A rate limit is a cap on the number of message segments a person or business can send per second (MPS). Rate limits are set by messaging carriers like T-Mobile and AT&T to maintain a safe and efficient messaging ecosystem for businesses and consumers alike. Without rate limits, carrier networks would become quickly congested and unreliable.
While rate limits may seem like an obstacle to your message sending at first, they play a vital role in keeping the text-messaging ecosystem safe by reducing instances of spam messaging and snowshoeing. It’s thanks in part to rate limits that text messaging is considered the most widely available and reliable communication channel.[1]
Understanding your rate limits
To determine what rate limits apply to your messaging, it’s important to understand what your messaging use case is. While toll-free messaging is capped by a set limit of 20 MPS, A2P 10DLC messaging (10-digit long code application to person) rate limits can vary greatly. The default rate limit for 10DLC is 1 MPS but can increase up to 1000 MPS depending on your messaging use case.
Not sure what your messaging use case is? Download our use case selection guide to learn everything you need to know and get started on registering your 10DLC messaging campaigns.
If you’re new to 10DLC messaging, it’s important to understand the campaign registry, a registration process for all message senders that helps protect the messaging ecosystem and lets senders benefit from higher rate limits. If you’re unfamiliar with campaign registration, check out our previous blog on it to gain a better understanding before continuing to read on.
While some messaging providers leave it to their customers to determine what rate limits they require, Tychron takes on the heavy lifting of setting rate limits automatically in accordance with your messaging campaigns. This ensures that our message senders are able to benefit from the fastest message sending possible while staying compliant with campaign registry regulations. Tychron’s automatic rate limits also lessen the burden on your programmers as no extra configuration is required to get the most out of your messaging.
For inbound messaging, customers receiving messages through Tychron are not subject to any rate limits. However, these messages are still subject to carrier rate limits and the rate limits of whoever is sending the messages.