Guide
What A2P 10DLC is, and who has to register
A2P 10DLC stands for “application-to-person messaging over 10-digit long codes”. In plain English: texts sent by a business system, such as HighLevel, from an ordinary local US phone number.
US mobile carriers require every business that texts from a local number to register two things with The Campaign Registry (TCR), the industry body that verifies senders:
- A brand — who you are: legal name, tax ID, address, website and contact details.
- A campaign — what you send: the use case, a description, sample messages and how people opt in.
Unregistered traffic is heavily filtered or blocked outright. If your HighLevel texts show as delivered but customers say they never got them, an unregistered or rejected campaign is the first thing to check.
If you text US numbers from a US local number in HighLevel, you need an approved brand and campaign. Toll-free numbers go through a separate verification process, and texting outside the US follows different rules for each country.
Where to register inside HighLevel
Registration is done per sub-account, because each sub-account usually represents a separate business. In the sub-account, open the phone settings and look for the Trust Center or A2P 10DLC registration wizard. HighLevel renames and moves menus from time to time, but the wizard always asks for the same three groups of information:
- Business details — legal name, business type, tax ID (EIN), address, website, and an authorized contact. These must match your official tax records exactly.
- Campaign use case — for most local businesses this is a mixed or customer-care campaign, or marketing if you mainly send promotions.
- Campaign content — the description, sample messages, message flow, and opt-in, opt-out and help details. This tool writes all of these for you.
Before you submit, make sure your website already has the privacy and terms wording from this page published. Reviewers visit your site, and a missing SMS clause is one of the most common reasons for rejection.
Standard brand or sole proprietor?
If the business has a US or Canadian tax ID (EIN), register as a standard brand. That gives you normal throughput limits and access to every use case.
If you are an individual without an EIN, you can register as a sole proprietor. It is quicker to set up but comes with tight limits: one campaign, one phone number and low daily volume. It is fine for a solo coach or a one-person service business, but not for anything you plan to scale.
Whichever you choose, the legal name must match the tax record letter for letter. “Bright Smile Dental” and “Bright Smile Dental LLC” count as different names to the verification system.
What reviewers actually check
Campaigns are reviewed by people and automated checks working from carrier guidelines. Everything in the generator above maps to something they look for:
| Field | What reviewers want to see |
|---|---|
| Description | Who sends, who receives, how they opted in, and what the messages are about. Specific beats generic. |
| Sample messages | Realistic examples that name your brand, match the use case, and include opt-out wording. |
| Message flow | The exact place and wording where someone gives consent, so a reviewer could repeat it. |
| Opt-in checkbox | Unchecked by default, optional, and naming your business, frequency, rates and STOP/HELP. |
| Privacy policy | A statement that mobile numbers and consent are not shared with third parties for marketing. |
| HELP / STOP | Replies that identify the brand and explain how to get support or unsubscribe. |
The most common rejection reasons, and how to avoid them
- Website doesn't match the brand. The site must be live, load over HTTPS, and clearly belong to the business you registered. A parked domain or a site under construction gets rejected.
- No SMS wording in the privacy policy. Add the clause from this tool word for word. The “not shared with third parties” sentence is the key part.
- Opt-in can't be verified. “Customers opt in on our website” is not enough. Say which page, which checkbox, and what it says.
- Pre-checked or required consent box. SMS consent must be a separate choice the person makes, never a condition of submitting a form.
- Sample messages without a brand name. Every sample should start with or include the business name.
- Missing opt-out language in the samples, especially in the first message someone receives.
- Public link shorteners (bit.ly, tinyurl and others) in samples. Use full links or short paths on your own domain.
- Use case mismatch. Promotional samples under a customer-care campaign, or vice versa.
- Name or tax ID mismatch between the brand form and the IRS record.
If a campaign is rejected, the reason is usually shown in HighLevel. Fix that specific item, update the website if needed, and resubmit. Don't change everything at once, so you know what made the difference.
Setting up your website opt-in
Any HighLevel form or survey that collects a phone number should include its own SMS consent checkbox. In the form builder, add a checkbox or consent field, leave it unticked by default, make it optional, and paste the consent text from this tool as its label. Link the words “Privacy Policy” and “Terms” to your actual pages.
If you send both reminders and promotions, the cleanest setup is two checkboxes: one for appointment and account messages, and a separate one for marketing. That way someone can agree to reminders without signing up for promotions, which is what carriers increasingly expect.
Then add the privacy clause to your privacy policy page and the SMS terms to your terms page, both on the same domain you register. Publish them before you submit the campaign.
After approval: keep it clean
- Only text people who opted in through the flow you described. Importing a purchased list breaks the registration and can get the number suspended.
- Keep content inside the approved use case. If you start sending promotions, register a campaign that covers marketing.
- Honour STOP immediately. HighLevel handles standard opt-out keywords automatically, but never re-add someone who opted out.
- Expect one-time registration fees and a small monthly campaign fee, passed through by HighLevel at carrier rates. Check your account's billing for the exact amounts.
Carrier rules change regularly. The generator reflects common requirements at the time of writing. It is not legal advice, so have your final wording reviewed if you work in a regulated industry such as healthcare, finance or insurance.