Texting
What you'll need to turn on texting.
US carriers require every business that texts from software to register once, under its own legal name, before its messages are delivered. It is the same rule for every product — Jobber, Housecall Pro, and WorkBench included. Gather three things first and the form takes about ten minutes; the carriers then usually approve in one to three business days.
Calls and voicemail on your number work from day one. Texting from it switches on by itself when the registration clears, and we tell you the moment it does.
Pick your lane
The registry treats a business with a tax ID and a one-person operation differently. Choose the one that describes you; the form asks the same question.
Registered business (has an EIN)
LLC, corporation or partnership. Verified against IRS records — instantly when everything matches.
- 1
Your IRS letter (CP575 or 147C)
The legal business name, EIN and address exactly as the IRS has them — including any “LLC” or “Inc.”
Why: The registry matches your EIN against IRS records letter for letter. A missing “LLC” or an old address is the most common reason a registration comes back.
- 2
An email for a named person at your own domain
Something like [email protected]. Not Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo or your internet provider, and not a shared box like info@ or contact@.
Why: Carriers want a reachable person who works at the business. Free and shared mailboxes are refused automatically, whatever software you register through.
- 3
A mobile number for that person
Where the registry or a carrier can reach someone with a question.
Why: Required on every registration.
- 4
Your business details in Settings → Business info
Business name, street address, phone, email and a short description. Until the review is complete they appear at the bottom of your WorkBench business page (workbenchfsm.com/book/your-name), along with your services and your own privacy policy and text terms; they come off the page by themselves once texting is approved. Give your own website on the form and they never go on the page.
Why: That page is the website on your registration unless you give your own. Reviewers reject a brand whose site lacks an address, phone, email or a description of what you do, or whose name differs from the registration.
- 5
Your website, if you have one
Optional — leave it blank to use your WorkBench business page. If you give one it must load and show your business name, address, phone, email and services.
Why: Reviewers check the website on the registration for all of those. A dead, bare or unrelated site gets the registration sent back.
- 6
A booking form that asks for a phone number
An item on your booking page (Settings → Booking & forms), shown on the page, with the phone field on. The text-message consent checkbox sits under that field.
Why: Carrier reviewers open that page to see how customers opt in. A page without the checkbox is sent back, and every re-file is a carrier fee.
Sole proprietor (no EIN)
The fast lane. You register as a person and verify with a PIN texted to your phone, usually within minutes.
- 1
Your own full legal name and address
As they appear on your ID. Home address is fine.
Why: Sole proprietors register as a person, so there is no EIN to match.
- 2
Your business details in Settings → Business info
Business name, street address, phone, email and a short description. Until the review is complete they appear at the bottom of your WorkBench business page (workbenchfsm.com/book/your-name), along with your services and your own privacy policy and text terms; they come off the page by themselves once texting is approved. Give your own website on the form and they never go on the page.
Why: That page is the website on your registration unless you give your own. Reviewers reject a brand whose site lacks an address, phone, email or a description of what you do, or whose name differs from the registration.
- 3
Any email you check
Gmail and the like are fine here.
Why: The business-domain rule only applies to businesses registering with an EIN.
- 4
Your mobile phone, within reach
The registry texts you a PIN. Enter it in WorkBench within 24 hours.
Why: The PIN is how a sole proprietor is verified — usually within minutes.
- 5
A booking form that asks for a phone number
An item on your booking page (Settings → Booking & forms), shown on the page, with the phone field on. The text-message consent checkbox sits under that field.
Why: Carrier reviewers open that page to see how customers opt in. A page without the checkbox is sent back, and every re-file is a carrier fee.
Why the rules are this strict
It's how carriers stop spam
Since 2023, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon only deliver software-sent texts from a number tied to a verified business. Registered numbers get through; unregistered ones are filtered or blocked.
The EIN is matched letter for letter
The registry compares your legal name and address to the IRS record for that EIN. It doesn't know your DBA or that you moved — so the IRS letter, not memory, is the source.
A real person, at the real business
Carriers want someone they can reach if a complaint comes in. A Gmail address or a shared info@ box doesn't prove anyone works there, so both are refused automatically.
No company email yet? Three ways, ten minutes.
The address has to be at your own domain and named for a person — [email protected], not info@. It can forward to the inbox you already read; nobody expects you to check a second one.
Forward from your web domain (free)
If you own a domain for your website, your registrar — GoDaddy, Squarespace, Namecheap, Wix, IONOS — almost always includes email forwarding. Look for “Email forwarding” or “Forwarding” in the domain settings, create [email protected], and point it at your current inbox.
Cloudflare Email Routing (free)
If your domain's DNS is on Cloudflare, Email → Email Routing sets up a forwarding address in a few clicks. Sending from it isn't required for the registration; receiving is what matters.
Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 (about $7 a month)
A real mailbox at your domain, with calendar and storage. Worth it once you have staff. If you have no domain at all, buy one first — around $12 a year — and use option 1 or 2 with it.
Give the new address a few minutes to start receiving before you file, then send yourself a test.
What happens after you submit
Right away
Your business is verified
An EIN that matches IRS records verifies on the spot. A sole proprietor gets a PIN by text and enters it in WorkBench.
1–3 business days
Carriers review the application
The registry sends your registration to the carriers. This part can't be rushed by anyone, whichever software you use. Occasionally it takes up to seven.
The moment it clears
You're told, and texting turns on
Owners get a notification and an email. Appointment reminders, invoice links and replies start going out from your number, in your name.
If something's off
You're told exactly what
A notification and an email carry the registry's own reason and a Fix and resubmit button. Corrected details are re-filed right away — no waiting on us.
If it comes back: the five usual reasons
| The registry says | The fix |
|---|---|
| Legal name doesn't match the EIN | Copy it from your IRS letter (CP575 or 147C), including “LLC”, “Inc.” or “Corp.” — not the name on your truck. |
| Address doesn't match IRS records | Use the address on the same letter. If you've moved since, file IRS Form 8822-B first or register with the old address. |
| Personal, free or group email | Use a named person at your own domain: [email protected]. Not Gmail, Outlook or Yahoo, and not info@, contact@ or sales@. |
| EIN not found | Nine digits, first two from the IRS prefix list. New EINs can take a few weeks to appear in the registry's copy of the IRS database. |
| Website doesn't load or doesn't mention the business | Leave it blank to use your WorkBench business page, or give a site that loads and shows your business name, address, phone, email and services. |
| Brand name doesn't match the opt-in form | WorkBench registers your business under the name in Settings → Business Info, the same name your booking page and texts use. Rename it there, not on the form. |
Stuck on any of them? Call or email us and we'll go through the form with you.
Ready to register?
Open Settings → Phone & texting in WorkBench with your IRS letter and a work email handy. Ten minutes, once.