What is 10DLC?
10DLC stands for ten-digit long code—a local phone number like 916-222-2222.
What makes 10DLC special?
Unlike a personal phone number, 10DLC lets you send high volumes of texts quickly using applications like Scale to Win.
Carriers only allow verified groups to use 10DLC. To get verified, you must register, which means proving your organization's identity and showing how people sign up for your texts.
Context: Registering the phone numbers used to send texts
Texts sent through our app use phone numbers designed for high-speed, high-volume messaging. Your contacts will see these numbers when they get your texts.
You can choose to send texts from:
10DLC: Local numbers with area codes (e.g., 916).
Shortcode numbers: 5-6 digit numbers. Suited for organizations with large subscriber lists.
Due to spam concerns, the industry now requires identity verification to use these numbers. Registration is mandatory.
How does 10DLC registration work?
Step 1: Submit a registration
To register, fill out our form with details about your organization and texting goals. You'll find the form on the Compliance page in Spoke or the Phone Numbers page in Scale to Win Text. You can read more about how to fill out the form here.
Note: Political campaigns, committees, and PACs must obtain a token from Campaign Verify ($95) before filling out the registration form.
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 review your submission, work with you to resolve issues, and register your organization for 10DLC with The Campaign Registry, the body administering this process.
Third parties will then review it and either approve or reject it with feedback. This process takes 7–10 days or more. For urgent help, contact us at support@scaletowin.com.
Step 3: Look for an email confirmation
Once your 10DLC registration is approved, the registration page in the tool will show it’s complete.
Team Owners will get an email confirmation, and your text campaigns will use the registered number to send SMS or MMS.
Step 4: Use your default number or add more numbers
You’ll start with one local phone number by default and can add up to 49 total. You can also choose which number to use for each campaign. Learn more about managing numbers in Spoke and in Scale to Win Text.
What is Campaign Verify?
Campaign Verify confirms the identity of political campaigns, PACs, and parties. If you’re in one of these groups, you must register with Campaign Verify to complete your 10DLC registration.
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.
Does my organization need Campaign Verify?
Only political candidates, committees, and PACs are eligible for Campaign Verify.
Political Organizations (527s): Registration is a two-step process.
Step 1: Identity verification through Campaign Verify ($95). Learn more here.
Step 2: Complete the 10DLC registration form.
Why 10DLC? Campaigns, parties, and PACs (not 501(c) nonprofits) can send unlimited texts on 10DLC after getting a token from Campaign Verify
All Other Organizations: Registration is a single-step process — just fill out the 10DLC registration form on the "Phone Numbers" page of Scale to Win Text.
Can I reuse an existing registration?
Registrations do not transfer between vendors. Even if you registered for 10DLC with a different vendor, you still have to complete registration with Scale to Win. You will not need to pay $95 again if you purchased a Campaign Verify token already for this cycle. Learn how to generate a new token for free here.
How long does it take?
Once you submit the required information in the form, registrations go through an external vetting process, which currently takes 7-10 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 7 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. Scale to Win pays 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, 2024 expire on January 31st, 2025. If your token expires in January 2025 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 January 27th, 2027. Once you generate a new token, share it with Scale to Win following the instructions here.
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. 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 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.