What Is 10DLC and Does My Business Need to Register?

If you have tried to set up business texting in 2026 and run into registration requirements, fees, or your messages getting blocked — you have run into 10DLC. It is one of the most confusing new regulations in business communications and most small business owners have no idea it exists until it affects them.

10DLC stands for 10-Digit Long Code. It refers to standard 10-digit phone numbers — the same format as a regular business or personal phone number — used to send Application-to-Person (A2P) text messages. A2P texting means business-initiated texts sent to customers — appointment reminders, marketing messages, order confirmations, follow-ups. Not personal texts between two people.

The FCC and major carriers (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile) now require businesses to register their 10-digit numbers through a system called The Campaign Registry (TCR) before those numbers can be used for A2P texting. Unregistered business texts get filtered or blocked entirely.

Spam text messages became a massive problem. Carriers implemented 10DLC registration to verify that businesses sending texts are legitimate — and to give them a way to filter out spammers while letting verified business messages through. The result: registered business texts have high deliverability. Unregistered texts — even from legitimate businesses — get blocked.

If your business sends any of the following by text you need 10DLC registration: appointment reminders, marketing promotions, customer follow-ups, order or service confirmations, or any automated or bulk text messages. If you only make and receive phone calls and never text customers — you do not need 10DLC registration.

Registration happens in two steps. Brand registration — you register your business with The Campaign Registry. This verifies your business identity. One-time fee, typically $4-8. Campaign registration — you register the specific use case for your texts (marketing, customer care, appointment reminders, etc.). Monthly fee per campaign, typically $10-15/month. Your VoIP provider typically handles the registration process on your behalf.

If you do not register, your texts get filtered or blocked by major carriers. Your customers do not receive your messages. You do not get an error — the messages just disappear. This is already happening to thousands of small businesses who do not know they need to register.

Brand registration is typically same-day. Campaign approval can take 1-5 business days. There is no penalty for late registration, but every day you are unregistered is a day your messages are not getting through.

DiaVoice supports business texting with 10DLC compliance. Contact us at (256) 724-3100 to discuss your texting use case and registration requirements.