I have 5 phone numbers with Jive / Go To Connect. I have SMS enabled on 3 of them, and have for close to a decade. I recently purchased a new phone number for a new company I'm launching and tried to turn on SMS so that I could get a confirmation code from google to setup a new Gmail account. Both the my.jive.com/pbx/[username]/dashboard and the new admin.goto.com dashboard insist that I need to register for a campaign in order to get text messages.
Under the tab for "sms-campaign" a message reads...
If your organization plans to send SMS messages, wireless industry regulations require that you register your brand and at least one campaign with The Campaign Registry. Registering your "brand" is about establishing yourself as a valid legal entity. Registering a "campaign" is about establishing in advance what kinds of messages you'll send. These requirements represent an effort by the wireless industry to protect their customers from unwanted messages. GoTo's registration tool is designed to make the registration process as simple as possible. All fees shown represent a direct pass-through by GoTo without any markup.
Here is a breakdown of the costs involved to be fully compliant with industry regulations.
Brand registration fee: $4.00 one-time
Campaign vetting fee: $15.00 one-time
Active campaign fee: $1.50 - $10.00 monthly per campaign
I visited both campaignregistry.com/foryou/ and campaignregistry.com/what-is-campaign-registry/ and both pages state explicitly that end users... brands... don't need to register, but rather, "a CSP (Campaign Service Provider) is the primary user of TCR (The Campaign Registry). A CSP works with multiple Brands to create and launch SMS messaging Campaigns." "BRANDS : You are a company and wish to use SMS to communicate with your customers. The service is not for you, you should talk to your messaging provider ....to help you with your messaging needs."
I called support at GoTo Connect, and was told that I would both have to register, and pay the vetting and the monthly fees if I wanted to be able to receive text messages from my clients on my new business phone number. I explained to the representative that this information she was provided is a mis-application of the regulations as explained on the CampaignRegistry website. I'm not an app developer. I'm not a campaign service provider. I'm the end user... I'm the brand. And according to the CampaignRegistry website, I do not need to register or pay any fees.
Is this a gross mistake by GoToConnect, or an attempt to bilk money from their users under the guise of complying with new regulations? If my decades old phone numbers with GoToConnect can accept SMS from outside numbers, why can't they check the magic box in the back-office to enable it on my newly purchased phone number?
