Every industry has its own language, comprised of a verbal nomenclature that sounds completely foreign to those who don’t eat, sleep, and breathe it everyday. Still, even those within a certain industry can sometimes find themselves overwhelmed by the volume of abbreviated terms – and the mobile messaging industry might be one of the most voluminous.
From SMS and MMS to the A2P and AIT world of today, we’re here to help demystify the most commonly used acronyms and abbreviations – in alphabetical order – in the mobile marketing and messaging spaces.
| Acronym | Full Term | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| A2P | Application-to-Person | When a company sends an SMS or MMS message to someone using an automated messaging platform. |
| AIT | Artificially Inflated Traffic | A type of SMS fraudulent activity where fake consumers generate large volumes of SMSÂ messages through apps or websites, e.g. inputting a large number of phone numbers into a phone number field on a website form in order to receive an SMSÂ message. |
| API | Application Programming Interface | Coding software that enables different applications to communicate with and feed data to one another. |
| BFCM | Black Friday Cyber Monday | One of the busiest sales seasons for the retail industry. |
| CAN-SPAM | Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing | A law that establishes requirements for marketing messages to help protect consumers from receiving spam and unwanted solicitations on wireless devices such as mobile phones. |
| CCaaS | Contact Center as a Service | A cloud-based customer experience software solution that allows companies to utilize a contact center or customer service provider's software. |
| CCPA | California Consumer Privacy Act | A law that went into effect in 2018 that gives California consumers the right to see all of the personal information a business has collected about them. |
| CP | Content Provider | A company that creates and offers different types of content, such as graphic products, games, news, entertainment services, and other information. |
| CPaaS | Communications Platform as a Service | A bundled software solution that offers a variety of communication capabilities such as automated voice services, social messaging channels (e.g., WhatsApp), and text messaging. |
| CSCA | Common Short Code Administration | A system designed to manage short codes in the United States and Canada that can be used by businesses to interact with their customers through their mobile devices via SMS or MMS. |
| CSP | Campaign Service Provider | An organization that works with multiple brands to create, manage, and send their SMS and MMS messages - like Vibes! |
| CTIA | Cellular Telephone Industries Association | A nonprofit that develops and monitors rules, regulations, and voluntary best practices to guide the mobile industry. |
| CTA | Canadian Telecommunications Association | Represents companies that provide wired and wireless products and services and oversees wireless issues, trends, and developments in Canada. |
| DCA | Direct Connect Aggregator | A company that provides direct connectivity to mobile carrier gateways for the purpose of delivering text messages (Vibes is 1 of only 4 in the US with direct connections to all of the carriers, also known as a Tier 1 aggregator). |
| FCC | Federal Communications Commission | A government agency that monitors and regulates communications and is one of several parties that establish mobile marketing laws and regulations. |
| FSTEC | Foodservice Technology Conference | An annual conference & showcase where restaurants can get connected with the tools and expertise that's critical to the success of their business. |
| FTEU | Free-To-End-User messaging | When a business pays for both a short code and any other costs associated with communicating with consumers via text message. |
| GDPR | General Data Protection Regulation | A law that protects privacy and personal data, and it applies to any country that wants to do business in the European Union or use its citizens' personal data. |
| GSM | Global System for Mobile communications | A set of mobile communications standards and protocols for second-generation (or 2G) digital mobile networks that are used by devices such as mobile phones. |
| HTTP | Hypertext Transfer Protocol | Enables the transfer of data over the internet, allowing users to access websites and other online resources. |
| ITW | International Telecoms Week | The annual meeting for the global wholesale telecoms industry. |
| JSON | JavaScript Object Notation | A universal data format used primarily to transmit data between a server and web application. |
| MDN | Mobile Device Number | An individual telephone number associated with a mobile device. |
| MEF | Mobile Ecosystem Forum | A global trade body that acts as an impartial and authoritative champion for addressing issues affecting the broadening mobile messaging ecosystem. |
| MFA | Multi-Factor Authentication | An electronic authentication method in which a user is granted access to an account or website application only after successfully presenting at least two or more pieces of evidence to verify their identity. |
