Messaging providers now block business texts sent from unregistered 10-digit numbers. This page lays out what The Campaign Registry asks for at each stage, how long each takes, and why reviewers send campaigns back. BestText files the registration for you; the steps below show what we need from you.
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10DLC registration is how a business gets its brand and messaging campaigns approved to send application-to-person texts from a standard 10-digit phone number. You register through a messaging provider, which submits your brand and each campaign to The Campaign Registry. Most brand checks finish in minutes (provider documentation); campaign review takes one to four weeks (The Campaign Registry, 2026).
If you are new to texting from a business number, start with the SMS marketing guide, then come back here for the registration mechanics.
Last reviewed: October 2026.
10DLC is the carrier-sanctioned standard for business (application-to-person) texting from an ordinary 10-digit phone number. Registration ties each sending number to a verified brand and a described campaign, so carriers know who is texting and why. Toll-free numbers and short codes are separate programs.
TCR is the central registry where messaging providers register their customers' brands and campaigns. Businesses cannot register with TCR directly; a registered messaging provider, called a CSP, files for them. BestText is its own CSP.
TCR's rule covers mass texting and marketing, and also businesses that send individual messages with no marketing in them. A two-person shop sending appointment reminders from a local number needs a registered brand and campaign.
Messaging providers block unregistered 10DLC traffic: one has fully blocked it since September 1, 2023, another since February 3, 2025 (provider documentation). Carriers can also suspend a brand, or every brand filed under one EIN.
Three of the four steps are paperwork our team files on your behalf. Your part is two forms in the BestText panel, one for the brand and one for the campaign. Here is what each stage checks and what to have ready.
The brand is your business as the federal government knows it: legal company name, country of registration, EIN, address, vertical and a contact. A website is optional but strongly recommended. The legal name and EIN must match the IRS filing; TCR names that mismatch as the number one reason a brand fails. In the panel you enter the same details plus the brand or DBA ("doing business as") name and legal form.
A standard vet is an optional check that returns a 0 to 100 score. The score decides your throughput tier with some carriers, and 75 or above earns the highest terms. If you plan to send at volume, ask about vetting on the demo.
A campaign is one use case (marketing, customer care, mixed). It needs a plain description, a message flow that explains how people opt in, sample messages, and the STOP and HELP keywords with their reply text. TCR takes up to five samples; marketing, mixed and sole-proprietor campaigns need at least two. Public URL shorteners are refused. The panel form adds an opt-in URL and attestations about consent, number pooling, lending, affiliate marketing, age-gated content and links.
Once the campaign is approved, our team attaches it to your account and assigns numbers to it, up to 49 per campaign on BestText. Each number is checked against the registered campaign before it can send; one not yet active is held back, and the panel asks you to wait about ten minutes. Then you launch.
Count on a few weeks end to end, most of it campaign review. Nobody can promise an approval date: TCR does not approve or reject campaigns, the provider and its upstream partners do, and some use cases also go to the carriers. Each range carries its source.
| Stage | Typical time | What slows it down | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand registration | Minutes for most brands; seven business days or more in manual review | Legal name and EIN that do not match the federal filing; a newly issued EIN, which can take 30 to 90 days to reach the verification databases | Provider documentation (secondary) |
| Brand identity appeal | Usually 5 to 7 business days | Needs an IRS letter | Provider documentation (secondary) |
| Campaign review | 1 to 4 weeks | Unclear description, missing opt-in details, samples that do not match the use case, a public URL shortener in a sample | The Campaign Registry, 2026 introduction guide |
| Number activation after approval | A short hold; the panel asks you to wait about ten minutes | Assigning numbers before the campaign shows as registered upstream | BestText panel |
Content rejections cannot be fixed by resubmitting. For the other published reasons, here is what to change before the campaign goes back.
The number one brand failure, per TCR. Use the legal name exactly as it appears on your IRS paperwork, suffix included; each resubmission carries a fee. A new EIN can take 30 to 90 days to reach the verification databases, so register early or appeal with your IRS letter.
The message-flow field has to say how a person opts in and list every method: web form, keyword, point of sale, inbound reply. Quote the consent language the subscriber sees (program, sender, frequency, STOP and HELP, "message and data rates may apply") and link the page it lives on. For what the law requires before you text, see is it legal to text customers without consent.
Reviewers compare the samples to the description and the use case. Write them the way you will actually send: brand name up front, the real offer or notice, and opt-out language. What you register is what you should send.
