The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is changing the way that businesses and organisations send branded text messages. From 1st July, 2026, all businesses that send SMS need to verify their SMS Sender ID. If they don’t, their messages will be stamped as ‘Unverified’.
So why is this important to your business?
SMS is a valuable marketing channel for many businesses and gets attention! We know that consumers check their phones multiple times an hour, so SMS messages are rarely ignored. This powerful medium is used to drive marketing objectives, provide login support and drive last-minute sales, bookings or orders.
In TalkBox, SMS is an integral part of our communications channels and ensures that businesses can reach 100% of their customers.
Did you know that in TalkBox, you can create an email, send it via SMS and then select to prioritise either email or SMS, which will ensure you reach 100% of your contactable customers. If you only create and send email or SMS messages, you risk missing out on a large part of your audience.
Setting up a Sender in your TalkBox account is NOT sufficient to verify your SMS Sender. You must complete the process in the emails we have sent to you.
Read more from the ACMA HERE or Contact Us for help.
My business doesn’t use SMS, why should I verify my SMS Sender ID?
There are a few reasons you should consider completing the process.
- The industry is backing these changes because we want to make SMS a safer channel. Many Australians have been victims of scams and received many spam messages. Verifying SMS senders is one of the important steps, to make that more difficult. Consumers will quickly catch on whether a sender is verified, and this will appear much more suspicious.
- Consumer trust in the channel and clicking links will return. When customers start to realise they are receiving messages from trusted brands, consumers’ confidence in clicking links will return. This will offer renewed opportunities for brands to engage via SMS
- Business needs change. While you may not be using SMS now, you may need to do so in the future. Many brands are using SMS to help with multi-factor authentication and one-time passcodes to make logging into sites and apps more secure. This is much easier via SMS.
- It means you can reach 100% of your contactable database and talk to consumers in the channel they have selected. Respecting a consumer’s choice about the channel they want to engage with you is key to building valuable relationships. When your SMS Sender is verified, this gives you the option if you need to.
Got more questions or need help? Contact us at support@impactdata.com.au.
