Migration Completed Oct 12, 2026.
To comply with US wireless carrier requirements, we're retired the shared Element451 SMS short code. All SMS messaging will now be sent from your institution's own registered 10-digit phone number(s).
What's Changing
Element451's short code was established before current carrier regulations prohibited multiple organizations from sharing a single short code, and carriers largely grandfathered existing short codes like ours. That's why we've been able to offer it to our partners.
In response to rising spam and phishing traffic, US carriers (including AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon) are reinforcing the requirement that every short code be tied to one verified organization. Our messaging provider and the carriers are now enforcing that requirement for existing short codes as well as new ones.
Recent increased enforcement of these regulations requires us to take swift action to prevent your messages from being blocked from delivery. Any campaigns or autoresponders still using the short code after Oct 9, 2026 were automatically moved to your school's primary (first) Element451 10-digit phone number.
The Silver Lining
This change actually gives you more control. On a shared short code, sender reputation, opt-outs, and compliance risks are shared by everyone using it. While our short code has never been blocked or throttled, the actions of a single Element451 partner could have caused carriers to suspend all traffic on it without warning.
Sending from your own registered number keeps your opt-outs, deliverability, and reputation separate from everyone else's, and if a student replies, those messages flow directly into your own Conversations thread.
Who this affects
Any institution that had SMS campaigns, event autoresponders, or appointment autoresponders sending from the shared short code. If your institution has only one 10-digit phone number (or don't have a preference for which number), no action is needed. Everything using the short code will move to that number automatically.
If you have more than one phone number you can update your SMS campaigns, event autoresponders, or appointment autoresponders at any time.
💡 Want a separate number for these messages?
If you'd prefer to keep the traffic from the old short code separate, you can add one additional 10-digit phone number between now and October 31, 2026, with no additional line fees for that number.
Go to Conversations Settings to obtain that new number.