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 application’s opt-in requirement.

Otherwise, please use this Google form, which asks you to provide a hyper-link to a file we can download to review your application’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.

Once your request has been submitted, you will be contacted at the provided email address with a status update.  Expected turn-around time is one business week.

Purpose

Verification of Toll-Free numbers in the US and Canada is required by the wireless carriers/operators. Anyone that wants to send SMS (and soon MMS) messages via Toll-Free numbers will need to have their number verified. Verification is a lightweight on-boarding process that allows our 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.

Who Can Request a Toll-Free Number to be Verified

A Toll-Free number must be purchased by a company and then must be verified for the company (brand) who wishes to route mobile messaging content over that number.  For example, if Company X is sending messages on behalf of Brand Y, then Brand Y is the company who will need to be verified for the number.

• A company that wishes to send and receive mobile messaging traffic over Toll-Free numbers in the US and Canada must successfully complete the Toll-Free verification process.
• Program rules stipulate that only one (1) Toll-Free number can be verified for a specific brand.
• If a company needs more than one verified Toll-Free number, they must submit a "valid business reason".  For example, a company with two product lines, or three regional sales teams, or a production and staging server.
• Opt-in consent shows that end-users agree to receive mobile messages from the message sender before any messages are sent to the recipient.  An image of the explicit recipient opt-in consent is required for verification, this could be an image or a hyper-link/URL.  
• Explicit opt-in recipient consent may not be obscured within a Terms of Service or Privacy Policy.
• Toll-free numbers follow similar rules to the CTIA and CWTA messaging handbook for common short codes.

What does verified and unverified mean?

A Verified Toll-Free number means that both the messaging content has been reviewed and the message sender’s traffic type is known, documented and verified.  It also means that the number is associated with only the business submitted in the verification process and the content does not fall under the Disallowed Content Policy. 

An Unverified number is a number that has not successfully completed the verification process.  Unverified Toll-Free number messages will be blocked effective September 30, 2022.

Service Benefits

• Enables reliable message deliverability over the Vonage Network.
• Messages that are received and viewed on mobile devices are from a Toll-Free number.
• Each number comes with up to 30 messages per second throughput.
• Reduction of spam filtering false positives.  Sometimes spam filters will block legitimate message traffic and the Verified Toll-Free service reduces that risk.

Best Practice Guidelines

All campaigns in the US and Canada should have the program name or brand name in the message header for every message that goes out.

• Consent (Opt-In)
  The message sender must obtain proper explicit recipient opt-in consent for messages sent. 
• No Consent (Opt-Out)
  The end-user can revoke consent at any time and in any way.  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 text message exchanges between an individual mobile number and a text-enabled Toll-Free number.  A consumer should be able to opt-in again by replying with the keyword UNSTOP.
• 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