Why your business texts now say "Unverified" (and how tradies fix it)

A customer in Canning Vale gets a text about tomorrow's hot water install. The top of the message does not say Smith Plumbing. It says Unverified, and it sits directly under another "Unverified" text claiming their toll account is overdue.

They delete both. Nobody rings Smith Plumbing to ask. The first sign of trouble is a customer who is not home when the van turns up.

That is the new SMS Sender ID Register at work. It exists to stop scammers pretending to be banks and toll roads, and it does that job. But it also catches legitimate trade businesses whose texts go out under a name nobody registered.

What changed on 1 July 2026

For years anyone could send a text that appeared to come from any name at all. That is how the fake "AusPost" and toll-road messages worked: the sender line was just a label, and nobody checked it.

The register closes that gap. A business name used as a sender now has to be approved and listed, and the telcos and message providers carrying the text check it against the register. If the name is not there, it is replaced with the word "Unverified".[1][5]

The label is not the only cost. Unverified messages are grouped with other unregistered senders, including scams, and some phones sort them into a separate folder.[2][3] Your appointment reminder ends up filed next to a fake parcel notice.

Does this affect your missed-call text-back?

It comes down to one thing: what your customer sees as the sender.

The reply column is how SMS works, not an ACMA rule: a text sent under a name has no number behind it to reply to.

A missed-call text-back only works if the customer can answer it with the job and the suburb, so it should always go out from a number. If yours does, the register does not touch it. That is how we build missed-call text-back: the text comes from your own business number, and it is covered in how Perth tradies lose jobs to missed calls.

Where we see problems is the other texts a trade business sends. Booking confirmations, "we're on our way", quote-ready notices and seasonal promotions often go out from job-management or marketing platforms set to show the business name. Those are the ones that now read "Unverified" if nobody registered the name.

How to check your own texts in five minutes

1. List every tool that texts your customers. Your job-management software, your booking system, any marketing or review-request platform, and your missed-call text-back.
2. Send yourself a test from each one. Book a fake job, trigger a reminder, or ring your business line and hang up.
3. Look at the sender line on your phone. A number means that tool is not affected. A name means it needs to be registered. "Unverified" means it already should have been.
4. Write down the exact name each tool uses. You will need it when you register, and it is common to find two tools using slightly different versions.

How to register a sender ID

1. Update your Australian Business Register details first

Applications are checked against the ABR. Your authorised contact, or the service-of-notice email address, must be current.[2] Out-of-date ABR details are one of the most common reasons applications stall, so fix them before you apply.[3]

2. Pick a name you can show belongs to you

The sender name has to link clearly to your organisation, through your company name, a trademark or your domain.[4] "SmithPlumbing" works if you trade as Smith Plumbing. A catchy name you do not trade under is harder to justify.

3. Ask your SMS provider to register it

Most businesses register through the telco or message provider that sends their texts. The provider submits the name to the register for you.[2][4] If you have an ABN you can also apply directly with ACMA, which asks for an active ABN, proof you own the brand or domain, and your authorised representative's details.[3] Ask your provider whether they charge for handling it.

4. Allow several weeks

Applications can take several weeks to process.[3] If you use more than one platform, register every name in one go rather than finding the second one a month later.

5. Test it again once it is approved

Send yourself a message from each tool and confirm your name now appears. Do this again any time you change platforms, because a new provider may send under a different name.

Registration is not the whole compliance picture

The register answers one question: is this sender who they say they are? Whether you are allowed to send the message at all is still governed by the Spam Act 2003. For marketing texts that means consent you can show, clear identification of your business, and a working unsubscribe.[4]

The two do not cover for each other. A registered name does not fix a promotion sent to people who never agreed to hear from you, and a perfect unsubscribe does not stop an unregistered name showing as "Unverified". The Spam Act side is covered in full in SMS compliance for tradies in Australia.

Frequently asked questions