Insight

10DLC Registration & Regulations: Your Complete Guide

Business texting is becoming increasingly popular, so mobile carriers have created a new registration process for businesses using 10DLC for A2P messaging—but don’t panic!

We’ll walk you through exactly what those terms mean, how they apply to your business text messaging, and where you can complete your registration.

What is 10DLC?

10DLC stands for 10-digit long code number. It’s a standard phone number, like 423-218-0111. You most likely already use a 10DLC to text your customers—unless you use a short code or toll-free number instead.

Your business landline, or VOIP number, is a 10DLC. So if you want to use your existing business lines for texting, which we can help you do, then everything in this guide applies to you.

What’s the difference between short code and 10DLC?

Short code is a four-, five- or six-digit telephone number for two-way messaging. They’re usually incredibly expensive—unlike their 10DLC counterparts—so in the past businesses typically shared them.

They’re also typically used for automations, and all messaging is based on keyword subscriptions. Since most short code numbers are shared across multiple businesses to cut down on costs, there are also complications with which contacts are subscribed to which keywords from which brands.

This created bad experiences across the board, so mobile carriers are doing away with shared short code numbers. Below we’ll cover how to register your 10DLC, whether you already have one or you’re switching from short code.

What is A2P?

A2P stands for application-to-person texting. It basically means you’re using an SMS provider, like Text Request, to send and receive messages.

A2P used to only be applied to automated messaging, but now it’s becoming closer to person-to-person conversations as more customers respond to business text messages with questions or comments using 10DLC. That leads us to why carriers like AT&T and T-mobile are stepping in to document those use cases.

Why are carriers implementing 10DLC regulations?

Carriers want to prevent spammers from taking advantage of 10DLC, by having you verify the A2P use cases you’re texting for. It’s all intended to keep text messaging a quality channel your customers, and you, enjoy using.

What are 10DLC regulations and how do they affect your business?

To comply with carriers, you need to register your organization (brand) and the use cases (campaigns) you text for. Otherwise your messages will begin to be filtered—and thus not delivered to customers.

As part of your brand registration, you’ll include whether or not you’re a sole proprietor, private, public traded, or non-profit, plus the industry you work in. This gives carriers a way to verify your identifying information and confirm you aren’t a spammer.

T-Mobile and AT&T will increase per-message fees for unregistered 10DLC A2P messaging on March 1st—so you need to be registered before then. We’re actively working to help you do this, so you can avoid unnecessary fees. Read on to find out how.

What impact will 10DLC brand registration have on your texting?

10DLC registration will give your messages higher throughput. That means more messages delivered faster. Which is a good thing for you and your customers.

It’s the carriers’ way of making sure SMS stays a healthy communication channel, as more and more businesses, like you, start texting customers. Registering 10DLC numbers decreases spammers and increases deliverability—all of which gives your own messages more credibility with customers in the long run.

What all goes into 10DLC registration?

When you register your 10DLC you’ll also need to document:

Your company’s legal name
Your company’s country of registration
The type of your organization (private, publicly traded, nonprofit)
Your company’s tax number/ID/EIN
Your business’s website
Descriptions of each campaign you text for
Sample messages for each campaign you text for

That may sound like a lot of information, but we’re going to gather all of this information for you in a form, and send it to The Campaign Registry. It’s minimal work for you, and it will go a long way towards your texting success.

What is The Campaign Registry?

The Campaign Registry is a central hub for registering A2P 10DLC messaging campaigns. They verify your business, so your messages don’t get filtered by carriers. They are a conduit between your business and mobile carriers, and we work closely with them to represent your business for you and get your texts delivered.

How is Text Request handling 10DLC registration?

When you log in to your Text Request account, we have an automatic notice that directs you to start the registration process. We gather all the information for you in a form and send it to The Campaign Registry on your behalf.

Once you complete the registration form, you should experience no down time—as long as you haven’t been sending messages that get marked as spam.

How do you keep your texts from being marked as spam?

We have a detailed article dedicated to helping you write professional text messages that don’t get marked as spam.

But the basics when sending the same text to multiple people are:

Don’t send mass messages that include shortened URLs
Never end a message with a link
Avoid sending naked links (that means include the “https://”)
Don’t include ALL CAPS anywhere in your message
Limit using special characters except where necessary (especially $ signs or emojis)
Don’t send the same exact message to large groups over and over again
Avoid sending texts the size of emails
Make sure your messages sound like an actual human wrote them and are free of spelling or grammatical errors

When sent to lots of people, each of these are viewed as red flags. One or two might not hurt you, but several will make you stand out to mobile carriers and could keep your texts from being delivered.

Our Spam Scanner will help you avoid these common mistakes when sending a mass text message. It automatically alerts you if it spots any of the things mentioned above.

What steps do you need to take next?

With new 10DLC registration and regulations, mobile carriers have also implemented new fees. Registration fees will be pass-through costs, and instead of charging you for multiple complicated line items that will fluctuate month to month, we’ll pass on a simple flat fee based on your Text Request plan.

If you were already using Text Request before January 31st, there will be a line item on your invoice for 10DLC carrier fees. If you’re a new user, the fees will be included in your base plan cost.

Have a custom plan or general questions?

Contact support@textrequest.com to learn about carrier fees for your specific account.