Moving industry know-how
Texting rules: A2P 10DLC, consent and quiet hours
What US carriers and the law expect from a business that texts customers — 10DLC registration, consent, STOP, quiet hours and content — and what MoveBoard does for you.
- 2 min read
- Checked against MoveBoard
- For owners & admins, sales
Texting customers is fast and they read it — which is why carriers and the law set rules on business texting. Breaking them can mean blocked messages, carrier fines or, under the TCPA, lawsuits.
A2P 10DLC registration
A2P means "application to person": texts sent by a business system. 10DLC means an ordinary 10-digit long code number. US carriers require every business that texts from 10-digit numbers to register its brand and its use case (for example "customer care and appointment reminders") through The Campaign Registry. Unregistered texts are filtered or blocked. Registration takes days to a few weeks.
Consent (TCPA)
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act requires consent before you text:
- Transactional texts — about a move the customer asked for (quote, booking, crew on the way): the customer giving you their number for the move is generally consent.
- Marketing texts — promotions, review requests, "book now" offers: need clear written consent, which can't be a condition of buying.
Keep a record of how and when each customer gave their number.
STOP
Every customer can opt out by replying STOP. Once they do, you must not text them again unless they opt back in (usually by replying START). Carriers enforce this.
Quiet hours
Telemarketing rules forbid marketing messages before 8 AM and after 9 PM in the customer's time zone, and some states are stricter. A reminder the customer expects is safer, but courtesy says: no texts in the night.
Content
Name your company in the message, don't use link shorteners carriers distrust, and avoid wording that looks like spam (all caps, "FREE!!!"). Never text sensitive data such as card numbers.
In MoveBoard
- MoveBoard registers your company for texting and shows where your registration stands; no text goes until it is complete. See Texting registration.
- A STOP reply puts the number on your opt-out list at once — nothing more is texted to it, by you or a workflow — and START puts it back. See Texting rules and opt-outs.
- Workflows keep quiet hours (no messages between 8 PM and 8 AM on your branch's clock) unless you untick them. See When messages go out.
Related guides
- Email, texts & callsTexting registration (A2P 10DLC)Why US carriers require your company to be registered before you can text customers, what MoveBoard does about it, and how to tell where your registration stands.
- Email, texts & callsTexting rules and opt-outsWho MoveBoard won't text and why — customers who replied STOP, numbers that can't receive texts, switched-off contacts — and the consent line on your website forms.
- Email, texts & callsWhen messages go outWhat time your automatic emails and texts reach customers — right away, at a set hour, or held until morning by quiet hours — and why a message you send yourself always goes at once.
- Email, texts & callsText a customerSend a text from the order or the Messages page — to one number or several, with pictures and files — and what stops a text from going.
- Workflows & automationQuiet hoursWhy a workflow's message waits until morning — the 8 PM to 8 AM quiet hours, which workflows keep them, and the links that always do.
Still stuck? A person will help.
Open a ticket from Support inside MoveBoard, or email us — we usually reply within one business day.