10DLC registration

A2P 10DLC (Application-to-Person 10-Digit Long Code) is the US carrier program that authorizes businesses to send SMS from standard 10-digit local numbers. US carriers require every business that sends commercial text messages over long-code numbers to register a brand and at least one campaign before sending at volume. Without registration, your messages are likely to be heavily filtered or blocked outright.

This article covers registering your brand, creating campaigns, vetting and approval timelines, common rejection reasons, throughput, and the opt-in/opt-out rules you must follow.

How Registration Works

10DLC registration has two layers, and you complete them in order:

1. Brand registration — identifies your business (legal name, EIN, address). Done once per organization.
2. Campaign registration — describes a specific messaging use case (e.g. customer care, appointment reminders). You can have multiple campaigns under one brand.

Your organization can only send SMS once you have at least one registered brand and at least one registered campaign. You can check this at any time under 10DLC — the status summary shows your overall state (unregistered, pending, or registered) and whether SMS sending is enabled.

Step 1 — Register Your Brand

1. Go to 10DLC in the admin panel and start a brand registration.
2. Enter your business details:
   • Company name — your legal business name (required).
   • EIN — your federal tax ID / Employer Identification Number. Numeric, dashes allowed.
   • Vertical — the industry category that best describes your business (e.g. technology, healthcare, retail).
   • Website, phone, and business address (street, city, state, postal code, country).
3. Submit. The brand is sent to the carrier registry for verification.

Accuracy matters: the company name, EIN, and address are checked against tax and business records. A mismatch is the most common reason a brand fails.

Brand Vetting

When your brand is registered, the carrier registry assigns a vetting score that reflects how trusted your brand is. A higher score generally unlocks better messaging throughput. Voice records the score and classifies it:

You don't need to do anything to get a score — it's assigned automatically during brand registration. If your score is low, completing external (standard) vetting through the registry can raise it.

Step 2 — Register a Campaign

A campaign describes one messaging use case. Create a separate campaign for each distinct purpose (you can't mix marketing and account notifications under one campaign).

1. Go to 10DLC and create a new campaign under your registered brand.
2. Select a use case (e.g. customer care, 2FA, account notifications, appointment reminders, marketing).
3. Write a description of how you'll use messaging (up to 2,000 characters). Be specific and truthful.
4. Provide sample messages — at least one, up to ten — that represent the actual texts you'll send. Each sample can be up to 1,600 characters.
5. Optionally attach the phone numbers that will send under this campaign.
6. Submit.

Voice automatically attaches standard compliance language to your campaign: an opt-in description, a HELP reply, and a STOP/unsubscribe reply. These are required by the carriers.

Approval Timelines

Brand and campaign registration status typically updates within 1–5 business days, though it can be faster. While a registration is pending, its status shows as pending. Once both a brand and a campaign reach registered, SMS sending is enabled for your organization and messages sent through that campaign are far less likely to be filtered.

Common Rejection Reasons and Fixes

If a registration is rejected, the rejection reason is captured so you can correct the issue and submit a new brand or campaign.

Throughput and Throttling

Your messaging throughput — how many messages you can send per unit of time — depends on your brand's vetting score and your campaign's assigned tier. Higher-trust brands and campaigns get higher throughput. Newer or lower-scored brands start with more conservative limits.

In addition to your 10DLC throughput tier, outbound SMS is rate-limited per organization (see SMS Messaging). Broadcasts are dispatched automatically within these limits, so you don't have to throttle them yourself.

Compliance: Opt-In, Opt-Out, STOP and HELP

10DLC participation requires that you follow these rules, and the platform enforces the automatic parts for you:

• Opt-in — only message recipients who have consented. Your campaign description must explain how consent is collected.
• STOP — when a recipient replies STOP, they are automatically added to the opt-out list and future messages to them are blocked. This cannot be disabled.
• HELP — replying HELP triggers an automatic help response.

You can review the opt-out list and blocked numbers under Spam in the admin panel. Continuing to message someone after they opt out is a compliance violation and can jeopardize your registration.

FAQ

Do I need 10DLC for toll-free SMS? 10DLC applies to standard 10-digit local (long-code) numbers. Toll-free numbers follow a separate toll-free verification process. This article covers the 10DLC long-code path.

Can I send SMS before registration completes? No. Sending is enabled only once you have a registered brand and a registered campaign. Messages sent before that are likely to be filtered or blocked by carriers.

Can I have more than one campaign? Yes. Create one campaign per distinct use case under your brand. Mixing unrelated use cases in a single campaign causes rejections.

Where do I see my registration status? Go to 10DLC. The status view shows your overall state, how many brands and campaigns are registered, and whether SMS is enabled.

Related

• SMS Messaging
• Phone Numbers
• Number Porting