You’ve no doubt noticed that the delivery rate on your SMS messages has decreased in the last several weeks. The mobile carriers are transitioning toward the August 31 deadline, after which they will block all messages from unregistered numbers. Unfortunately, the registration process has been overwhelmed and it’s taken several months to get the results for our initial church registrations.
Switching to toll-free numbers
Because of the costs, the backlogged registration process and the limitations for churches without their own EIN, we will be replacing your 10-digit SMS numbers with Toll-free numbers (e.g. 877, 866, 855). Toll-free numbers will provide several advantages:
- Registration is a 1-step process (10-digit is 3 steps)
- Registration process is established and not overwhelmed (2-3 weeks)
- No EIN required, Legal Name is required
- Allows a church to use multiple numbers (Sole Proprietor only allowed 1 number)
- Reliable delivery notifications (10-digit still won’t guarantee notifications of delivery or blocking)
New SMS Opt-in
Until now, eAdventist Messaging Lists have begun sending SMS messages as soon as you add subscribers. Members and contacts “opted in” by providing their mobile phone number. The registration processes for both 10-digit and toll-free numbers now require an explicit opt-in process. To meet this requirement, we’ve updated Messaging Lists to send an SMS invitation to each new subscriber. They opt in by replying YES.
All of your existing subscribers will be automatically opted in – new subscribers will receive the invitation to opt in. No text messages will be sent until the subscriber opts in, by replying YES.
The “Audience” panel will show the number of “Invited” subscribers that have been invited but haven’t opted in yet. You can customize the “Invitation” message, just like you can the “Welcome” message.
We’ll let you know when your new toll-free numbers have been purchased and when they are verified. Your current 10-digit numbers will not be released until your new numbers are ready to use.
Be sure to enter your church’s “Legal name” in eAdventist – it’s required for successful registration. Thanks for your patience with this transition!
eAdventist team
Dear Brian
I sent your paperwork you had requested earlier We do have a TIN.
Dunlap Seventh-day Adventist Church Po box 37, Dunlap tn. 37327
How do keep our sms going successfully? Yes, I did see a decrease in successfully sent messages
Thank you
Kim Swarts
Kim, thanks for gathering that information. The toll-free verification process doesn’t require an EIN but it’s valuable to record that in eAdventist anyway. You should be seeing your delivery back in the high 90’s with your new toll-free number.
Thank you for the information. How about in spanish?
Nobody on our team is bi-lingual. But we’re working on that.
Just wanted to let you know that since we have changed over to the new toll free numbers that the system is working so much better. I have sent out two texts messages yesterday to test the system and then 2 messages today and the delivery time is excellent and I am getting 100% delivery rate now where I was down to 29% earlier this month. Job well done. Thanks so much, love this program.
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know.
Dear Brian, I am looking on the Clerk’s view of E Adventist, the number (SMS) is showing pending verification. what do I need to do to fix that? Also, the opt in message, sent to new subscribers (you wrote the existing subscrioters will be gradnfathered in?) can that SMS message be customized.? Wont they need to know what church it is from?
OK I see that I can fo to the geat next to the Messaging List and change themessage to read how I want it to read I’ve typed in
Dunlap SDA Church uses this number to send text messages for “DunlapSDA Church -Announcement”.
Reply YES to opt ins.
You don’t need to do anything about “Verification pending”. That means that we have submitted a request for verification – and you can send messages while it’s pending. We’ll update it to “Verified” when the request is completed. Your maximum delivery speed will be even higher then. As you discovered, you can use the default “Invitation” message or click the “gear” icon to customize it.
Hi Brian. Judy Lewis from the Springfield First SDA Church in Springfield, IL. Our Pastor, Glenn Hill, has moved to TN. He and I are the users for Messaging list. Once we receive a new Pastor, I am guessing he will replace Pastor Hill as a Message user. Do I leave Pastor Hill and his phone number currently in place, or should he be deleted? Also, the Hill’s family church membership has been transferred, is it ok to remove them from the subscriber list? What is the etiquette for removing people from the subscriber list? Thanks for your help!!!
Great questions! Go a head and delete Pastor Hill from your List Admin list. You can add the new pastor as soon as he has been assigned to your church (in eAdventist). Also, when a member transfers out of your church they are automatically dropped from your subscribers – without any action on your part. If they want to continue getting your messages, you can add them as Contacts.
Does this work in Canada?
Yes, this registration process only applied to mobile carriers in the US. Our 10-digit numbers with local area codes still work great in Canada.
Hi Brian, I’ve been sending emails to e-adventist help, to set up this service. My church is located in Quebec. I never received any reply. Who else do I need to contact?