$650 on time fee and a charge of $995 per month
I wrote about how I was trying to get a short code for AWS Pinpoint here:
Sending an SMS Message from a Lambda Function
I have requested a pinpoint short code a few times on AWS and had issues getting through the process. This is the first time I got the following message. I don’t recall seeing these fees in the AWS pricing I posted earlier. This message says you have to pay a $650 one time fee and $995 per month to use a US short code.
Welp, that option is out for may little app that needs to send me a few notifications a month.
I have an 800 number which seems weird to use for internal text messages but whatever works. As noted US phone numbers require a bunch of branding non-sense that doesn’t apply to a phone number used for internal purposes within an organization. It seems that AWS needs to think through the internal use case a bit more and provide easier options for that. Am I missing it? This used to be much easier. I’m sure it’s being locked down due to spam but there must be a better way to solve this problem for people who only want a number for an internal notification system. Maybe I need to explore some other services outside of AWS if this becomes too expensive.
Here’s the whole message:
Thank you for your interest in requesting a Dedicated Short Code for United States destination(s).To confirm that you would like to proceed with your request, please reply to this case with the requested information.All short codes are provisioned for specific use cases and will have to be approved by telephone carriers before you can start sending text messages. Carrier approval process does not start until Amazon receives a fully compliant short code campaign. Any missing or incomplete information to requests for additional information will prevent Amazon from starting this carrier approval process. For United States the approval process may take 8–12 weeks or longer.You may reference the following blog post for additional information on the carrier compliance requirements you will need to consider before submitting your campaign for review(https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/messaging-and-targeting/obtaining-a-short-code-for-sending-text-messages-to-us-recipients-part-1/).Once approved, you cannot change the intended use of the short code(s). You are responsible to maintain the compliance to the approved use case. If you would like to change or alter your use case, you must reapply. Telephone operators may charge a one-time fee for processing your application.* Important *
Carrier Short Code approval may take 8–12 weeks or longer. Your application will be sent to our downstream compliance provider for review first to help mitigate risk of mobile network operators rejecting your application as that can add additional time to this procurement process. The provided approval timeline of 8–12 weeks or longer does not start until our downstream compliance providers accept your application and believe it will pass carrier approval. We will notify you once your application has been sent for final carrier review and approval. This will mark the start of the 8–12 weeks timeline. Please note that carriers may still need further clarifications on your application during their review period.Short codes for United States will incur a one-time setup fee of $650 USD. Each short code has a recurring charge of $995 USD per month. Carrier approval may take 8–12 weeks or longer. Please note that billing for short codes start at the time the application is submitted, before the short code is registered for use. The default send rate for short codes is 100 messages per second maximum. A higher send rate will incur additional charges. — Given the pricing and time frame involved, would you like to continue with this request? — Please confirm you understand that billing for the short code(s) will begin at time of application submission: — Please confirm you understand the carrier approval timeframe provided for the short code(s) will only begin once Amazon has confirmed a compliant application has been submitted to carriers:Please complete the attached form, in which all fields are required. Any missing or incomplete information could delay your request.We’ll respond to your initial request within 24-hours. However, if we need to obtain additional information from you, it might take longer to resolve your request.Note, we have an automated system that will resolve a case if there has been no recent activity. You will get a warning before the case is resolved, at which point you can respond to the case if you need it to stay open.Thank you for choosing Amazon Web Services.To see the file named ‘AWS US Short Code Registration Form (1).docx’ included with this correspondence, please use the case link given below the signature.
Teri Radichel
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