We are very disappointed to announce that SHARED SHORT CODES, including 444999 used by Adva Mobile, have been discontinued by the Carriers (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, etc.) 

Until we implement new Text technology, You can no longer send Texts to Fans, and Fans cannot text to you.

What Happened?

Since our inception we have been strong proponents of the power of Text for Artists to grow their Fan base. While most articles promote the use of Text for sending messages and notifications to your Fans, the ability to grow your Fan base by having Fans Text In and be automatically added to your Fan database was unsurpassed compared to sign up sheets to collect email addresses.

Sadly, this has changed. Adva Mobile, like thousands of other businesses that use text for marketing, uses a “shared” short code – 444999. This means that other businesses also use 444999, and our Text provider knows that, when someone texts In to 444999, it’s an Adva Mobile Artist when the prefix is GET. That’s why all Artist Keywords begin with GET.

Shared Short Codes like 444999 carried some risk because, if one of the companies abused the Text Marketing rules, the entire short code could be shut down by the carriers. While this did not happen with 444999, the carriers have decided to eliminate all Shared Short Codes.

Fans will no longer be able to text Get<bandname> to 444999 to opt in to your Fan Database.

There are dedicated short codes, however these are very expensive, appropriate only for large businesses, in our opinion, and the pass along cost to Artists would be impractical.

What we are doing!

Adva Mobile will move to “long codes”, also called 10 digit codes, which look like your current phone number. +1-508-740-1234 is an example. We are implementing the new technology right now!

There will be significant advantages to you by using a 10 digit phone number to text your Fans

• One major advantage is that you will be able to create two way conversations between yourselves and your Fans, including autoresponder type conversations, which you couldn’t do with Short Codes. This is because each Artist will have their own 10 digit Long Code (phone number), instead of sharing 444999.
• Texting your Fans will not change. You will still send Texts from the Adva Mobile portal the way you normally do. That part will not change.
• How Fans Opt in to your Mobile Fan Club / Web App will change. When you are assigned your new, personal Text phone number, Fans will still be able to text you. Also, we’ll provide you a series of widgets and tools for you to use to capture Fans’ mobile numbers to automatically add them to your Fan Database.

 

The major drawback to long codes, compared to 444999, is that many Artists built their Fan database up during live concerts, telling Fans to text in to join a contest, download music, or get a coupon for the merch table. Shouting out a long code for a fan to remember during a live concert is really impractical.

Next Steps

We’ll keep you informed as we work through this transition. We’re very disappointing the carriers have chosen to take this step. And, we know many of you have created marketing and promotional material promoting your Keyword and Short Code.

A sad day for each of us, on top of all the craziness out there.

Stay Safe! We’ll let everyone know in the coming weeks when your Adva Mobile service is operational for you.