Regulatory: What are A2P 10DLC Sole Proprietor Brands and How to Register One?
Effective August 31, 2023, all 10DLC phone numbers used to send SMS and MMS messages to U.S. phone numbers must be fully registered to an approved campaign under a brand.
Sole Proprietor registration is perfect for customers in the United States and Canada who are individuals or small businesses and do not have a business Tax ID (such as an EIN) and only have one employee per company.
Follow the instructions below to choose the right path for your A2P brand registration:
If the business has a Tax Number (EIN for the US, CCN for Canada, etc.), please select "Yes, the business I’m registering has a US EIN" Check out LC Phone System Trust Center
If the business does not have a Tax Number, only has one employee per company but operates from a valid Business Address in the US/Canada, please select "No, the business I’m registering does not have a US EIN" (Sole Prop Brand Registration).
If the business does not have a Tax ID and the business address is not in the US/Canada, unfortunately, they cannot proceed with A2P Brand Registration. In this case, the best alternative would be to use Toll-Free numbers after completing the registration process. Check out Toll-Free Number Registration for LC - Phone (US/Canada)
How do I register?
Step 1 - Enter business details. Follow the screenshots below:
1. Click on Settings > Phone numbers > Trust Center
2. Click on Start Registering Now
3. Click on No, the business I'm registering does not have a tax ID
The client must answer the following two questions accurately to ensure they are directed to the appropriate brand option.
4. Business details
Enter either the business name or the individual's name. Ensure that the business name does not include LLC or any other terms implying it is more than a sole proprietorship.
Rejected examples: ABC Company LLC
You can check the brand name at https://opencorporates.com/ to make sure the business name does not have an EIN.
5. Address
Enter the valid address linked to the business.
6. Contact info
Step 2 - Brand details
1. Business Use case
Notice how brand type only shows “sole prop” as a selection option. This is because of how we answered the questions under profile needs. The brand type and campaign type have been selected for us. We only need to check the box below and click “continue.”
2. Brand Details
Please provide your business name or full name as the brand name.
Enter either the business name or the individual's name. Ensure that the business name does not include LLC or any other terms implying it is more than a sole proprietorship.
Rejected examples: ABC Company LLC
You can check the brand name at https://opencorporates.com/ to make sure the business name do not have an EIN
Choose an industry from the dropdown list for "business industry." If you can't find an exact match, select the industry type that best describes your business.
Ensure your phone number is a US or Canadian mobile number capable of receiving SMS. Note: Each phone number can be used for a maximum of three A2P Brand registrations with TCR.
DO NOT use the number you bought for the sub-account
Keep an eye out for an SMS from TCR requesting your approval. Simply reply "Yes" to give the green light for your brand to start messaging.
That completes the steps to submitting a sole prop brand. The next step is the campaign submission. Instructions provided under A2P 10DLC Campaign Approval Best Practices.
Once the Brand is approved, the campaign will be automatically submitted for review.
Important Note: The mobile number is critical in the registration process and is used for sending a One-Time Password (OTP) verification request, which you must respond to with "Yes". This must be a valid US or Canadian mobile number where you can be reached. It cannot be a number that you've acquired from a CPaaS provider such as LeadConnector/Twilio
The mobile number can only be used a maximum of three times across all A2P Brand registrations with TCR. If you are registered for A2P 10DLC with another vendor using this mobile number, that counts towards this limit.
Frequently Asked Questions
On the OTP mobile number, can I use my cell for all my clients as the agency administrator? or would it be my contact at the client's needs to get the code?
Please provide a mobile number that you have access to confirm OTP verification.
Only US/Canadian numbers will be accepted.
You may not use a CPaaS phone number such as one obtained from Twilio.
You cannot use the same mobile number to register more than 3 Sole Proprietor brands.
This limit is managed at the TCR level.
What are the requirements for Sole Proprietor registration?
Sole Proprietor brands are available to individuals or small business that meet the following requirements:
No Tax ID: Customer brands that have a tax ID are not eligible for Sole Prop Brands - use a Low Volume Standard Brand instead.
