Provisioning a Dedicated Short Code

For those of you who are researching short codes and SMS marketing one of the decisions you will have to make is choosing between a dedicated or shared short code. A dedicated short code is a five to six digit code that is provisioned solely for your business. Depending on the size of your business and your marketing budget a dedicated short code may or may not not be the best option for you.

There are numerous mobile marketing companies out there that can help to get the ball rolling. When provisioning a dedicated short code it will require a higher initial investment, increased monthly costs, and time to get the number established. Once complete the business has full access to the code and can create a variety of marketing campaigns to engage their customers and drive revenue!

When the provisioning process is started the request to provision a short code is submitted to the aggregators and carriers. Businesses can expect to spend several thousand dollars to provision a short code. In addition to the set up costs there are monthly fees associated with a dedicated short code. Vanity dedicated short codes cost around $1,000 per month, where as a generic dedicated short code costs around $500 per month. It is important to remember that these monthly fees to not include any usage.

Businesses should not expect to have immediate access to their dedicated short code. There are multiple steps to go through to get the code approved by the carrier. The entire process can take several weeks to a couple months to complete. Businesses that are provisioning dedicated short codes understand the processes and plan accordingly.

For businesses that are not ready to provision their own dedicated short codes, shared short codes are an affordable and easily obtainable option. Companies like AvidMobile have done the work and provisioned shared short codes allowing direct clients and mobile marketing resellers to quickly get started with SMS marketing. The initial investment is much smaller and the ROI is just as high. Visit our AvidMobile’s website to learn more about sms marketing or sign up for a free trial today!