What is 10DLC?
10DLC is shorthand for a local phone number. It stands for ten-digit long code, or a ten-digit phone number with a local area code like 916-222-2222.
The difference between a 10DLC phone number and an ordinary phone number (the kind you use on your own phone) is that 10DLC numbers are verified with the mobile carriers (i.e. AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile).
You need to register to access 10DLC phone numbers. Registration unlocks the capacity to send texts at high volumes and speeds from an application like Scale to Win.
Context: Registering the phone numbers used to send texts
Texts sent through our application originate from phone numbers specially set up for high speed, high volume (application-to-person) texting. Your contacts will see these phone numbers when they receive your messages.
You can choose to have your texts sent from 10DLC, i.e. local phone numbers (phone numbers with a location-specific area code) and/or toll-free phone numbers (numbers with an area code like 833).
Owing to rising spam complaints, the telephony industry is restricting access to application-to-person phone numbers with an identity verification process. Registration is required to access 10DLC and/or toll-free numbers.
How does 10DLC registration work?
Step 1: Submit a registration
Registering involves sharing details about your organization and your texting aims with Scale to Win using our registration form. The form is embedded on the "Compliance" page in Spoke and on the "Phone Numbers" page in Scale to Win Text.
Image above: Spoke owners can register for 10DLC from the "Compliance" page.
Image above: Register for phone numbers from the "Phone Numbers" page in Scale to Win Text.
Step 2: Await carrier approval
Scale to Win will proof your submission, get back to you in case of errors, and register your organization for 10DLC with The Campaign Registry, the body administering this process.
Your registration will then be proofed by third parties and either approved or rejected with feedback, a process which can take 3-5 (or more) days. If you are in urgent need an expedite, reach out to us at support@scaletowin.com.
Step 3: Look for an email confirmation
Once your application for registered 10DLC numbers has been approved, the page where you registered in the tool will update to show the registration completed successfully.
Team Owners will receive an automated email confirmation. Text campaigns will be set up to send SMS (text-only messages) or MMS (messages with multimedia) using a registered number.
Step 4: Use your default number or add more numbers
By default, you'll gain access to a single local phone number. You can add up to 49 total phone numbers and choose between them on a per-campaign basis as well. Read more about how to add and manage numbers in Spoke and in Scale to Win Text.
How will I register for 10DLC?
Registration is a two-step process for political organizations (527s) and a single-step process for everyone else. Although an extra step is involved for political campaigns, parties, and committees, we strongly recommend 10DLC for the political use case in particular.
Political customers (campaigns, political parties, and PACs only -- does not include 501(c) nonprofits) can send an unlimited number of texts on 10DLC, but only after going through identity verification. Verification costs $95 through a service called Campaign Verify. You can read more about the Campaign Verify process here. This is just the first step for political organizations.
Every organization registering for 10DLC must complete a registration form, accessible from within your texting account.
Even if you registered for 10DLC with a different vendor, you still have to complete the form, as registrations do not transfer.
Spoke users can navigate to the "Compliance" page and click “Start 10DLC Registration” to access and fill out the form. Scale to Win Text users can navigate to the "Phone Numbers" page and click "Register for 10DLC" to access and fill out the form.
The form will require you to confirm your legal organization name, tax ID, purpose in texting, and more. You can read more about how to fill out the form here.
Note: only users with the "Owner" permissions level can access the "Compliance" page in Spoke.
Once you submit the form, Scale to Win will proof your submission and register you for a 10DLC number in the area code of your preference. The registration will be vetted by a third party service before it is approved by the carriers, which can take 3-5 business days.
Once the carriers have approved your access to 10DLC numbers, account Owners will receive an automatic confirmation by email. You will then be able to send texts from a registered local phone number.
How long does it take?
Once you submit the required information in the form, registrations go through an external vetting process, which typically takes 3-5 business days, sometimes longer.
In particular, non-profits, private entities, and government entities may experience longer wait times and be asked to submit additional documentation for identity verification. Specifically, you may be asked to provide identity documentation from the IRS such as a letter of determination, 8976 form, or W-9.
Scale to Win has the ability to expedite registrations with the downstream vendor in urgent cases. If you need your registration expedited, please reach out to us at support@scaletowin.com.
Where can I see the status of my registration?
You can view the status of your registration in the tool. Go to the "Compliance" page in Spoke or the "Phone Numbers" page in Scale to Win Text to see a banner showing your status.
Image above: Spoke's "Compliance" page will show the status of your registration.
Image above: Scale to Win Text's "Phone Numbers" page will show the status of your registration.
If your registration has been pending for longer than 3-5 business days, or you need an expedite with the downstream vendor, please reach out to us at support@scaletowin.com.
