Technical Issue Updates

Deliverability Issue - Update 6.5.23

Hello Groundworker,
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Unfortunately, this weekend we discovered a technical issue that affected the majority of our customers. We’re sorry to share that you are affected.
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The Cause

The FCC recently passed a regulation targeting the increasing problem of scam text messages sent to consumers. Other recent updates to text messaging infrastructure called "A2P 10DLC Registration" also likely contributed to the issues. Although our texting service provider was set to implement the necessary changes later this year, telecommunication companies started filtering messages out sooner. Notably, we have seen the most deliverability issues for those with AT&T numbers.

While we thought we were on top of these changes, they happened quicker than we anticipated. That's on us, and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience it created.
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The Result

Telecommunication companies are blocking certain messages to their customers, resulting in 13% of Groundwork text messages being held and marked as undelivered. In reviewing our data, an increase in blocked messages started around May 23rd with a larger increase starting last week.
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‍What This Means for You

We realize that your lead flow is critically important to your business and do not take this situation lightly.
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In this scenario, we see the most important message we send is “project video upload links” after a lead completes the Kick-off Form. Fortunately, 90% of total “project video upload link” text messages have sent successfully to leads. And 74% of all Groundwork customers have not experienced issues with “project video upload link” text messages sending successfully to leads. (Data from 5/23 – 6/4)
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Aside from customer-facing messages, we have seen a more significant number of "user notification” text messages being blocked. We aren't exactly sure why, but we are including that in our research efforts.

Fortunately, these deliverability problems are only temporary. But, it may take some time to resolve them since many software companies are dealing with similar issues. From what we learned, we should see deliverability improve over the next week. We expect to have the issues completely rectified within two weeks.
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Our Short-Term Solutions
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We’ve been working around the clock to do everything in our power to remedy this problem for our customers quickly. Some of our solutions you'll see launched in the next 24 hours include: ‍

• "Direct-to-Mobile" feature turned on for all users: If a lead completes the contact form on your website from a mobile device, they will be brought straight through the rest of the Groundwork Survey Flow from that same webpage. This process is completed without the lead receiving a text message and is a mobile-only feature.
• Highlight undelivered messages within the Groundwork application using a label: We are going to make it easier for you to see if a message is undelivered. The label is there now, but we will be turning the text red so you can more easily see the status of the message.
• Banner in the Groundwork application with a link to an undelivered messages data table (only for customers with deliverability issues): In this table, you will see what messages haven’t been delivered, the leads they were associated with, and the intended message. You can copy the intended message and send it as an email or via text using your work or personal cell phone.
• In the meantime, we suggest turning on email notifications within the Groundwork App. If you’re not sure how to change your notifications, watch this video.

We promise to communicate with you every step of the way.
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Thanks for your patience,
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Jeff Wraley & The Groundwork Team