reach out to your Vonage Account Manager or open a ticket to our Support Team for assistance.