How do I apply for texting?

Before you can text a lead, your business has to be registered with the mobile carriers. It's an industry requirement called 10DLC, and every company that sends business texts goes through it. You fill in one form. We submit it and handle the back and forth with the carriers, and they decide.

Most rejections come down to one of two things: the wrong tax number, or a business name that doesn't match the paperwork. Both are avoidable.

Start the application

Click Messages in the sidebar. If you're not registered yet, you'll see Register to use Messages instead of your inbox.

Click Apply for Texting. The form has three steps: Business, Review, and Fee.

Step 1: your business details

Two fields on this screen decide whether you're approved.

Use your business EIN, not your Social Security Number

Your Tax ID (EIN) has to be the nine-digit Employer Identification Number the IRS issued to your business. A Social Security Number is also nine digits, which is why people reach for it, but it isn't valid here and the registration will be rejected.

No EIN yet? You can get one from the IRS, usually the same day. There's a link on the form itself, and we have a separate article on it.

This one is hard to undo. Once your EIN is saved it can't be changed from inside Lineage. If you need to correct it later, contact support.

Your business name has to match your EIN letter exactly

Enter the legal business name as it appears on your IRS EIN letter. Not a DBA, not a nickname, not the name on your website.

Exactly means exactly:

• the same wording
• the same punctuation
• the same spacing
• INC or LLC included if the letter has it

Carriers match this against IRS records character by character.

Upload your EIN letter

The application won't submit without it. Either IRS document works:

• CP-575, the original confirmation letter the IRS mailed when your EIN was issued
• 147C, the verification letter the IRS can re-issue over the phone if you can't find your CP-575

PDF, JPG or PNG, up to 10 MB.

Check it before you continue

Under the upload, your business name and EIN are written back to you, with a checkbox confirming they match your letter letter-for-letter.

Read that card against your actual EIN letter before you tick it. This is the last point where a correction is free.

A rejection costs money. If the details don't match IRS records, the registration is rejected and resubmitting takes a second application fee of $35.

Your business address

This has to be the address associated with your EIN on IRS records, which isn't necessarily where you work today.

The rest of the step is contact details: your name, a business email, your National Producer Number, and a business phone.

Steps 2 and 3: review and fee

Review shows everything you entered on one screen. Read it once more, with your EIN letter next to you.

Fee takes the registration fee. Once that's paid, we submit the application to the carriers.

What happens next

Carrier review takes a few business days, and the timing isn't something we control. You don't need to do anything while it runs.

While your registration is in review, Messages stays locked. When it's approved, your inbox opens and you can start texting.

If something goes wrong that you need to act on, we'll contact you. If you see a status you don't understand, send us a message rather than starting a second application.

Need help?

• Knowledge base: Browse all help articles
• Email: support@lineagecrm.com
• Live chat: Click the chat icon in the bottom-right corner of any Lineage page

Updated on: 28/10/2026