OpenMarket – March 2, 2016
So, you have heard through the grapevine that the mobile messaging campaign you filed through OpenMarket 4-6 weeks ago has made it through the approval process with all U.S. carriers. You feel you are finally ready to run live traffic over your short code, right? Your boss is happy, you are happy, everyone is jumping for joy! The only thing left to do is head down to the local pub, sip champagne and celebrate this momentous achievement.
WAIT A MINUTE! Let’s not pop the bubbly just yet. Your campaign has not gone through certification testing. This means your campaign will need to be reviewed by the OpenMarket Certification Team and then each carrier before you are able to run traffic.
It is ONLY after this crucial step is completed that you will get the final confirmation from your OpenMarket Account Manager that your program is FINALLY live!
Certification testing is the final step in the carrier approval process. It is our duty, as certification testers at OpenMarket, to ensure that your campaign is fully operational and compliant before AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon reviews it. If your campaign passes muster with us, it is a sure bet that the carriers will activate the campaign.
Now you are probably asking yourself, “What do I need to do to ensure that my campaign passes certification testing with OpenMarket and the carriers? The answer – nothing, hopefully! If you’ve followed the North America Messaging Content Requirements and your filing went smoothly, your campaign should be compliant before it even reaches us. However, SOMETIMES, things do not go as well as planned. It’s okay, these things happen! The OpenMarket Support and Certification Testing Teams can help put you back on the right track.
In fact, let me offer you some assistance up front. There are five common issues that we run into time and again that will prevent your campaign from passing certification testing. By identifying these issues ahead of time, the certification testing process will be a breeze.
- Short code is unresponsive. You may be experiencing configuration, provisioning or connectivity issues that cause your short code to be unresponsive during testing. Immediately reach out to OpenMarket Support. They will help you diagnose these issues and find the correct solution.
- The Message Flow isn’t compliant. Perhaps you forgot to include the support contact email in your HELP message, or the frequency of message delivery in your confirmation MT? These minor issues will prevent your campaign from passing certification. Be sure to review the North America Messaging Content Requirements to ensure your message flow is compliant.
- Your MO delivery URL is configured incorrectly. The MO Delivery URL is the link through which OpenMarket will forward MO messages to a given destination address (i.e. short code, VMN, land-line, toll-free number, etc.). If the MO Delivery URL is incorrectly configured, the content provider will see MO traffic fail with 810 error response codes in the SMS Activity Search. Before testing begins, contact OpenMarket Support to make sure we have the correct MO Delivery URL configured for your short code.
- The tested message flow differs from what was filed with the carriers. You cannot change your campaigns message flow or opt in keywords once your filing has been approved by the carrier. If you or your customer has changed your minds about how this campaign should run, you will need to work with your OpenMarket Account Manager to update the filed campaign.
- Your Program ID is missing or incorrect. A Program ID identifies a pre-provisioned program linked to the messaging service you are providing. Without a Program ID, you will not be able to pass messages through OpenMarket’s system to users on the T-Mobile or Verizon network, for example. You can access your campaign’s program ID through the US SMS/MMS Campaign dashboard in Customer Center. Consult the documentation on our SMS v3 HTTP API or our Global SMS API (v4) on how you should implement Program ID.
You’d be surprised how often these five issues actually occur during certification. Now that you know what the issues are and how to address them, passing certification testing should be easy!
OpenMarket continually strives to help our enterprise customers provision their mobile messaging programs with efficiency, effectiveness and receive a first time approval. Let us help you!
Blog written by Matthew Heinz – Audit & Certification Manager, OpenMarket