10DLC registration
Register your business brand and SMS campaigns with US carriers so your texts are delivered, then use the approved campaigns when you send.
What 10DLC is and why carriers require it, adding a brand, verifying a sole proprietor phone, requesting vetting, the four steps of registering a campaign, checking status, fixing a rejected campaign, and importing an existing registration.
10DLC (10-digit long code) is the US carrier system for business texting from regular 10-digit phone numbers. Before carriers deliver your texts, you register two things:
- A brand: your business, with its legal details.
- One or more campaigns: what kind of messages you send, with sample messages and how people opt in and out.
Once a campaign is approved, you can buy texting numbers and send SMS campaigns using its approved messages. Carriers, not Bigly, approve or reject registrations, and their review can take some time.
SMS › 10DLC with the Brands and Campaigns tabs, the Add Brand, Register New Campaign and Import from provider buttons, and a campaigns table with Campaign Name, Status, Category, Description and Actions.
Before you start
Have these ready:
- Your company's legal name, address, website and business phone.
- Your EIN (US tax ID), unless you're a sole proprietor. Public companies also need their stock symbol and exchange.
- A contact person's name, email and mobile number.
- A privacy policy and terms page on your website, and a clear description of how people agree to get your texts.
Add your brand
- Go to SMS › 10DLC and open the Brands tab.
- Click Add Brand.
- Choose the Registration provider, if you're offered more than one.
- Choose the Entity Type: Sole Proprietor, Private Company, Public Company, Non-Profit or Government.
- Fill in the company details: Company Name, Display Name, Business Phone, Email, the address, Country, Vertical and Website.
- Fill in the contact person: First Name, Last Name and Mobile Phone.
- Enter the EIN and EIN Issuing Country, and for public companies the Stock Symbol and Stock Exchange.
- Click Create Brand.
- In the brands table, click Submit to send the brand for registration.
The table shows the brand's status, Identity status and Vetting status. Click Fetch Status to get the latest status.
Sole proprietors: verify your phone
Sole proprietor brands must confirm the mobile number on the brand.
- Click Verify Phone on the brand.
- Click Send Verification Code. A 6-digit code is texted to the mobile number.
- Enter the code and click Verify Code. You'll see Phone Verified! when it's done.
Vetting
Brands that aren't sole proprietors can register Low Volume Mixed campaigns straight away. Other campaign types, such as Marketing, need the brand to be vetted first.
- Wait until the brand's identity is verified.
- Click Request Vetting and choose a vetting provider.
- Use Refresh Vetting to check the result. A vetting score appears when it's done.
Register a campaign
- Open the Campaigns tab and click Register New Campaign.
- Work through the four steps, clicking Continue after each.
- Campaign Type: enter a Campaign Name, choose your 10DLC Brand, and pick the category that matches your messages: Marketing, Customer Care, Notifications, Low Volume Mixed or Security Alerts. Bigly checks whether your brand qualifies for that type.
- Campaign Description: describe, clearly and honestly, what you'll send (at least 40 characters). Tick Messages contain links (URLs) or Messages contain phone numbers if they do.
- Sample Messages: add at least two examples of real messages (at least 20 characters each). Click Add New Message for more, and use Insert Variables for personal details such as first names.
- Compliance Details: fill in your opt-in, opt-out and help keywords and the automatic replies for each, your Opt-in Process, Consent Method and Message Frequency Type, and your Privacy Policy URL and Terms & Conditions URL. Tick the boxes that apply, such as Pricing Disclosure and Carrier Disclaimer, and I agree to the Terms & Conditions.
- Click Submit for approval.
If you saved a campaign without submitting it, click Submit for approval on its row in the campaigns table.
The Register 10DLC SMS Campaign wizard on the Compliance Details step, with opt-in keywords START, YES, opt-out keywords STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, help keywords HELP, INFO, the Consent Method set to Online Form and the privacy and terms URL fields.
Carriers reject vague descriptions, sample messages that don't match the category, and missing opt-out wording. Make your samples look like the texts you'll really send, include your business name, and add Reply STOP to unsubscribe.
Check status and fix rejections
Click Fetch Status on a campaign to get the latest status. Common statuses:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| pending / pending review / carriers review | Waiting for review. |
| active | Approved. You can use it to buy numbers and send. |
| updates required / rejected | Not approved. Click Edit & Resubmit, fix what was flagged, and click Save & Resubmit. |
| suspended, canceled, expired | No longer usable. Contact support. |
You can't edit a submitted campaign while it's under review or after it's approved. For brands and campaigns that are already registered, edits are saved in Bigly only and aren't sent to the carriers, except when you use Edit & Resubmit.
Already registered somewhere else?
If your brand or campaign is already registered with your provider, click Import from provider instead of registering again. Import works for some providers only; the screen tells you if yours isn't supported.