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As the debate between 10DLC and Toll-Free messaging continues, deliverability and throughput have become key factors in choosing the right messaging channel. To help software providers make informed decisions, Telgorithm’s article series continues to break down the most common myths and misconceptions around A2P messaging.
In Part 1 of the 10DLC vs. Toll-Free Myths series, we tackled the myths around scaling and localization.
In Part 2, we explored onboarding and pricing to help you understand the full cost landscape.
Now in Part 3, we’re diving into the performance side of things—looking at deliverability, throughput, and how each channel stacks up in real-world usage.
Let’s dive in.
Throughput is very similar on 10DLC and Toll-Free. In fact, Toll-Free throughputs/rate limits are in some cases lower compared to 10DLC throughput.
The whole purpose of 10DLC compliance and registration is to acquire higher throughputs for business text messaging.
Another massive misconception is that Toll-Free does not face carrier volumetric limitations, which is false. Below is the breakdown of throughputs or rate limits allotted for each number type:
At maximum, Toll-Free has an industry standard of 3 messages-per-second (MPS) or 180 messages-per-minute (MPM). To achieve higher throughputs, you must reach out to your messaging provider and put in a special request for your use case, but there’s still a standard ceiling:
To compare, the industry standard for 10DLC is 4 MPS (compared to Toll-Free’s 3 MPS). Just like with Toll-Free, you must put in a request for higher throughput, but the ceiling is much higher:
For more information, The Campaign Registry (TCR), the reputation authority for A2P 10DLC breaks down the throughput allotment for 10DLC in their Quick Reference Guide (page 14).
If you’re concerned about receiving higher throughputs for your customers, once you acquire those higher throughputs they must be monitored or you aren’t getting what you paid for anyway.
If your provider allocates throughput at the account level, your sending speed will depend on both the channel's capacity and the limits set for each account. However, this means your individual customer’s throughputs are affected by other customers and they’re sharing the same account-level limits, rather than just the throughput their Campaigns were approved for. So your customer’s throughput is only as strong as the weakness link. This is commonly known as capping rate limits.
Capping is when a messaging provider caps your rate limits based on your total customer base so all of your customers get the same throughput vs. get throughput based on their Campaign level they were approved for.
Unlike capping, Telgorithm manages rate limits at the Campaign level and tracks approved throughput limits per carrier (including all subsidiaries) in real-time, ensuring that each one of your customers gets the exact throughput allotted to their specific Campaign. This approach helps maintain consistently high throughput for 10DLC messaging.
Telgorithm’s patent-pending Smart Queueing technology addresses these challenges proactively by automatically managing your A2P 10DLC and/or Toll-Free messaging rate limits, AKA throughputs. If the Carrier limit is reached, Smart Queueing automatically queues the messages that would otherwise exceed your limit to be sent at a later time.
Smart Queueing eliminates the risk of dropped or blocked messages that can otherwise cause business disruptions and unnecessary spend for your customers. This feature improves message deliverability by ~20% on average, supports on-time delivery, and enables you to scale your messaging offering.
Delivery receipts (DLR) are reports from carriers that alert you when a message has reached the carrier networks.
Handset Delivery receipts (HDLR) are reports that provide the carrier's“best effort” of if a message has reached the end user’s phone or the handset.
HDLR happens after DLR, once a message gets into the carrier network, it then needs to get to the end user/hand set.
DLRs are actually more important than HDLRs because it’s key to know that the message got to the carrier in the first place. 90% of complaints from software providers happen at the delivery receipt (DLR) level where the message doesn't get into the network at all. Therefore DLR’s are more important than HDLR. If you don’t receive a DLR code 200, your customer’s message wasn’t accepted by the carrier.
It is false that 10DLC does not offer HDLR, but the more important fact is that handset delivery receipts (HDLR) are a vanity metric.
Both DLRs and HDLRs can be provided on 10DLC and Toll-Free, but on either message type, the data is what’s known as carrier “best effort” so it isn’t always 100% accurate.
At Telgorithm, we know that performance matters. Whether it’s 10DLC or Toll-Free, your messaging channel should support the highest deliverability and throughput for your use case—not slow you down with bottlenecks or carrier issues.
Need help improving your messaging deliverability or managing throughputs? Book a free consultation with a Telgorithm expert today to learn how.
Thanks for following along in our 10DLC vs. Toll-Free Myths Debunked series. If you missed any part of the series, check out Parts 1 and Part 2 to get the full picture.
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