Types of Phone Numbers

Avochato allows for different types of phone numbers depending on your use case and budget. The three options are local numbers, toll-free numbers, and short codes. They each have different benefits and restrictions. Continue reading for a breakdown of each to see which is best suited for your business.

Local numbers can send and receive SMS, MMS, and make and receive calls. Local numbers are also referred to as 10DLC “Ten Digit Long Code”.

Local numbers are the most flexible and allow for the easiest setup. You are able to choose your own local numbers in your Avochato account, either while you are still in trial mode or when you add a new inbox to an existing account and you can also pick out additional long codes for new inboxes as well. Additionally, Avochato allows you to port or host existing numbers within your Avochato account.

Local numbers are eligible to be registered on the official carrier campaign registry to ensure the best deliverability. SMS and MMS messages sent through Avochato from local phone numbers are classified as Application-to-Person (A2P) traffic by US carriers. More on A2P 10DLC can be found here. Avochato will support you in getting your local numbers registered.

Toll-free numbers are numbers that typically have an 800 area code (800, 888, 855, 844, 833, etc.), can send and receive SMS, MMS, and have full call functionality. Toll-free numbers also have the added benefit of faster send speeds. As of September 30th, 2022, carriers require businesses to register their toll-free numbers to ensure deliverability.

Toll free numbers are readily available, please reach out to the Avochato team if you would like one added to your account.

Short codes are short numbers, 5-6 digits long that are used to send and receive SMS (text messages) and MMS (images or files < 500kb) but short codes do not have the ability to make or receive phone calls.

Short Codes must be applied for and then approved by carriers which is typically a 2-4 month process. Short codes also have an annual cost to maintain each of them. The benefit to going the route of a short code is the ability to send messages faster and have a much higher rate of delivered messages because of the carrier agreement included with all short codes.

Learn more about short codes here.