Do I Need A2P Registration?
Plain-English: who must register, how texting differs from calling, and the three things you actually have to get right — delivered, legal, answered.
If your business sends automated texts or places automated calls to US mobile numbers, you almost certainly need to register — and the rules differ depending on whether you’re texting, calling, or both. This page is the orientation: figure out which track applies to you, then follow the right guide.
The short answer: who must register
You need A2P registration if software (a CRM, a marketing platform, an API, a dialer) sends messages or places calls to consumers — as opposed to one person texting another from their phone.
- You send automated/bulk texts (marketing, alerts, OTP/2FA, reminders, notifications) from any kind of number → yes, register.
- You place automated/high-volume business calls → you need caller-ID authentication and reputation work (no single “registration,” but a set of steps).
- You only do genuine person-to-person texting from a personal phone → no A2P registration.
Since Feb 1, 2025, unregistered 10DLC texting is blocked outright by all major carriers. Unverified toll-free texting has been blocked since Jan 31, 2024. There is no quiet middle ground anymore — unregistered automated traffic simply doesn’t get delivered.
Texting vs calling — two separate tracks
A2P isn’t one thing. It splits into two parallel tracks with different mechanics:
| Texting (SMS/MMS) | Calling (voice) | |
|---|---|---|
| What you register | A Brand + Campaign in The Campaign Registry (10DLC), or verify a toll-free number, or lease a short code | Nothing self-registered; your voice provider signs your calls |
| The trust mechanism | Carrier vetting + Trust Score | STIR/SHAKEN attestation (A/B/C) assigned by your provider |
| The reputation layer | Carrier filtering / content rules | Hiya, TNS, First Orion “Spam Likely” labels |
| The legal layer | TCPA + CTIA (consent, STOP/HELP, privacy policy) | TCPA (consent for the call itself) |
If you both text and call, you run both tracks. They don’t substitute for each other.
The triad: delivered, legal, answered
The whole point of A2P qualification comes down to three jobs. Skip any one and you fail in a different way.
- Delivered — registration gets your traffic through the carriers. Register your brand/campaign (or verify toll-free, or lease a short code); for calling, earn A-level attestation. Without this, you’re blocked.
- Legal — consent compliance keeps you out of court. The TCPA carries $500–$1,500 per message in statutory damages with a private right of action. Document opt-in, honor STOP/HELP, publish a compliant privacy policy.
- Answered (trusted) — reputation and branding keep you from being labeled spam and ignored. Monitor and remediate spam labels; for calling, consider branded calling (BCID/RCD).
All three are required to actually reach customers at scale. Registration alone gets you delivered but not legal; compliance alone keeps you legal but not trusted.
Where to go next
Once you know your track:
- Texting → start with the 10DLC registration guide (the core path for local numbers), or read up on toll-free and short codes if those fit better.
- Not sure which number type? Compare them on the decision matrix or use the number-type recommender.
- Calling → read the calling overview for the two-layer trust model (attestation + reputation).
- Before you submit anything → run the A2P readiness checklist to catch the gaps that get registrations rejected.