The 10DLC compliance guide
Everything about getting approved to text your customers in the US: what the carriers require, how long it takes, why messages get filtered, and how to pass review the first time.
Why registration exists
US carriers built the 10DLC system to separate legitimate business messaging from spam. Every business that texts customers from a regular phone number must register two things: a brand (who you are) and a campaign (what you send). Both go through The Campaign Registry and are reviewed before your traffic is trusted.
The system works, which is exactly why it's unforgiving: unregistered or mismatched traffic is filtered silently. Your software says the message sent. Your customer never sees it. Most businesses discover this weeks in, after wondering why nobody replies.
The approval pipeline
- 1
Brand registration
Your legal identity is verified against public records. 1–3 business days.
- 2
Campaign registration
Your use case, sample messages, and opt-in flow are reviewed. 1–2 weeks, carrier-controlled.
- 3
Number assignment
Only after both approvals does a number carry trusted business traffic.
Frequently asked questions
What is 10DLC?
10DLC stands for 10-digit long code — a regular US phone number registered for business (application-to-person) messaging. Since carriers rolled out the system in 2021, any business texting customers from a normal phone number must register through it or face message filtering and fees.
What is a brand in 10DLC registration?
Your verified business identity with The Campaign Registry (TCR): legal name, EIN, address, and an authorized representative. The registry checks this against public records, which is why the legal name must match your EIN registration exactly — mismatches are the most common cause of brand rejection.
What is a campaign?
The approved description of what you send and how people opt in: your use case, sample messages, and opt-in flow. Carriers review it against your actual traffic — if you register customer-care messages and send marketing blasts, you get filtered or suspended.
How long does 10DLC approval take?
Brand review typically takes 1–3 business days. Campaign review is slower — usually 1–2 weeks, and it's carrier-controlled, so no provider can honestly promise faster.
Why do business text messages get filtered?
The usual causes: sending from an unregistered number, content that doesn't match the registered campaign, missing opt-out language, link shorteners like bit.ly, or prohibited (SHAFT) content. Filtering is silent — messages look sent from your side but never arrive.
Can I just use a normal phone number without registering?
You can try, and it works right up until it doesn't. Unregistered business traffic is progressively filtered and can get the number blocked entirely. Registration is not optional for any business texting at meaningful volume in the US.
What are the most common rejection reasons?
Vague campaign descriptions, sample messages that don't match the stated use case, opt-in flows that don't clearly show consent, business name mismatches against the EIN record, and websites that don't exist or don't mention the business. All of them are fixable — the fix-and-resubmit loop is normal, not a failure.
Or skip all of this and let us handle it
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