To request verification of a Toll-Free number if you have an email account provided by Gmail, please complete and submit this Google form, which allows you to upload a file to review your request’s opt-in requirement.

Otherwise, please use this Google form, which asks you to provide a hyper-link to a file we can download or browse to review your request’s opt-in requirement.

If you have 10 or more toll-free numbers, download the Bulk Verification Sheet and email it to verified.toll.free@vonage.com.

After your request has been processed by Vonage, you will be contacted at the provided email address with a status update.

Purpose

Verification of Toll-Free numbers in the US and Canada is required by the wireless carriers (operators).  Any company that wants to send and receive SMS and MMS messages via a Toll-Free number will need to have their number "verified". 

Verification is a lightweight on-boarding process that allows customers to privately submit their users’ business information and messaging use case in order to be approved to route mobile messages over the nationwide wireless networks.

What Does Verified and Unverified Mean?

A Verified Toll-Free number means that the message content has been reviewed and does not fall under the Disallowed Content Policy.  Also, it means the number does not send Spam to users and the message sender’s traffic type is known, documented and the number is only associated with the company submitted on the verification request.

An Unverified Toll-Free number has not successfully completed the verification process.  Unverified Toll-Free number messages will be blocked effective October 1, 2022.

Who Can Request a Toll-Free Number to be Verified

A company that wishes to send and receive mobile messaging traffic must first purchase a Toll-Free number.

Then, the number must successfully complete the Toll-Free verification process. 

• The verification form consists of standard business information and a short description of the messaging program.
• Each Toll-Free number must be verified for the company (brand) who wishes to route message content over that number.  Example, if Company X is sending messages on behalf of Brand Y, then Brand Y is the company who will need to be verified.
• One toll-free number for one company (brand).  If a company wishes to activate more than one number, they must submit a 'valid business reason'.  Example, two numbers needed for staging vs. production, 3 numbers needed for three sales regions.
• Opt-in explicit end-user consent to receive messages from the sender is required before a user receives the first message.  A screenshot, or hyper-link/URL to opt-in disclosure must be provided to be verified.  Opt-in consent may not be obscured within a Terms of Service or Privacy Policy.
• Numbers are verified simultaneously for SMS text messaging and MMS messaging (images, audio and video clips).  If a number is already verified for SMS, no further action is required to add MMS assuming the submitted use case has not significantly changed. 
• Numbers are verified simultaneously for US and Canada nationwide messaging coverage.  SMS is available across both countries, while MMS is available in the US and is coming soon to Canada.
• Toll-Free numbers follow similar program guidelines to the CTIA and CWTA messaging handbook for common short codes.

Verification Process

After your request has been processed by Vonage, you will be contacted at the provided email address with a status update.

Vonage may contact you requesting further details to complete the request form (typically about opt-in). 

After Vonage submits your request to the carriers, you will receive the email status update "We have submitted your Toll-Free number use case to the mobile carriers for certification".  At this time, your Toll-Free number is provisionally (temporarily) verified and can route hundreds of mobile messages per day for testing purposes until the verification process is complete.  Note, if verification is not approved, the number will no longer be able to route messages.

You will receive another email status update indicating either verification approval, denial or seeking further information to verify.  Expected verification timing is 7+ business days. 

Service Benefits

Interactively connect with customers/members/employees/systems both effectively and efficiently.

Toll-Free numbers enable fast, reliable, nationwide, multi-carrier mobile message delivery over the Vonage Network.

Messages received on mobile handsets are sent from a Toll-Free number (not from a short code, or 10-digit local area code).

Each verified Toll-Free number comes with up to 30 SMS and 5 MMS messages per second throughput.  With a valid business need, SMS and MMS throughput may be increased by contacting your account manager, or customer support.  Example message volume:

SMS messages are routed 160-characters at a time.  Example, a 300-character message would be concatenated and arrive as two segments on the recipient's handset (first segment 160, second segment 140-characters).  The sender is billed two increments.

MMS messages route images (jpg, jpeg, png, gif), audio clips (mp3 recommended) and video clips (mp4 recommended for best device and network support).  Up to 750Kb maximum file size per message.

Reduction of spam filtering false positives.  Sometimes spam filters block legitimate message traffic and the Verified Toll-Free service reduces that risk for senders.  

Best Practice Guidelines

All campaigns in the US and Canada should provide the program name or brand name in the message header for every message that is sent to a mobile handset for recognition and consistency purposes.

• Opt-In, Consent
  The message sender must obtain explicit recipient opt-in consent for messages sent to a 10-digit number.  Example opt-in disclosure should contain, near where the user enters their number to sign-up to receive messages, disclosure that says something like the first and last lines below at a minimum.  A screenshot, or hyper-link to a URL is required for verification.

• Opt-Out, No Consent
  The end-user can revoke consent at any time.  Opt-out requests must be honored, wherein the end-user sends a message from their mobile device with the word “STOP”.  A STOP request blocks all subsequent text message exchanges between an individual mobile number and a text-enabled Toll-Free number.  A user should be able to opt-in again by replying with the keyword UNSTOP to the number.
• Disallowed Sending Practices
  If a message sender is observed performing any of the disallowed sending practices (continuing to send to opt-out customer; opt-out avoidance; or any type of multiple content providers sending from a single number) then a review may be performed of the business and number.  The review may result in the suspension of sending rights for a provisioned phone number.
• Disallowed Content Policy
  All Toll-Free number traffic should adhere to the CTIA guidelines. For more information please see the CTIA Handbook.  Specific content is prohibited from being routed over the Verified Toll-Free messaging network.  Content filtering includes, but is not limited to, gambling, vaping, illegal drugs and SHAFT (sex, hate, alcohol, firearms, tobacco).
• Restricted Campaign Types
  The following content categories have been identified as potentially harmful or deceitful to the end-user and will not be supported on the Verified Toll-Free messaging network.  These categories are subject to change and traffic in other categories that are not listed may also be blocked without notice.  Message senders are expected to enforce restrictions on their systems to prevent messages containing the content types described below.  If messages are sent into the network containing disallowed content, we reserve the right to place restrictions on the number and block these messages.

• • High-Risk Financial Services • Payday Loans • Short Term-High Interest Loans • Auto Loans • Mortgage Loans • Student Loans • Debt Collection • Affiliate Lead or Commission Generation • Gambling/Sweepstakes • Tax Relief Programs • Stock Alerts • Cryptocurrency 
  • Get Rich Quick Schemes • Deceptive Work from Home Programs • Risk Investment Opportunities • Multi-Level Marketing 
  • 3rd Party • Debt Collection or Consolidation • Debt Reduction • Debt Forgiveness • Credit Repair Programs • Lead Generation
  • Controlled Substances • Tobacco • Vaping • Illegal Drugs • Cannabis
  • SHAFT • Sex, Hate Speech, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco • Profanity
  • Scams • Phishing • Fraud • Spam • Deceptive Marketing