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A2P 10DLC Campaign Registry — Brand and Campaign Registration

The Campaign Registry (TCR) is mandatory for 10DLC SMS to US numbers. Covers Brand vs Campaign hierarchy, use case taxonomy, registration flow (3-5 business days), throughput tiers, DCA election, and the December 2025 default-off behaviour for newly purchased numbers.

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Agent trigger phrases: A2P registration SignalWire · 10DLC campaign registry · TCR brand register · EIN messaging registration · use case 2FA marketing · DCA election · campaign verify · T-Mobile daily limit

A2P 10DLC Campaign Registry

The Campaign Registry (TCR) is mandatory for any 10DLC (10-digit long code, local US) phone number sending SMS to US numbers. Doesn't matter if the traffic is "conversational" or low-volume — if it's sent from an application platform like SignalWire, it counts as A2P (Application-to-Person) and registration is required.

Toll-free and short-code numbers go through different processes — not TCR.

Two-tier hierarchy: Brand → Campaign

| Level | Purpose | Identifier | |---|---|---| | Brand | Your company entity, verified against multiple databases. One Brand per legal entity. | Brand ID | | Campaign | A specific use case (marketing, account notifications, 2FA, etc.). Brands have many Campaigns. | Campaign ID | | Phone Number Assignment | Which numbers send under which Campaign. | n/a — assignment record |

Each Brand requires a unique EIN. Sharing EINs between Brands damages trust score.

Registration flow

  1. Add a payment method to your SignalWire project.
  2. Create a Brand ($4 per submission). Inputs: legal company name, website, Tax ID/EIN, contact name, direct number, email.
  3. Register a Campaign. Monthly fee varies by use case; first 3 months billed up front (3-month minimum). Inputs: use case, opt-in/opt-out process, help process, message samples.
  4. Assign phone numbers to the Campaign. Can take up to 24 hours; status will show pending or failed during this window — that's expected, not an error.

TCR review takes 3-5 business days typically. Brand approval comes first; Campaign approval depends on it.

Standard use cases

| Use case | Description | |---|---| | 2FA | Authentication, verification, one-time passcodes. | | Account Notifications | Notifications relating to a user's account. | | Customer Care | All customer-care interactions. | | Delivery Notifications | Product/service delivery status. | | Fraud Alert Messaging | Notifications about fraudulent activity. | | Higher Education | Colleges, universities, K-12 districts (not free-to-consumer models). | | Low Volume Mixed | Multiple use cases at low throughput (test/demo accounts, single doctor's office, single pizza shop). | | Marketing | Any messaging with marketing or promotional content. | | Mixed | 2-5 standard use cases combined. | | Polling and voting | Non-political surveys/polls. | | Public Service Announcement | Awareness messaging about important issues. | | Security Alert | Notifications about system security incidents. |

Special use cases (require post-registration MNO review)

| Use case | Notes | |---|---| | Charity | 501(c)(3) only. | | Proxy | App-based group messaging with pooled numbers. | | Emergency | Public safety/health during disasters. | | Sweepstakes | All sweepstakes messaging. | | Political | Federal-level only; campaigns pre-vetted. Requires Campaign Verify. | | Social | Closed-community communication (YouTube influencer alerts, etc.). | | Platform Free Trial | CSP free-trial offers to non-paying customers. | | Agents and Franchises | Brands with multiple agents/franchises needing individual local numbers. | | K-12 Education | K-12 platforms and distance learning. | | UCaaS High / Low Volume | UCaaS cloud comms for businesses; approved UCaaS only. |

Registration types

| Type | Notes | |---|---| | Managed Brand & Campaign | SignalWire is the CSP, handles all TCR details. Default. | | Self-registered | You're already TCR-registered with your own CSP ID. Use the Create a Partner Brand flow to import. |

Best practices for approval

  1. Be transparent and honest — TCR cross-references multiple databases. Errors get flagged.
  2. Provide clarity and detail — match campaign descriptions to the actual content of your messages.
  3. Provide message templates — even rough ones. Include opt-out language; opt-out is mandatory.

Newly purchased numbers — December 2025 change

As of December 2025, newly purchased US 10DLC numbers do not have messaging enabled by default. Messaging is auto-enabled when you assign the number to an approved Campaign.

For inbound-only messaging (receiving without sending), contact SignalWire Support to request enablement without a full campaign.

For testing, your first purchased number is automatically enabled for Platform Free Trial messaging when paired with a verified mobile number.

Throughput

| Variable | Notes | |---|---| | T-Mobile daily limit | 2000 segments/day for non-Russell-2000 brands. Resets at midnight US Pacific. | | Other carriers | Throughput determined by use case. | | External vetting | Third-party vetting partners can raise daily throughput. Adds cost; no guarantee. | | SignalWire queue | If you submit faster than approved throughput, SignalWire queues and paces — no message loss. |

DCA election

Direct Connect Aggregators (DCAs) provide the actual carrier-gateway connection. After TCR approves your Campaign, the upstream DCA must also accept it. DCA vetting typically takes 24-48 hours. Election = the DCA has confirmed the campaign and accepted the connection request.

You can assign numbers while DCA vetting is pending, but messages can't send until election completes.

Migrating from another provider

  • Each messaging provider is its own CSP. Re-register when switching providers.
  • Your existing provider's registration stays active until you request deactivation — use both providers in parallel during migration.
  • Switching providers triggers full re-registration with the new CSP.

Campaign limits

  • Up to 49 numbers per campaign (over that = Number Pooling, requires extra registration).
  • One campaign per use case (with Mixed available for low-throughput multi-use cases).

What to do today vs. wait for

| Action | When | |---|---| | Submit Brand registration | Day 0 | | Submit Campaign registration | Right after Brand submission (parallel) | | Assign numbers to Campaign | Right after Campaign creation (status pending OK) | | Start sending production traffic | Only after SignalWire notifies you the Campaign is connected AND number assignment shows Complete |

Anti-patterns

  • Re-using an EIN across multiple Brands — kills trust score on all of them.
  • Submitting a Campaign description that doesn't match the actual message templates — auto-flagged.
  • Forgetting opt-out language in samples — TCR rejects.
  • Starting to send before number assignment shows Complete — failed deliveries.
  • Treating 10DLC and toll-free as the same registration path — they aren't.
  • Skipping Brand verification fixes after an Unverified status — every resubmit is $4 but you must clear Unverified before adding Campaigns.

See also

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