Terms and invalid-website rejections share one gap. The brand record points at a site that is missing, does not say who owns it, or has no privacy policy and terms linked from the opt-in. Put both on the site, link them from the sign-up, and show how to reach you, postal address included.
Sex, hate, alcohol, firearms and tobacco (SHAFT) plus marijuana are rejected on content grounds, and resubmitting does not fix it; the program has to change. Carrier codes add categories such as cannabis and gambling, and require a date-of-birth age gate at opt-in for age-restricted content; a yes/no question is not accepted. These are carrier and industry rules rather than law, and they apply after approval too.
TCR's form refuses public shorteners such as bit.ly and tinyurl, and carrier codes say messages carrying them may be blocked, in live traffic too. Use your full domain or a branded short domain on a web address and IP dedicated to you, with a landing page that identifies your business.
TCR says the description must be a clear, detailed outline of exactly what the campaign is for, and that lack of clarity gets campaigns rejected. Say who sends, to whom, about what and how often. Then check that the website, brand name and vertical on the brand record match the samples and the opt-in page.
Your vetting score sets how fast and how much you can send with two of the three big carriers. The campaign record you filed is what they hold you to. Limits are from TCR's July 2026 CSP guide; carriers can change them.
BestText is its own CSP and a TCR-registered provider. We register your brand and campaigns directly with The Campaign Registry, navigate the carrier rules, and attach the approved campaign to your numbers.
The brand and campaign forms in the panel collect what TCR asks for, attestations included. Submitting notifies our team, who register the brand and campaign and attach the campaign ID to your account.
Payment collections, insurance and financial services are on our site because we onboard them, with compliance guardrails built in. If your vertical was turned away elsewhere, bring the use case to the demo and we will tell you what the campaign record needs to say.
Messages rotate across your campaign's numbers, weighted toward the ones with carrier capacity left, and each number is checked against its registered campaign before it sends. Your sending speed is a limit our team sets; campaigns also respect each carrier's daily cap.
This page is educational information about 10DLC registration and carrier messaging rules, not legal advice. Registry rules, carrier policies and fees change, and how they apply depends on your business; consult a qualified telecommunications attorney before launching campaigns, especially in regulated verticals.
Sources: The Campaign Registry, CSP User Guide, July 2026, 10DLC introduction 2026, and its Resources and About pages; CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices, May 2023 and Short Code Monitoring Handbook v1.8 (mirror); T-Mobile Code of Conduct v2.2, November 2020 (mirror); and messaging-provider documentation (secondary; brand timelines, rejection categories, fines, blocking dates).
Register a brand that matches your IRS filing (legal name and EIN). Then register a campaign with a clear description, a message flow listing every opt-in method, at least two realistic sample messages for marketing, STOP and HELP replies, and no public link shorteners. On BestText you fill in the brand and campaign forms and our team files them with The Campaign Registry.
It means a business brand has been verified with The Campaign Registry and at least one campaign under that brand has been approved. The 10-digit numbers attached to that campaign can then send application-to-person texts at registered throughput. Messaging providers block unregistered 10DLC traffic (provider documentation).
Most brand registrations finish within minutes, though a manual review can take seven business days or more. Campaign review takes one to four weeks, according to The Campaign Registry (2026). Plan for a few weeks end to end, longer if a resubmission is needed. The timeline table lists each stage with its source.
Yes, for any business texting from a standard 10-digit number in the US, including businesses that send individual, non-marketing messages. The Campaign Registry's own guidance says so, and messaging providers block unregistered 10DLC traffic. Toll-free and short-code programs have their own rules; 10DLC registration covers ordinary 10-digit numbers.
The usual reasons: the legal name and EIN do not match the federal filing, the opt-in process is missing or vague, or the samples do not fit the use case. Others: the website or terms cannot be found, the content is prohibited, or a sample contains a public URL shortener. Content rejections cannot be fixed by resubmitting; for the others, make the fixes above before you resubmit.
Verification is the brand stage: The Campaign Registry checks the legal company name, EIN and details against the federal filing and marks the brand verified. An optional standard vet then scores the brand from 0 to 100; 75 or above earns the highest throughput terms with the carriers that use the score. Campaign approval is a separate, later review.
Yes. The sole-proprietor brand type is for US and Canadian individuals and small businesses with no EIN. It allows one campaign, one number, 1,000 messages a day at T-Mobile and 15 a minute at AT&T, after a one-time passcode check on a real mobile number (VoIP numbers fail). Volume senders should register a business brand with an EIN.
Book a free 30-minute demo. We will map your use case to the right campaign type and list exactly what we need from you to file it. No signup required.