The Platform PM

Glossary and sources

Field Guide

Phone numbers, messaging and voice

10

Glossary and sources

6 min read · Chapter 10 of 10

Words that mean something else here

TermWhat you'd assumeWhat it means here
CampaignA marketing blastA registered 10DLC use case ("account notifications") that lasts months and holds numbers
BrandA logo or trademarkThe legal entity behind the sender, keyed by its tax ID
RegistrationA one-time signupPer sender: brand plus campaign (10DLC); entity, header, template and consent (India); a sender ID per carrier (UAE)
VerificationOne KYC checkToll-free: a per-number messaging review. Google: an email to the brand's contact. 911: an address checked against 911 address data
VerifiedA badge earned onceIn 10DLC, registered (exists in TCR), verified (identity matched), vetted (scored) and approved (cleared by DCA and carriers) are four gates. On WhatsApp, business verification, display name approval and the blue check are three more
DeliveredThe recipient got itThe next hop accepted it. Filtering is often silent, grey routes can fake receipts, and abroad a message can arrive with its sender overwritten or relabelled
CarrierAT&T, T-Mobile, VerizonAlso a competitive local carrier, a VoIP provider with direct number access, or a reseller; FCC duties attach to the role (originating, gateway, terminating)
TemplateA message format in your appOn WhatsApp, a pre-approved message required outside the 24-hour window and priced by category. In India, registered content checked on every send
ConversationA thread with a customerA billing unit: WhatsApp's until June 30, 2025; RCS's 24-hour conversation; in the US RCS model, a "session" triggered by four messages
Service messageA free support replyOn WhatsApp, any non-template message; chargeable since October 1, 2026
LocalA number near the customerIn the NANP, a number tied to a rate center (its home local area), silent on mobile versus fixed and on where the user is. Abroad, often a voice-only landline needing a local address
PortingMoving a number between accountsChanging the serving carrier in the NPAC by carrier-to-carrier order. Not hosting (text-enabling a number whose voice stays elsewhere), not a RespOrg change (how toll-free moves)
AttestationProof the caller is legitimateThe signing provider's A, B or C claim about the caller and its right to the number; silent on content and consent
Short codeA short phone numberA leased code outside the numbering plan. In Colombia, assigned by the regulator; in Argentina or Mexico, possibly a shared code the carrier swaps in for your sender
SenderThe From fieldWhatever the recipient sees: a number, a code, an alpha string, an RCS agent (with a fallback number behind it), a WhatsApp display name
ProvisioningMaking a resource liveAsk which: assigning a number, routing it, its 911 address, text-enabling it, or a carrier activating a campaign or short code

What surprised me

"A phone number is like a domain name." That was my model: own it, point it anywhere, move it with an auth code. My first port showed me the number belongs to a carrier's block, I sit at the end of a resale chain, and a port is a carrier-to-carrier order that one mismatched field can reject. When a customer lets a number go, the law makes it age at least 45 days before anyone else gets it.

"Registration is app store review." One review, then you ship. But 10DLC alone has four gates, each carrier keeps its own approval state, and passing them all doesn't stop a filter dropping your message next Tuesday. Approval lets you start sending, and I keep watching delivery after it.

"A delivery receipt is an HTTP 200." Here it means the next hop took the message. Filtering is often silent, and abroad a message can arrive with its sender rewritten, so these days I mostly go by delivery rate by carrier and country.

"Pricing is cloud pricing: cost plus margin, revisited at renewal." Then three US carriers changed their per-message fees within five months, by memo and mid-contract, and Meta started charging for replies that used to be free. Now I treat prices as dated inputs set by someone else.

"Compliance is a legal checklist." I expected to read the rule and be done. The FCC's one-to-one consent rule died in court in January 2025, and reviewers kept rejecting lead-generator consent anyway. In practice the rule that binds you is whatever the strictest gatekeeper in the path enforces this quarter.

Sources

Undated entries were read on October 1, 2026.

Regulators and law

Registries and industry bodies

Platform owners

Company results and filings

Business press

Legal and trade analysis

Provider and aggregator pages

Field Guides are learning notes, not legal or compliance advice. Rules and fees change; check the cited primary sources before you act on anything here.