What area codes will my 10DLC numbers have?
The 10DLC registration form includes a field where you specify the area codes you want for your first number. We will do our very best to purchase a number with an area code from that list.
Note that some area codes may be exhausted and require a backorder in order to access. Backorders generally take between 1-2 business days to fill. In the case of particularly rare area codes (e.g., 603, 212, 303), it may not be possible to get a phone number with your desired area code within a reasonable timeframe. In this case, we would check in with you about using a backup area code.
After your default phone number has been purchased, Owners of your account can add further numbers to your registration (up to 49 by default). Read more about how to add and manage numbers in Spoke and in Scale to Win Text.
What does it cost?
The carriers and registration bodies are charging a combination of one-time and monthly fees to register for 10DLC. For the duration of 2024, Scale to Win will pay these 10DLC fees on behalf of our clients, backdated to April 1st, 2022.
Note: unfortunately, we're unable to refund registration fees incurred prior to April 1st, 2022.
$95 Campaign Verify Fee for Political Organizations
Political organizations must still pay a $95 vetting fee to Campaign Verify, a third-party vetting organization, in order to proceed with 10DLC registration. This fee is paid directly to Campaign Verify to generate a verification token that unlocks high-volume texting for political groups. Read more about Campaign Verify below.
Note: verification requests made prior to November 15th, 2022 expired in January 2023. If your token expired in January 2023 and you'd like to continue texting, you'll need to submit your committee information to Campaign Verify again, paying another $95, to gain access to tokens that will be valid until 2025. Once you generate a new token, share it with Scale to Win following the instructions here.
What is Campaign Verify?
Campaign Verify is the vetting organization responsible for confirming the identity of political campaigns, PACs, and parties. If you fall into one of these three categories, you must also register with Campaign Verify in order to successfully register for 10DLC.
You can begin this process at any time by going to app.campaignverify.org and creating an account. Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting a token from Campaign Verify.
Is toll-free texting impacted by 10DLC?
Toll-free texting (i.e. texts sent from a toll free number) is not impacted by 10DLC rules and regulations. Because toll-free numbers were designed for organizations to send larger volumes of text messages, they are not subject to the same sorts of carrier regulations as numbers with local area codes. That said, toll-free has its own registration process and regulations which make it a significantly less attractive option for political traffic than 10DLC. Read more about the requirements here.
How many texts can I send in a day on 10DLC?
10DLC comes with throughput limits, or caps on how many texts you can send per day to subscribers of a particular mobile carrier like AT&T or T-Mobile. Each cap depends on your organization type (non-profit, political campaign or PAC, labor union, etc).
AT&T and T-Mobile Caps
10DLC limits how many text segments you can send per second to AT&T customers and how many you can send per day to T-Mobile customers. Most customers will not come close to approaching the AT&T limit. Political customers with a Campaign Verify token and verified government entities are exempt from T-Mobile throughput limits.
Non-profit organizations and private entities will be subject to a daily cap on how many text segments can be sent to T-Mobile subscribers in a day. You can view your throughput limits on the Compliance page, and will receive a warning from Spoke if you are approaching your daily T-Mobile quota. Read more about this here.
If you are approaching these limits, or need to surpass the daily T-Mobile limits for your organization, reach out to us at support@scaletowin.com. Depending on the kind of traffic you're sending, you can consider register for a toll-free number. Toll-free registration is free and there are no daily caps from any carrier; however, toll-free is only recommended for warm outreach.
What if I can’t register for 10DLC?
Scale to Win will work with you on a case-by-case basis. Should there be an issue preventing your registration, please reach out to us at support@scaletowin.com, or book a time to chat with us here.
I haven’t registered for 10DLC yet - what do I do?
Learn how to register for 10DLC here, or book a time to chat with us about 10DLC here. The benefits of 10DLC include getting to send texts from phone numbers with local area codes, plus better deliverability than previously seen while texting with local phone numbers. Given the processing times for 10DLC approval, we recommend starting sooner than later with registration.
What if I am a Spoke reseller or have multiple legal entities?
Our platform is very friendly to this use case. We offer a teams feature that allows organizations with multiple arms to create subaccounts. Each subaccount can then register for 10DLC individually, or the same 10DLC registration can be applied to specific subaccounts, depending on your use case. Here are some examples.
If you have a complex use case and you’re not sure how to register, schedule a time to talk with us here so we can make sure we get you registered appropriately.
We’ll share additional updates, action steps, and more as the carriers continue to finalize their plans for 10DLC via email and on this page.
If you have any questions about 10DLC, or want to talk through how this might impact your organization, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Scale to Win team. You can email your organization's point of contact, or reach out to the whole team by emailing support@scaletowin.com.