A2P 10DLC for Contractors: How to Register Business Texting

If your company texts homeowners from a regular 10-digit business number — appointment confirmations, missed-call replies, estimate follow-ups — that's "application-to-person" (A2P) messaging. U.S. mobile carriers require businesses to register this traffic. Unregistered messages may be filtered, blocked, or charged higher fees, which means confirmations that never arrive and no-shows you can't explain.

This is general information. Your texting provider can confirm current requirements and fees.

What A2P 10DLC means

• A2P — application-to-person: messages sent by a business system rather than a person's personal phone.
• 10DLC — 10-digit long code: a standard local phone number, as opposed to short codes or toll-free numbers.

Registration happens through The Campaign Registry, usually via your texting provider or CRM.

The two parts of registration

Brand registration

Information about your business: legal name, tax ID (EIN), address, website, and contact details. Very small businesses without an EIN may have a sole-proprietor option with limits.

Campaign registration

What you're texting about and how people opt in:

• Use case — for contractors, often customer care, account notifications, or mixed
• Description of the messages you'll send
• Sample messages that match what you'll actually send
• Opt-in description — how homeowners agree to receive texts
• Opt-out and help handling — STOP and HELP keywords

Fees and approval times vary by provider.

Common rejection reasons

• Website problems — no privacy policy, broken site, or business name not matching
• Vague opt-in description — "customers opt in" isn't enough; explain the form or process
• Samples that don't match the use case
• Missing opt-out language in samples
• Public link shorteners in sample messages
• Restricted content categories

Make your website support registration

Your privacy policy should explain how you use mobile numbers and state that you don't share mobile opt-in information with third parties for marketing. Web forms that collect phone numbers should include clear consent language for texts, with message frequency and "reply STOP to opt out" details.

Opt-in and consent

Carrier rules require opt-in for business texting, and marketing texts can also trigger consent requirements under federal and state law. Keep records of how and when each homeowner agreed to receive texts. See TCPA compliance for contractors.

After registration

• Keep messages consistent with your registered campaign.
• Honor STOP immediately.
• Identify your business in messages.
• Watch delivery rates; sudden drops can signal filtering.

Registered texting makes confirmation sequences reliable — see confirmation text templates — and enables missed call text back.

Sample opt-in language for a web form

Place this next to an unchecked checkbox near the phone number field, and adapt it with your attorney:

By checking this box, I agree to receive text messages from [Company] about my request, estimates, and appointments. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out or HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase.

Link your privacy policy and terms nearby.

Sample messages for a customer care campaign

• Confirmation: "Hi [name], this is [Company]. Your estimate is booked for [day] at [time] with [rep]. Reply C to confirm or R to reschedule. Reply STOP to opt out."
• Reminder: "Reminder from [Company]: [rep] will see you tomorrow at [time]. Reply R if you need a new time."
• Follow-up: "Hi [name], it's [rep] from [Company]. Any questions about your proposal? Happy to help by text or phone."

Submit samples that match what you'll actually send — mismatched samples are a common reason campaigns get rejected.