DLT registration for bulk SMS in India: the complete plain-English guide
What DLT is, the four things you must register, why messages get scrubbed, and how long each step realistically takes.
Read guideToll free, missed call and IVR get discussed as if they were alternatives. They are not. Two of them are number types and one is the call-handling layer that sits behind either.
The distinction in one paragraph
A toll-free 1800 number and a missed call number are both inbound numbers, but they capture completely different things: one captures a conversation, the other captures a phone number. IVR is not a number at all — it is the automated menu and routing logic that decides what happens after a call arrives. You put IVR behind a toll-free number. You do not put it behind a missed call number, because there is no call to route.
Toll free 1800: when you want them to talk
The caller dials free; you pay for the minutes. That removes the last hesitation from anyone responding to an advertisement, and a 1800 number on a hoarding or a product pack signals an established business.
Choose it when the enquiry genuinely needs a conversation — a technical support call, a complaint, a considered purchase, a dealer query. Also choose it when you advertise at scale and cannot risk busy tones, since a toll-free line handles many simultaneous calls.
The cost consideration: you are paying per inbound minute, so a poorly designed call flow that leaves people on hold is expensive as well as annoying. That is precisely why toll-free and IVR belong together.
Missed call: when you only want the number
"Give a missed call on 90000 00000." The system answers, disconnects within a ring, logs the number and fires back an SMS. The caller pays nothing. There is no form, no typing, no data connection, no literacy requirement — which is why it produces the highest response rate of any mechanism available in Indian marketing.
Choose it when the goal is capture, not conversation: lead generation from mass media, subscription opt-in, voting and polling, delivery confirmation by field staff, or number verification in place of an OTP.
The limitation: you get a verified number and nothing else. No name, no requirement, no budget. Missed call alert is the top of your funnel, not the whole of it — someone still has to call back.
IVR: the layer that makes either number work
IVR answers, greets professionally, offers a menu, and routes to the right person on the first attempt. Behind that sit the things that actually determine whether your phone line performs: time-based flows for after hours, missed-call capture with callback tasks, call recording, and reporting on answer rates and wait times.
Choose it when more than one person or department handles calls, when calls arrive outside office hours, or when you have no objective idea how many callers you are currently losing. A hosted IVR needs no PBX hardware — your team answers on ordinary mobiles configured as extensions.
Side by side
| Toll Free 1800 | Missed Call | Hosted IVR | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it captures | A conversation | A verified number | Routing + call data |
| Cost to caller | Free | Free | Depends on the number |
| Cost to you | Rental + inbound minutes | Rental + per hit | Rental + usage |
| Needs your staff | Yes, to answer | Later, to call back | Yes, as extensions |
| Best for | Support, considered sales | Mass lead capture | Any multi-person team |
| Works with IVR | Yes — recommended | Not applicable | — |
What we usually recommend
- Advertising heavily to a broad audience? Missed call number for capture, with an instant SMS carrying your brochure link, plus a callback process. Cheapest response per lead by a wide margin.
- Running a support or service business? Toll-free number with IVR, department menus, recording and after-hours handling.
- Doing both — brand campaigns and support? Both numbers. A missed-call number on the mass-media creative, a toll-free number on the pack and the website. Print separate numbers per campaign and you get attribution for free.
- Small team, high call volume, no budget for toll-free? IVR on a virtual mobile number. You get menus, routing, multiple simultaneous calls and reporting without the toll-free rental.
If you are not sure which of these your business needs, the fastest way to find out is to tell us how many calls you get, how many people answer them, and where your enquiries come from. Get in touch and we will tell you which one to buy — including when the answer is only one of the three.