10DLC Registration Guide

What is 10DLC?

10DLC stands for 10-Digit Long Code. If your business sends texts to US phone numbers, this applies to you.

10DLC is the US registration system for A2P (Application-to-Person) SMS — messages sent by software to people, as opposed to two people texting each other.

For years, businesses could send SMS from regular 10-digit numbers with no registration required. Carriers (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile) couldn't tell a legitimate business from a bot farm, so in 2019 they built a gating system.

Registration now happens through TCR (The Campaign Registry), which acts as the central record-keeper for all 10DLC submissions. You tell TCR who you are and what you're sending. In return, your messages get treated as legitimate traffic by the carriers.

How the submission process works

Every 10DLC submission has two parts, reviewed very differently.

Brand verification

TCR verifies your business is real using the information you provide. This is algorithmic, fast, and mostly a lookup against existing business registration data.

Campaign approval

This covers the type of messages you're sending, who's receiving them, and sample examples. Unlike brand verification, this is manually reviewed by a human, which is where things get inconsistent. The same campaign description can pass or fail depending on who reviews it. Rejection error codes (805, 806, 851) give you a category of problem but not specific guidance on what to fix.

Applying through Sent

Most submissions come back approved within 1–3 business days.

If your submission is rejected, our compliance team reviews it and gives you specific steps for resubmission. All Sent customers — including those who haven't sent any messages yet — get compliance support throughout this process.

Choosing the right campaign type

Pick the use cases that reflect what you're actually sending. Don't try to game this — carriers flag mismatches between your registered use case and your actual messages.

If you have multiple use cases, a mixed-use campaign covers them all under one brand. For smaller senders, low-volume mixed offers the same flexibility with a cap of 2,000 messages per day — this is usually what we recommend for growing businesses and startups.

TCR fees

TCR charges pass-through fees for campaign registration. Sent waives the first 12 months of these fees.

What goes into a campaign submission

Campaign description

Keep this short: one or two sentences covering who's sending, what they're sending, and why.

Opt-in method

You need to document how you get consent from people before texting them. TCR calls this your message flow.

Opt-in form requirements

If your 10DLC keeps getting rejected, the form is usually why. Carriers are strict about explicit consent — missing even one element is enough to fail.

If you're using a web or paper form, it needs all of the following, clearly visible before the user hits submit (not buried in fine print):

• Program name — make it clear who is texting them and what the program is

• Message frequency — something concrete, like "Max 4 msgs/month," not just "frequency may vary"

• Cost warning — "Msg & data rates may apply"

• Opt-out info — "Reply STOP to opt out" or "Text STOP to cancel"

• Legal links — direct links to your Privacy Policy and Terms of Service

• Full disclaimer (or equivalent):

  You are opting in to receive [message types] from [Brand]. Msg and data rates may apply. Msg frequency may vary. Reply HELP for help or STOP to opt out. No mobile information will be sold or shared with third parties for promotional or marketing purposes.

• SMS consent is voluntary, distinct, and explicit — typically an unchecked optional checkbox

• The checkbox cannot be pre-checked

For marketing campaigns, the language should make clear the messages are promotional. For charity or political campaigns, note whether donations will be solicited.

Autoresponse requirements

Every 10DLC campaign needs three documented autoresponses. Each has required elements.

[Brand]: Welcome! Please reply HELP for help. Message frequency may vary.
Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out.

[Brand]: You have been unsubscribed and will not receive more messages.

[Brand]: Please contact us at [email / toll-free number / URL] for support.

Sample messages

For each use case you select, submit at least one sample message. Mixed and marketing use cases require two. Every sample must include the brand name and look like a real message.

You can update sample messages later. What you cannot do later is send messages that fall outside your registered use cases.

Agencies and resellers

If you're sending on behalf of clients, each business needs its own campaign registration. You can't bundle clients under a single campaign — TCR ties campaigns to the business actually responsible for the messages.

You can submit registrations manually for each client through the dashboard. If you're managing multiple brands, we recommend collecting the required information within your platform and submitting programmatically via the API. Reach out to support and our team can help you build this out.

Ready to register?

10DLC is regulatory overhead, but it's a one-time lift. If you get stuck at any point, email support@sent.dm — we read everything.