Vonage Helps Shape the Future of Compliant Business Messaging
The official 10DLC Compliance Handbook, the definitive guide for compliant business text messaging via local U.S. phone numbers, has been approved by all major U.S. carriers and is now live on the 10DLC Council website. This milestone comes after nearly two years of cross-industry collaboration, multiple rounds of carrier feedback, and broad consensus-building across the 10DLC ecosystem.
This isn’t just a product update — it’s a landmark moment for compliant business messaging in the United States, and one that reflects Vonage’s unique and pivotal role in shaping how the industry operates.
What is the 10DLC Council — and why does it matter?
The 10DLC Council is a collaborative forum organized by The Campaign Registry (TCR), comprised of organizations and industry leaders that actively participate in the 10DLC ecosystem. The Council meets monthly to bridge the gap between policy and practice, guided by three core pillars: identifying key issues, evaluating what can be done better, and brainstorming real-world solutions for the entire messaging community.
Vonage is an active member of this council, and the company's involvement goes well beyond participation. Vonage served as the lead author of this handbook, alongside contributors from Sinch, Infobip, EZ Texting, Bandwidth, Cisco, Syniverse, and CasselRoad.
What the handbook covers
The 10DLC Compliance Handbook is the definitive, carrier-backed guide for launching and operating compliant 10DLC business messaging programs in the United States. It addresses the full lifecycle of a 10DLC program:
- Brand and campaign registration: Requirements for compliant brand registration, identity verification, vetting, and campaign use case selection
- Campaign review and approval: How campaigns are reviewed by connectivity partners and MNOs, standardized rejection categories, and resolution strategies
- Best practices for compliant messaging: Consumer consent, opt-in/opt-out requirements, privacy policies, disallowed content, and messaging security
- Appendix: Example messages, call-to-actions, and additional industry resources
The handbook establishes a single, carrier-backed standard across 10DLC brand registration and vetting, campaign registration, rejection criteria, consent, and other messaging best practices, eliminating the fragmentation that has long complicated compliance for businesses.
Why this matters for Vonage and its customers
Vonage plays multiple, interconnected roles in the 10DLC ecosystem. The company is a Campaign Service Provider (CSP), a Direct Connect Aggregator (DCA), and a leading Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) and Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) provider. This broad footprint across the Communiations APIs and Unified Communications and Contact Center applications businesses means 10DLC compliance touches virtually everything Vonage does in U.S. messaging.
This handbook delivers concrete strategic and operational advantages.
For Communications APIs customers and partners:
- Standardized review criteria and rejection categories across carriers and connectivity partners will help streamline the 10DLC registration experience, reducing back-and-forth, speeding time to launch, and lowering customer friction.
- Clear, carrier-endorsed compliance rules help protect Vonage and our customers from the consequences of non-compliance, including messaging partner non-compliance fees, carrier fines, and service disruptions.
For Unified Communications and Contact Center customers:
The handbook provides clear, standardized compliance guidance, so Unified Communications and Contact Center customers can confidently run 10DLC messaging programs without having to navigate complex, fragmented carrier rules on their own.
For Vonage as a whole:
- Vonage's direct role in drafting this handbook demonstrates industry leadership and reinforces our standing as a trusted authority on compliant business messaging in the U.S.
- It positions Vonage as an advocate for our customers within the U.S. messaging ecosystem. Vonage isn't just a conduit, but a participant shaping the rules.
Part of a bigger compliance story
The publication of this handbook is not an isolated event. It's the latest chapter in Vonage’s long-standing commitment to messaging compliance and consumer trust.
10DLC itself emerged from a multi-year industry effort to bring accountability to application-to-person (A2P) messaging in the U.S., codified through CTIA’s Messaging Principles and Best Practices and enforced by major carriers. Vonage has been a compliance-forward participant throughout, maintaining dedicated compliance review processes, enforcing content policies that align with CTIA and carrier guidelines, and providing customers with tools, from Opt-Out Assist to fraud monitoring, to maintain compliant messaging programs.
The 10DLC Compliance Handbook is a natural extension of that commitment. By helping write the rulebook, Vonage ensures that the standards shaping our industry are practical, customer-centric, and grounded in real-world operational experience.
Access the handbook
The 10DLC Compliance Handbook is publicly available now:
Official website: 10dlccouncil.com
Whether you are a brand looking to register a 10DLC campaign, a developer building with Vonage APIs, or a compliance professional navigating U.S. carrier requirements, this handbook is a comprehensive, carrier-approved resource.
If you have questions about 10DLC registration or compliance, please contact your Vonage account manager or visit the 10DLC resource center.
