What is 10DLC (10-Digit Long Code)?
A 10-digit long code (10DLC) number is a US-specific, carrier-sanctioned, 10-digit phone number used for business messaging.
You might also see 10DLC referred to as an approved A2P (Application-to-Person) long code.
What is 10DLC used for?
10DLC is excellent for use cases that don’t require very high throughput, including:
- Two-factor authentication
- Appointment reminders
- Airline-related updates
- Rideshare updates
- Any small business that needs a local presence
Using a 10-digit long code gives you lower fees and a lower risk of untrusted traffic than short codes.
What throughput should you expect on 10DLC?
10DLC potentially has higher messaging throughput than P2P (Person-to-Person) long code traffic – giving you up to (and even above) 30 TPS (transactions per second) as opposed to the 1TPS that P2P long codes give you.
The TPS you receive depends on your brand and campaign meeting various criteria set by carriers. Carriers assess what TPS you should receive in different ways, and your campaign will be limited by the lowest TPS available to you.
An example of a use case likely to receive a high trust score would be SMS-based two-factor authentication (2FA). This is because consumers have asked for this traffic, they respond to it, and it’s safe and necessary.
Your throughput may also be based on your vetting score.
How do you get vetted?
Every carrier does this a little differently.
For example, in the United States:
- Verizon is not currently doing any vetting but will allocate throughput in much the same way as it does for short codes.
- AT&T will provide a base TPS based on the message class assigned after you submit your campaign to the Campaign Registry.
- T-Mobile (Sprint) is basing throughput on a daily messaging quota for the brand rather than the individual campaign. So, if a brand has multiple campaigns, the daily messaging quota is split between them.
