Question

What is the difference between Application-to-Person (A2P) and Person-to-Person (P2P) traffic?

Applies To

• A2P
• P2P
• SMS

Answer

A2P refers to application-to-person messages (an app, alert, 2FA, etc.) and are generally related to a transaction. The assumption is that an A2P SMS was generated by a software application.

P2P refers to person-to-person messages, where a person sends a message to another person. The nature of this traffic would resemble a conversation or dialogue, rather than being related to a transaction.

You can find more information related to A2P and P2P usage in the United States and Canada here.