OTP Verification: Confirm your identity using a One Time Password (OTP) verification step.
Valid Details: Starter Brands must include a valid and accurate business name, first name, last name, email address, phone number, and physical address.
US and Canada Addresses: Only valid U.S. or Canadian addresses (including P.O. boxes) are allowed. Addresses in other countries are no longer permitted.
ERC's are now supported: Yes.
What are the fees for Sole Proprietor registration?
Visit the fees page to check the following fees that apply to Sole Proprietor brands:
One-time Sole Proprietor Brand registration fee.
One-time Campaign vetting fee.
Monthly Sole Proprietor Campaign fees.
What are the limitations for Sole Proprietor registration?
Sole Proprietor brands have the following limits:
1 Sole Proprietor Campaign per Brand
1 Phone Number per Campaign
1 Message Per Second (1MPS) throughput limit
*You can only verify your Sole Proprietor Brands with a U.S. or Canadian number from a mobile provider. Using a VoIP number or any other number not associated with a mobile carrier will result in an error and will keep you from registering your Brand(s).
Do Sole Proprietor Campaigns undergo the new Campaign Vetting process?
New Sole Proprietor campaigns will be subject to the changes in the Campaign Creation process, as well as the newly introduced vetting process.
How do I complete OTP Verification?
For full instructions on how to register Sole Proprietor brands, including how to complete the OTP verification, see our product documentation on Creating a New Sole Proprietor Brand.
What do you need to do if you have unregistered 10DLC traffic in the US?
Register for A2P 10DLC via the Settings > Phone Numbers option as possible.
There are three important requirements under the A2P 10DLC system:
Businesses must identify who they are to the carrier networks (Brand registration).
Businesses must register what type of messages they are sending, such as notifications (Campaign registration).
Businesses must associate all the 10DLC Phone Numbers they intend to send messages from with a Campaign.
How to Determine your Brand Type?
If you’re an individual or small business without a Tax ID, a new Brand registration option called “Sole Proprietor” will be available to you from April 17, 2023.
First, determine whether or not you have a Tax ID (such as a US EIN):
If you don’t have a Tax ID, and:
You’re located in the U.S. or Canada, you can use a Sole Proprietor Brand.
You’re outside the U.S. and Canada, you can’t send messages to U.S. recipients via 10DLC phone numbers.
If the Brand has a Tax ID, and:
If you intend to send fewer than 6,000 message segments/day, register via the Low-Volume Standard Brand registration process.
If you intend to send more than 6,000 message segments/day, register via the Standard Brand registration process.
Messages from unregistered Twilio phone numbers run the risk of being filtered or blocked. In the future, you may not be able to send messages from unregistered numbers.
Why is this happening?
The U.S. telecommunications industry wants to verify the mobile number of the Sole Proprietor as a way to limit abuse of the Sole Proprietor brand registrations.
Why did my Sole Proprietor registration failed?
Here are the most common reasons:
Using custom variables (fields / values) instead of actual names & company name
Not including opt-out language in message templates
Using same email in more than 10 A2p sole prop registrations
Using same phone in more than 10 A2p sole prop registrations
Using same address in more than 10 A2p sole prop registrations
Using same phone number for OTP (code verification) A2p verification in more than 3 cases
Invalid email - Please note that private emails domains are typically not eligible for Sole prop Brand registration. You have to be sure you are using a public domain for your email (e.g., Gmail (NOT Gsuite), Hotmail, Yahoo, etc)
- The Third-Party Service TCR use to validate email addresses sometimes marks valid email addresses as undeliverable. Unfortunately, this is beyond our control.
While it's possible to open a ticket with the TCR to address the error, their response time might be too slow so.
Our recommendation is to create a new email address with a reliable provider like Gmail and use this new address for your registration. Please note that the email address is a required field but is not used for communication purposes; it's mainly for registration.
Using a phone number that is a Google Voice or other VOIP number as TOP line - Please use a Direct line (Hard number)
