01 / WHAT EACH IS FOR
Texts are for right now, email is for keeps
A text gets read on the driveway, between jobs, at a red light. It suits a message that matters today and fits on a phone screen without scrolling. Email gets read at a desk or on the couch. It suits anything with a price, a document or a link the customer will come back to.
The mistake is choosing one for everything. A quote crammed into a text is hard to read and impossible to find a month later. An "on my way" sent by email is read after the truck has already left.
| MESSAGE | BETTER AS | WHY |
|---|---|---|
| Appointment reminder the day before | Text | Short, and it matters tomorrow. A reply of "can we move it?" comes back the same way. |
| On my way, running late, job done | Text | It is only useful in the next hour. |
| Quote or estimate | Email, with a text that it was sent | It has a price, a scope and terms the customer will reread. See how to follow up on quotes that go quiet. |
| Invoice and receipt | The customer files it, and so does their accountant. | |
| Review request | Email first | No registration needed, and it can wait until the evening. Here is how one shop asks every customer. |
| News, offers, seasonal reminders | Easy to ignore politely. Promotional texts are where consent matters most. |
02 / THE TEXTING RULES
A2P 10DLC, in plain words
Email needs no carrier sign-up. Texting from software does. A2P means application to person, and 10DLC means an ordinary ten-digit local number. Twilio, one of the large texting providers, describes it as the standard US carriers use to make sure texts from local numbers are "verified and consensual".
- Who has to register. Twilio puts it plainly: "Anyone sending SMS/MMS messages over a 10DLC number from an application to the US must register for A2P 10DLC." Texts one person types to another on their own phone are person to person, and are not part of it. But a business texting app or a phone system that texts counts as an application: "US telecom carriers consider any messages sent from a Twilio number (or any other messaging provider) to be application to person."
- What you register. Two things. A Brand, which says who your business is, including its tax ID. And a Campaign, which describes your messages and "how end users can opt-in, opt-out, and receive help". Write your details exactly as the IRS has them: Twilio advises you to "provide precise and current information that matches how you registered with your country's tax agency".
- Which kind of Brand. With an EIN, most small businesses fit the Low-Volume Standard Brand, which Twilio says "is best suited for customers sending fewer than 6,000 message segments per day". Without an EIN there is a Sole Proprietor Brand, limited to one Campaign and about 3,000 segments a day across US carriers.
- What it costs. "A one-time fee of $4.50 is required when registering a new Brand with TCR", with $41.50 more for vetting a Standard Brand. On top of that come monthly campaign fees and your provider's price per message.
- How long it takes. Twilio says "It may take 72 hours or more for Twilio to approve your Customer Profile." If your Brand goes to manual review, "Manual reviews take seven business days or more." Then "Campaign reviews take up to 5 business days for standard use cases." Plan on two to three weeks before the first text goes out.
- What happens if you skip it. Registering brings "lower message filtering and higher messaging throughput". Sending from a Twilio local number without it brings "additional carrier fees for sending unregistered traffic", and more of your texts filtered.
If your field service or shop software sends texts for you, it usually registers you through its own account. Twilio calls these companies ISVs, software companies that build messaging into their products for their customers. You still supply your business details, so the same advice about matching your tax records applies.
Fees and review times from Twilio's own pages, checked November 6, 2026: A2P 10DLC Brand Registration, A2P 10DLC Campaign Registration, Direct Standard and Low-Volume Standard Registration Guide. Other texting providers set their own prices, so check theirs before you choose.
03 / ADD IT UP
What each route costs you, hours included
The bills are small on every route. The difference is in hours, and in where the messages end up.
| ROUTE | WHAT YOU PAY | HOURS | GOOD TO KNOW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texting by hand from a cell phone | Nothing extra on your phone plan | Every text is typed by someone, every time | No registration. The conversations live on whoever's phone sent them, and leave when that person does. |
| Email from your own domain | The email you likely already pay for | Little, if your quoting and invoicing software sends it | No carrier sign-up. Read later, not right away. |
| Texting from software | $4.50 once to register a Brand, $41.50 more for a Standard Brand, monthly campaign fees, a price per text | An hour or two of forms, then two to three weeks of waiting | Messages go out on time with nobody typing. Registration has to be done before the first one. |
Count the typing. As an example, say you run 12 jobs a week and send three texts per job by hand: a reminder, an "on my way" and a "done". At about a minute each, that is 36 minutes a week, or around 31 hours a year, usually typed in a truck. Put in your own numbers.
