10DLC registration, done for you.
Service summary
If your company sends SMS to the United States from a normal +1 number, the carriers require that number to be registered under 10DLC — your brand and each use case. Unregistered traffic gets filtered, throttled or blocked, usually without telling you why. We do the registration, keep it valid and send the traffic.
How the registration runs
Brand registration is usually same-day. Campaign vetting takes business days, and some use cases take longer because they get a manual review.
What 10DLC actually changes.
It is not paperwork for its own sake: it decides whether your messages arrive.
Delivery
Registered traffic is delivered at the throughput your campaign was approved for. Unregistered traffic is filtered by the carrier, and the error it returns rarely explains why.
Throughput
How many messages per second you may send depends on your brand score and campaign type. If you plan a mass send, this is the number that decides whether it takes minutes or hours.
Consent
The registry and the carriers expect you to hold proof that each recipient opted in, and that STOP and HELP work. We keep that evidence logged, not promised.
Your brand, not ours
The brand is registered under your company, with your tax ID and website. If you ever change provider, the registration follows your business.
What it costs
Three layers, and only the first two are fixed. We quote the total against your real volume before you commit.
- Brand registration: a one-off fee charged by the registry per company.
- Campaign: a monthly fee per use case, which varies by campaign type — an alerts campaign does not cost the same as a marketing one.
- Carrier fees per message: charged on top of the message price, and set by each carrier, not by us.
- Your numbers and traffic: the long codes you keep and the messages you actually send, billed by TelHarbor.
What TelHarbor does
The registration is the visible part; what matters afterwards is that it stays valid.
- We file the brand and the campaigns with your legal details and your use cases, and follow the vetting until it is approved.
- We fix rejections. Most are wording: a sample message that does not match the declared use case, or an opt-in that cannot be shown.
- We attach your numbers to the right campaign, including numbers you port in.
- We keep the consent trail: who opted in, when, from which page, with the exact text they accepted.
- STOP and HELP are handled automatically, and an opt-out is honoured across your numbers.
- We watch delivery. If a carrier starts filtering, you hear it from us and not from a customer who never got the code.
- Toll-free as an alternative: for some use cases a verified toll-free number is faster and cheaper than 10DLC. We will say so.
Does your SIP trunk provider handle the 10DLC too?
Most do not, and that is where the traffic stops: voice comes from one provider and the SMS from another, so nobody owns the registration.
- Voice and SMS on the same numbers. The US long codes on your SIP trunk are the same ones we register for messaging, so a customer can call back the number that texted them.
- One provider, one registration. We file your brand and your campaigns, attach your numbers and keep them attached when you add or port more.
- Numbers you already own. US numbers port in, and the campaign follows them.
- Toll-free where it fits better. Toll-free numbers use their own verification, not 10DLC, and for some use cases they clear faster.
Which use case is yours
The registry does not register a company, it registers what you send. Picking the use case wrongly is the most common reason a campaign is rejected or throttled, so here is where the usual businesses land.
- Internet providers, telecom and utilities: outage and maintenance notices, installation windows and billing reminders. Usually account notification plus customer care — and when both go out on the same number, a mixed campaign.
- Banks, finance and insurance: one-time codes and account alerts. These get the closest look from the registry, and the opt-in has to be demonstrable, not described.
- Security and monitoring companies: alarm and event notices, which belong in a security-alert campaign rather than a generic one.
- Contractors, trades and field service: appointment confirmations and the «technician on the way» message. Customer care, with consent captured when the job is booked.
- Hotels, restaurants and venues: booking confirmations and reminders are customer care; offers and promotions need their own marketing campaign, they cannot ride along.
- Logistics and 3PL: pickup, delivery and exception notices — a delivery-notification campaign.
- B2B: writing to businesses does not exempt you. The traffic still registers, and consent is still the part that gets checked.
- What the registry will not take: lending and debt collection are restricted, and there is no campaign for gambling, cannabis, firearms, alcohol to minors or adult content. We say so before you pay the brand fee, not after.
Sending to the United States and not sure if you are registered?
Tell us your numbers and what you send; we check the status and quote the registration.
Frequently asked questions about 10DLC
What is 10DLC?
10DLC means 10-digit long code: a normal +1 phone number used to send application-to-person SMS in the United States. Since 2021 the carriers require the company behind the traffic and each use case to be registered.
Do I need 10DLC if my company is not in the United States?
If you send to US numbers from a US long code, yes. The registry accepts foreign companies with their own tax identification and website; we file it for you.
What happens if I do not register?
Messages get filtered, throttled or blocked by the carriers, and the error codes rarely say why. In practice you see delivery rates fall without an obvious cause.
How long does it take?
Brand registration is usually same-day and campaign vetting takes business days. Use cases that get a manual review take longer, and we tell you up front which ones those are.
Does 10DLC apply to toll-free numbers?
No. Toll-free numbers use their own verification process. For some use cases it is the faster route, and we will tell you when that is the case.
Which SIP trunk providers support 10DLC?
Very few carry both: the trunk usually comes from one provider and the SMS registration from another, and then nobody owns it. At TelHarbor the US long codes on your SIP trunk are the same numbers we register, so voice and messaging sit on one number and one account.
Is there a different 10DLC campaign for my industry?
The registry does not register industries, it registers use cases. An ISP sending outage notices files an account-notification campaign; a security company files security alerts; a contractor confirming appointments files customer care. Picking it wrongly is the usual reason a campaign is rejected.
Who owns the registration?
Your company. The brand is filed with your legal details, so it stays with you if you change provider.