The Complete 10DLC Registration Guide for 2026

Your SMS messages are getting filtered. Maybe they are being outright blocked. You submitted your 10DLC campaign three weeks ago and it is still sitting in a pending state with no explanation. Meanwhile, your customers are not getting the appointment reminders, order confirmations, or verification codes they need.

This is the reality for thousands of businesses navigating A2P 10DLC registration in 2026. The system was designed to stop spam and protect consumers, which is a good thing. But the registration process itself is riddled with vague requirements, inconsistent carrier enforcement, and approval timelines that can stretch for weeks.

This guide walks through every step of the 10DLC registration process, explains the most common reasons for rejection, and gives you specific fixes for each one.

What Is 10DLC and Why Does It Exist?

10DLC stands for 10-Digit Long Code. It refers to the standard local phone numbers that businesses use to send Application-to-Person (A2P) SMS and MMS messages in the United States.

Before 10DLC regulations, anyone could send bulk messages from local numbers without verification. Spammers exploited this aggressively, which eroded consumer trust in business text messaging. By 2021, US carriers, led by T-Mobile and AT&T, began requiring all businesses sending A2P messages from local numbers to register through a centralized system.

The Campaign Registry, or TCR, is the organization that manages this registration. Every business that sends SMS or MMS from a 10-digit local number in the US must register a Brand and at least one Campaign through TCR, via their messaging provider.

If you do not register, your messages will be filtered, throttled, or blocked entirely. Carriers also charge additional surcharges for unregistered traffic, making it more expensive to send messages without proper registration than with it.

Step 1: Register Your Brand with TCR

Your Brand is your business identity within the TCR system. This is where you provide your company details so carriers can verify that you are a legitimate sender.

You will need the following information ready before starting:

Your legal business name, exactly as registered with the IRS or your state.

Your EIN (Employer Identification Number) or DUNS number.

Your business address, phone number, and website.

Your vertical or industry category.

A contact person with an email address at your business domain, not a Gmail or Yahoo address.

Common Brand Registration Mistakes: Using a DBA name instead of your legal entity name. Providing a personal email instead of a company domain email. Mismatched information between your EIN records and what you submit. Any mismatch between your registration details and publicly available business records can trigger a rejection or a lower trust score.

Step 2: Understand Your Trust Score

After your Brand is registered, TCR assigns a Trust Score based on your business details and third-party data verification. This score determines your messaging throughput, meaning how many messages you can send per second.

If your Trust Score is lower than expected, you can request a manual vetting process for an additional fee, typically around $40. Manual vetting uses enhanced verification checks and can significantly increase your score and throughput limits.

Step 3: Create Your Campaign

A Campaign in the TCR system describes a specific use case for your messaging. Each campaign must include:

A clear description of what messages you will send and why.

Sample messages that represent your actual content.

Your opt-in method, explaining exactly how customers agree to receive your messages.

Your opt-out mechanism, typically STOP keyword handling.

A HELP response that tells customers how to get assistance.

A link to your privacy policy and terms of service.

Campaign Use Case Types: TCR categorizes campaigns by use case. Common categories include marketing, customer care, delivery notifications, account notifications, two-factor authentication, and mixed. Choosing the right category matters because carriers apply different filtering rules to different use case types.

Step 4: Write Sample Messages That Get Approved

This is where most rejections happen. Your sample messages need to clearly match the use case you selected, and they must demonstrate compliant messaging practices.

Good sample messages include your business name, a clear purpose, and opt-out language. For example:

[YourBrand] Your appointment is confirmed for Tuesday at 2:00 PM. Reply STOP to unsubscribe.

[YourBrand] Your order #12345 has shipped and will arrive by Friday. Track it here: [link]. Reply STOP to opt out.

Bad sample messages are vague, missing business identification, or look promotional when your use case says transactional. Reviewers flag messages that do not match the stated campaign purpose.

Step 5: Document Your Opt-In Process

Carriers are strict about consent. Your campaign must explain exactly how customers opt in to receive your messages. Acceptable opt-in methods include:

A web form where customers check a box to receive SMS communications, with clear disclosure language.

A keyword opt-in where customers text a specific word to your number.

A paper form or in-person consent with documented records.

An existing business relationship with documented consent records.

Your opt-in disclosure must be specific. It needs to mention SMS or text messaging by name, identify your business, describe the types of messages customers will receive, state the message frequency, and note that message and data rates may apply.

Common 10DLC Rejection Reasons and How to Fix Them

How Long Does 10DLC Approval Take?

Approval timelines vary based on your messaging provider, your use case, and current review volumes. In general:

Brand registration typically takes 24 to 48 hours for standard processing.

Campaign review takes 3 to 15 business days depending on the provider and carrier workload. Some providers report review periods of 10 to 15 days during high-volume periods.

Manual vetting, if requested, adds another 5 to 7 business days.

Some messaging providers, including Signalmash, offer hands-on support through the entire registration process. Instead of submitting your information into a dashboard and waiting for a generic approval or rejection email, you work with a real person who reviews your campaign details before submission and helps you fix issues before they become rejections.

What Happens After Approval?

Once your Brand and Campaign are approved, you need to associate your 10DLC phone numbers with the approved campaign. Only numbers linked to an approved campaign will send messages at your full throughput allocation.

Numbers that are not associated with an approved campaign will either be blocked or will incur additional carrier surcharges for unregistered traffic. Both T-Mobile and AT&T charge fees for messages sent from unregistered numbers, and those fees add up quickly.

Keep your campaign details up to date. If your messaging use case changes significantly, you may need to submit a new campaign or update your existing one. Carriers periodically audit registered campaigns, and mismatches between your registered use case and actual messaging patterns can result in suspension.

Why Your Messaging Provider Matters for 10DLC

The 10DLC registration process looks the same on paper regardless of which CPaaS provider you use. In practice, the experience varies wildly.

Some providers give you a self-serve dashboard and leave you to figure out the details on your own. When your campaign gets rejected with a generic error message, you are on your own to guess what needs to change.

Signalmash takes a different approach. Their team reviews your Brand and Campaign details before submission, catches common issues that trigger rejections, and works with you to get campaigns approved on the first attempt. Customers consistently report that the process feels hands-on rather than self-serve, and approval timelines are shorter because submissions are cleaner from the start.

If you are struggling with 10DLC registration or just want to get it right the first time, Signalmash offers a white-glove approach that treats compliance as a partnership, not a product feature.

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