Registration fees from Twilio's A2P 10DLC Brand Registration page and Campaign Registration page, checked November 6, 2026. The hours are an example: replace them with yours.
A texting tool is often one more monthly bill beside several others. Add up what your whole stack costs before adding it.
04 / WHICH FITS
When email is enough, and when to add texting
The cheaper route is often the right one. If you send a few texts a day and the rest goes by email, keep typing those texts and skip the registration. Add texting from software when the typing starts costing real hours, or when texts get forgotten.
EMAIL AND A PHONE ARE ENOUGH WHEN
- You send a few texts a day, and the same person sends them.
- Most of what you send is quotes, invoices and documents.
- Your quoting or invoicing software already emails customers for you.
- Customers book days or weeks ahead, so nothing is urgent within the hour.
TEXTING FROM SOFTWARE FITS WHEN
- Reminders and "on my way" texts take hours a week to type.
- No-shows happen because a reminder was forgotten.
- Customer conversations sit on techs' personal phones.
- You want a reminder to go out at 6pm whoever is working.
- Several people text customers and nobody sees the whole thread.
05 / BOTH IN ONE PLACE
Each message on the channel that suits it
In a system built for one business, the job decides the message and the message decides the channel. Nobody picks, nobody types the routine ones, and every message lands on the customer's record. It is the same idea as keeping customers updated on their car without the phone ringing all day.
- BOOKEDConfirmation by email
The date, the address and what to expect, somewhere the customer can find it again.
- DAY BEFOREReminder by text
One short line, and a reply to move it goes straight to the office.
- ON THE WAYA text when the tech leaves
Sent when the job is started on the tech's phone, with nobody typing.
- JOB DONEInvoice by email
With a link to pay, filed on the customer's record.
- THAT EVENINGReview request by email
The same message to every customer, never more than one reminder.
Texts and emails on one record · nothing typed twice
06 / WHAT YOU GET
What a system built for you gets you
Reminders by text, paperwork by email, set once for each kind of message.
Messages go out when the job moves, not when someone remembers.
Texts and emails on the customer's record, not on a tech's phone.
Texts come from your business number and emails from your own domain.
We gather your details and file the A2P 10DLC registration with you, before the first text goes out.
Someone who asks for email only, or texts STOP, is never texted again.
A built system is an upfront build and a monthly retainer that keeps it running and watched. We quote it after a call, from what it needs to do. Compare it with the hours your team spends typing today, not with the price of one texting app.
07 / QUESTIONS
Questions owners ask
Can I keep texting customers from my own cell phone?
Yes. Texts a person types to another person are what Twilio calls person to person traffic, and A2P 10DLC registration does not cover them. The catch is practical: the history lives on that phone, and nobody else in the business can see it.
Do I need to register if my software sends the texts?
The registration still has to happen, but the software company usually files it through its own account and asks you for your business details. Ask them whether you are registered, and under which use case.
Can I send promotions by text?
Registration treats them separately. Twilio says "A Campaign represents a single messaging use case which describes the type of messages you send to recipients, such as marketing promotions or order confirmations." Promotions are where consent matters most, so get clear permission first, keep an opt-out in every message, and check with your attorney before you start.
What about a toll-free number instead?
Toll-free numbers and short codes "aren't part of the A2P 10DLC system", but that does not mean no paperwork. Ask your provider what it requires for them before you choose.
What if a customer would rather not get texts?
Then do not text them. Keep a note on their record and send everything by email. A system that sends both should remember the choice so nobody has to.