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10DLC for Regulated Industries

Updated over 3 weeks ago

Overview

10DLC registration enables regulated businesses to send compliant, reliable SMS messages using standard 10-digit phone numbers. Registering through AIQ helps reduce carrier fees, improve message deliverability, and ensure continued SMS access as required by U.S. carriers. This article explains the benefits of 10DLC, how to register and configure messaging settings, and the key requirements and restrictions to follow when sending text and MMS campaigns in regulated industries.

Prerequisites

Before getting started, ensure you have:

Required Permissions

Users must have the following role:

  • Owner

What is 10DLC?

10DLC is an SMS-capable 10-digit long code used for sending business messages to consumers. It requires proper registration to ensure compliance with carrier and regulation standards.

10 DLC Registration Benefits for Regulated Industries

  • Save Costs: Cut carrier fees by 60% and avoid costly phone number refreshes. AIQ gives you a lasting, cost-effective solution.

  • Easy In-Platform Setup: Register directly in your AIQ account, no extra tools or vendors needed.

  • Stay Connected: U.S. businesses must be 10DLC-registered (since Feb 2025) or risk losing SMS capabilities.

  • More Reliable Messaging: 10DLC provides more reliable

  • Competitive Edge: Many businesses are already registered and saving over 20% on carrier fees.

How to Register for 10DLC in AIQ

  1. Navigate to Settings > Texting: Texting Settings

  2. Scroll to the Carrier Registrations section and click "Register for texting" and complete the form that on the slide-out:
    ​

  3. Here are compliance best practices for the 10DLC registration form:

    1. Double-check all the details against your official business documents prior to submission.

    2. Review MMS and SMS content for any compliance triggers such as prohibited terms or images.

      1. No regulated industry-specific terms

      2. Our system will scan all uploaded images for non-compliant content and will not allow upload if it is flagged to protect your 10DLC registration

      3. (For Regulated Industries) Avoid promotional wording in imagery, like "Sale" or "Free" or anything with "% off" as carriers will see this as promotional content and may flag your messages.

  4. Submit

  5. Once submitted, the form submission can continue to be accessed to view the current approval status or any errors related to the submission.

  6. Once Approved, a green check mark will appear next to Carrier Registrations:

Handling Rejections

If your 10DLC registration is rejected, follow these steps:

  1. Review the submitted information and verify that it exactly matches your official business tax forms (EIN Letter from IRS). Pay particular attention to:

    1. Accurate formatting of your business address

    2. Correct formatting of your phone number (use only numbers).

  2. Ensure that the registration details are consistent with your business entity’s legal name and branding.

    1. Note: You cannot re-register a previously banned entity.

The approval of your registration form is handled by cellular companies or carriers, not AIQ. Ensuring precision in your submissions is critical for a successful registration process.

If rejection continue to persist please chat with one of our live agents to get further assistance. Providing them with your EIN IRS letter will help speed up the review of your rejection.

10DLC Message Settings

Create campaigns and design your customer message inbox (optional, you can skip the inbox) from your Texting Settings.

The settings panel includes options to customize your brand name, colors, and the basic theme of your message inbox.

Legacy Text campaigns (ongoing, repeated, etc.) will be set to inactive. Update any legacy campaigns you wish to continue using: pick a new 10DLC-approved template and scrub of any regulated content.

10DLC Messaging Requirements

10DLC campaigns for regulated industries have strict requirements. If you don't follow these requirements, you can potentially get your business flagged or even banned across all telecom platforms.

In some cases you may be able to re-register. In most cases you will be required to register as a completely new entity (LLC, Corp, etc.).

What NOT to include in SMS/MMS campaigns

  • The included brand name CANNOT refer to the regulated industry.

    • Examples: “Kush Dreams” would use “KDreams” as their clean telecom version.

  • You need to be EXTREMELY careful with texting logo/ MMS media.

    • Do not upload or use any risky images, including:

      • Menus

      • Regulated industry terms/ images

      • Brand names or logs with regulated terms/ images within them

  • If your logo contains regulated industry imagery or text, we recommend using a clean version of your logo that does not include this imagery or text.

10DLC FAQs

What happens when 10DLC is approved?

After approval, the associated 10DLC campaign ID will automatically be added into your AIQ settings. Within 24 hours all unregistered numbers will be released and 49 new registered phone numbers will be purchased that are attached to the proper campaign.

Can I register multiple agency accounts under a single 10DLC registration?

No. Agencies with multiple advertiser accounts will need to register each advertiser account in AIQ separately.

Can I register my regulated Canadian agency for 10DLC?

Regulated industries in Canada, doing business in Canada, do not need to register for 10DLC at this time.

How long does it take to get 10DLC registration approved?

The 10DLC registration process typically takes up to 5-7 days. However, in some cases, the approval process might take longer. Once your application status is marked as "pending" in AIQ, it means your submission is actively under review by carriers.

An auditor will respond to the registration form that you've filled out, which can be done right in AIQ, see Texting Settings.

How do I know if I'm approved?

We will send you an email as well as update your status in app under Texting Settings.

What if I already registered for 10DLC with a different provider (not AIQ)?

We cannot transfer numbers nor transfer registration from a different provider. You will need to re-register with AIQ.

What if I am a parent company with multiple brands, but only one registered 10DLC account, can I send 10DLC campaigns for each brand to their respective customers using a single 10DLC registration?

Yes. Under Retail Store settings, brands can set a Brand Nickname to be used as a macro to interchange appropriate brand names within the 10DLC campaigns.

You can also set up a per-store image in Texting Settings > Default Text Message Templates > By Store Settings, which can be used as your individual store logos.

Can retailers choose the 49 phone numbers they are assigned for 10DLC?

No.

When phone numbers are assigned to an account, do we match the area codes to where the retailer is located?

We attempt to get numbers with area codes that match the store address that is entered into AIQ, but it is not guaranteed.

What about MMS (image only) that contain regulated imagery/terms that are obscured from OCR scanners?

After December 1, 2024, you will be required to register for 10DLC in order to send any text messages for regulated industries on all platforms, including AIQ. Before December 1, you can continue to send MMS as usual.

Can I use custom text messages for 10DLC campaigns?

No, we do not allow any fully customized options at this time. However, we currently provide templates you can pick from on the text campaign building page. This is to ensure compliance with carriers. We have many templates to choose from.

For example, say you want to use a Birthday SMS template:

  1. Navigate to Marketing > Campaigns > Create New

  1. On the Content step search for “Birthday” in the message template table.

  1. Choose your Birthday SMS Template and proceed with setup.

How are Opens and Clicks tracked with this type of campaign?

See Reporting.

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