US carriers require every business that texts customers to register first. You do it once, from the same Phone & texting card, after you have a number. Calls work the whole time.
Before you start, have these ready
- A booking form with the phone field on. The texting consent checkbox sits under it, and carriers check it. See Take bookings online.
- Registered business (has an EIN): your legal name, EIN and address exactly as on your IRS letter (CP575 or 147C), including "LLC" or "Inc."
- A contact email at your own domain with a person's name (like [email protected]). Gmail, Outlook and group inboxes like info@ or contact@ are refused by the carriers.
- Sole proprietor (no EIN): any email works. A PIN is texted to your mobile, and you have 24 hours to enter it.
- Your business phone, email, address, a short description and at least one service filled in, because carriers look at your public business page.
- Press Register for texting (toll-free numbers: Verify for texting).
- Choose Registered business or Sole proprietor and fill in the form. The website is optional. Leave it blank to use your WorkBench business page.
- Submit. Local numbers usually take 1–3 business days (up to 7). Toll-free takes 1–2 weeks.
- When it's approved, the card says Texting is on.
The full checklist, with the most common reasons carriers say no, is at workbenchfsm.com/texting-registration.