| MMA | Mobile Marketing Association | A global marketing trade organization that helps marketers and their partners collaboratively architect their most successful futures in business. |
| MMS | Multi-Media Messaging Service | A standard text message with a visual, such as a picture, animated GIF or video. |
| MNO | Mobile Network Operator | Is more commonly known as a wireless carrier, such as Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile. |
| MO | Mobile-Originated Message | Refers to a message that a user sends from a mobile phone. |
| MPS | Messages Per Second | A unit of measure for sending a high volume of SMSÂ messages that indicates how fast a software, server or other system is able to complete sending messages in one second. Sometimes called transactions per second, or TPS. |
| MSISDN | Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network | A telephone number assigned to an individual who is subscribed to a cellular network, such as Verizon or AT&T. |
| MT | Mobile-Terminated Message | A text message that is received on a mobile phone. |
| MVNO | A Mobile Virtual Network Operator | A carrier that does not have its own wireless network, instead they borrow the signal, coverage and network of a larger carrier like Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T. |
| MWC | Mobile World Congress | One of the world's largest gatherings for the mobile industry that occurs in Barcelona, Spain where top tech players go to show off their latest innovations. |
| OTP | One-Time Password or PIN code | Usually a six-digit, algorithmically generated codes that a business sends to a customer trying to log into their account for them to verify their identity. |
| PEWC | Prior Express Written Consent | A legal clause that requires businesses to gather explicit, written consent from a consumer prior to sending them marketing messages via SMS. |
| P2P | Peer-to-Peer or Person-to-Person | Refers to the back-and-forth text conversations that most people have among their friends, family and colleagues. |
| RCS | Rich Communication Services | A protocol that resembles a Chat app (e.g. WhatsApp) that is currently only available on Android- and Samsung-operated devices. |
| REST | Representational State Transfer | A type of software architecture that defines a common method for defining APIs for Web services. |
| SDK | Software Development Kit | A set of software-building tools used by developers to create applications, also known as a devkit. |
| SHAFT | Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms or Tobacco | Content that contains or promotes Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms or Tobacco. |
| SLA | Service-Level Agreement | A written commitment between a service provider and its customers that describes the products and services to be delivered, points of contact for troubleshooting issues, and sometimes includes the metrics the deliverables will be measured by. |
| SMPP | Short Message Peer-to-Peer Protocol | The system of rules that lets devices and software applications send and receive text messages. |
| SMS | Short Message Service | More commonly known as a text message. |
| SMSC | Short Message Service Center | The portion of a mobile phone wireless network that handles text messaging operations. |
| TCPA | The Telephone Consumer Protection Act | Restricts any and all cellular phone calls made and text messages sent to consumers through the use of automated telephone dialing equipment. |
| TCR | The Campaign Registry | Founded to try and make SMS messaging from businesses to consumers more secure and trustworthy. The Campaign Registry allows campaign service providers (CSPs) to register text messaging campaigns and programs on a company's behalf by declaring "who" is sending the messages and "what" message is being sent. |
| TFN | Toll-Free Number | An 8XX number that allows both voice and text messaging to be enabled for use over: 800, 833, 888, 877, 866, 855, and 844. |
| TPS | Transactions Per Second | A unit of measure that indicates how fast a software, server or other system is able to process information in a single second, such as messages per second (or MPS). |
| UCaaS | Unified Communications as a Service | Describes organizations that offer a full suite of communication services - such as audio/video/web conferencing, instant messaging, etc. - to other companies. |
| XML | Extensible Markup Language | Computer programming language that is used to transmit, store and organize data. |
| 10DLC | Ten-Digit Long Code | A standard phone number that companies can use to send consumers text messages. |
| 2FA | Two-Factor Authentication | One of the most secure ways for consumers to protect their accounts from unauthorized access, Two-Factor Authentication is an electronic authentication method in which a user is granted access to an application only after successfully presenting evidence to verify their identity. Unlike MFA that requires at least two or more types of authentication 2FA only requires two types, such as one-time passwords. |
Mara Miller
Director of Marketing
