10DLC, or 10-digit long code, is a messaging solution that allows businesses to send a high-volume of SMS from a local number. When you see “10DLC,” think of a local number with an area code that matches the business or organization’s location.
Before 10DLC, 10-digit numbers were only sanctioned for P2P (person-to-person) messaging. Now, businesses can access a much higher throughput rate. In other words, more messages per minute can be sent on local numbers than on traditional 10-digit numbers. More importantly, 10DLC is an A2P messaging channel in which Brands and Campaign Service Providers (CSPs) are verified prior to being allowed to send messages.
It is sometimes referred to as “local A2P messaging” because cell carriers have approved A2P (application-to-person) messaging on 10DLC.
As your messaging solution provider, we employ 10DLC phone numbers to send and receive text messages between you and your patients.
If your business uses SMS to connect with customers (which it should!), you’ve probably heard something about The Campaign Registry.
The Campaign Registry was created following legislation passed to regulate the telecommunication industries, including SMS services. The laws were meant to regulate robocalls, spam texts, and to make opt-outs for messaging an industry standard. The FCC then followed suit by instituting new rules, all with the end goal of making SMS messaging more secure and more trustworthy. To do this, a new entity was created to manage the use of 10-digit-long-code, also called 10DLC, phone numbers for application-to-person, or A2P, messages including bulk text messages.
Ultimately, this will benefit both those on the receiving end and those sending messages and hopefully reduce the amount of SPAM in telecoms. To create this more secure and trustworthy communication, the Mobile Network Operators, called MNOs, joined together to form The Campaign Registry. The MNOs are carriers, like AT&T or T-Mobile, the networks where messages are sent and who they’re delivered by. We’re going to refer to them as carriers throughout this piece to make it easier to understand. Just know that a carrier might also be called an MNO.
This registry will serve as the record of who is using those networks and what they’re using them for. By joining together, the carriers hope to consolidate their users into the singular registry to help enact better compliance with those laws and new rules that were passed in 2019 and 2020.
Registering with The Campaign Registry is important for a few reasons, not to mention it’s required by The Campaign Registry, which was created by the carriers. But registering is also just good for your business. It can help you message customers more efficiently and lower the frequency with which your messages are undelivered or flagged. That’s due to the fact that registered numbers aren’t monitored with the same level of scrutiny as unregistered numbers are. All thanks to the fact that they already know what you’re texting and why (e.g. common appointment reminder messages to patients) due to your registration.
Being registered with The Campaign Registry will also increase the trust and security around your messaging. Since the goal is to eliminate spam and fraud, if your messages aren’t eliminated, it helps legitimize your reasons for contacting customers. This gives them the confidence that you aren’t fraud, spam, or robotexting.
Registering will help improve the deliverability of your messages because those messages will be less likely to be flagged or blocked by the carriers. Since the legislation to regulate mobile communication was passed, the carriers have increased their filtering of potential violations like spam or fraud. What you’re messaging and why you’re messaging will already be on record and therefore less likely to be flagged and blocked.
The reasons to register aren’t only because it will benefit your business, but there are also some real-life penalties for not registering with The Campaign Registry.
This section has more to do with how you’re using your 10DLC for messaging people. This use case section is important to verify the actual content of the messages you’re sending. TCR will refer to this section as the campaign. The common use cases include Appointment Reminder, Recall, Review Request messages or mixed use cases (generic messages). As your messaging solution provider, we will use pre-existing templates to submit this section on your behalf.
This means your business or company. In this part of the registration, you’ll essentially tell The Campaign Registry what type of business you have or who is sending the messages. You’ll want to have information on hand that pertains to your business. These might include but aren’t limited to:
This is all to ensure that you’re an actual business texting people for a real reason and not abusing a 10DLC by sending fraudulent messages or messages that fall into prohibited categories. By providing all of this information when registering, you’re verifying the legitimacy of your business.
Yes. However, businesses will be subject to carrier penalties and fines. Our customers who choose not to register with The Campaign Registry will be charged a higher monthly service fee for their unregistered phone number.
If carriers change their requirements, though, we reserve the right to no longer allow unregistered businesses on our platform.
According to The Campaign Registry, standard use case campaigns, which is the majority of our customers, can be approved immediately after being submitted, but others might take a bit longer. Generally, it should take about three to five days for approval after the registration is submitted.
Here are some terms to keep in mind while reading about The Campaign Registry.