Someone told you that you need an EIN to text your own customers.
They were right. It's called A2P 10DLC, every US carrier requires it, and there's no way around it. Here's what it involves, in plain language and without the telecom vocabulary.
The 30-second version
- Carriers require every business that sends automated texts to register. This is the registration.
- It needs your legal business name, EIN and address, matched against IRS records.
- Brand approval takes minutes. Campaign review takes 1 to 2 weeks, sometimes sooner.
- Your existing business number keeps working normally the whole time.
- If you skip it, your texts get filtered and you usually aren't told they failed.
Why carriers made this a rule
Ordinary 10-digit phone numbers were never designed for automated business messaging. When companies started sending bulk texts from them, carriers had no way to tell a plumber confirming an appointment from a spammer running a scam, so they filtered aggressively and legitimate messages got caught alongside the junk.
A2P 10DLC fixes that by putting a verified business identity behind every automated sender. Registered senders get delivered. The paperwork is what gets your messages through, and without it business texting doesn't work at all.
What you have to provide
Four things. Most contractors with a registered business already have all of them.
Your legal business name and EIN
Exactly as they appear on your IRS paperwork, not your trading name, not an abbreviation. A mismatch here is the single most common rejection.
Your registered business address
The address on file for the business. Carriers cross-check it, which is also why it appears in the footer of this site.
A working website with a privacy policy
The policy has to state that customer mobile information is not shared with third parties for marketing. Reviewers open the link and read it.
How your customers agreed to be texted
For missed-call text-back this is straightforward: the customer called you first. That's the consent, and it's what we describe on your behalf.
How long it takes
Brand registration (your business identity) usually clears within minutes.
Campaign review is the slow part. It takes 1 to 2 weeks, sometimes sooner.
Your number stays live the whole time. Registration happens in the background. Nothing about how your phone rings changes while you wait.
What gets registrations rejected
Business name doesn't match IRS records
“Dave’s Plumbing” when the EIN says “Dave’s Plumbing & Heating LLC” is a rejection. It has to match exactly.
No privacy policy, or the wrong one
It must state that customer mobile information is not shared with third parties for marketing. Reviewers open the link and read it.
Sample messages with no opt-out
Every sample message you submit needs the opt-out line in it.
Vague consent description
“Customers sign up on our website” isn’t enough. Reviewers want the specific mechanism.
Public link shorteners
bit.ly and similar are refused outright. Branded domains only.
Links behind a login
If a reviewer can’t open it without an account, it doesn’t count as documentation.
You don't have to do any of this yourself
Self-Serve: $129/mo
Our wizard collects your business details in a few minutes and we submit the registration on your behalf. You never open a carrier portal or write a sample message.
Done-For-You: $149/mo + $99 setup
You fill in the same short registration form. Before we submit it, we audit your business details and your website for carrier compliance and tell you if anything needs fixing. Then we write the campaign, sample messages and opt-in documentation and file it.
Already texting through Twilio, RingCentral or another provider and just need the registration done? We do that on its own too ($149 one-time).
A2P 10DLC questions
It's the registration US phone carriers require before a business can send automated texts from a normal 10-digit number. Carriers built it to cut down on spam: registered businesses get their messages delivered, unregistered ones get filtered or blocked outright. It applies to every business sending automated texts, no matter how few.
Yes. There is no small-volume exemption. Carriers filter on whether the sending number is registered, not on how much it sends. An unregistered number sending automated texts gets error 30034 and the message never arrives, and you usually won't be told it failed.
For the standard registration tiers, yes, and the legal business name and EIN have to match your IRS records exactly, because that's what gets verified. If you're a sole proprietor without an EIN there is a separate Sole Proprietor tier: lower daily limits, one campaign and one phone number, but no EIN required. Most contractors with a registered LLC or S-corp already have everything needed.
Brand registration (your business identity) usually clears within minutes. The campaign review is the slow part: it takes 1 to 2 weeks, sometimes sooner. Your existing business number keeps working normally the entire time; nothing about your phone changes while you wait.
The most common causes are a business name that doesn't match IRS records exactly, a missing or inadequate privacy policy, sample messages that don't include opt-out language, and a vague description of how customers consented to be texted. Public link shorteners are also refused outright.
On both plans you fill in one short registration form with your business details. On Done-For-You we audit that information and your website for carrier compliance before we submit, and tell you if anything needs fixing. On Self-Serve the form submits it on your behalf as soon as you finish. Either way you never touch a carrier portal.
No. Registration is attached to your business identity and the number you already advertise. You keep the number on your trucks, invoices and Google listing, and it keeps ringing exactly as it does today.