Home security is a compliance-heavy trade already: permits, licensing, monitoring contracts, false-alarm ordinances. A2P 10DLC is the one most dealers learn about the hard way — when the summer team's follow-up texts stop getting replies, because software-sent messages from an unregistered number get blocked or silently filtered in 2026.
A2P means application-to-person: texts sent by software (your CRM or follow-up tool) rather than typed on a handset, from an ordinary 10-digit local number. AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon require every business sending A2P texts to register with The Campaign Registry (TCR): a Brand (who you are) and a Campaign (what you text, with real samples). Registered traffic gets delivered; unregistered traffic gets rejected or filtered.
The alarm industry earned decades of complaints through boiler-room telemarketing, “your alarm company went out of business” slam calls, and door-knock crews texting whole neighborhoods. Carrier filters learned from every one of those reports, so security vocabulary — alarm, break-in, monitoring, free system — draws extra scrutiny even on clean numbers. Registration plus clean copy is how a legitimate home security sales team gets treated like a business instead of a slammer.
Whoever owns the sending numbers. An authorized dealer texting its own leads and customers registers its own brand on its own EIN — the national brand's registration does not extend to your numbers, and filing under their name when your EIN says otherwise fails vetting. Identify your dealership in messages: “Sentinel Security, an authorized [Brand] dealer” is fine.
Independent reps without an EIN can file as Sole Proprietor, capped around 1,000 messages a day with the heaviest filtering. If you hold an alarm license, you have an entity; register it.
Most dealers fit Low Volume Mixed (under about 2,000 messages/day, roughly $1.50–2/month) or Mixed (about $10–12/month): quotes and follow-ups are marketing, install scheduling and account notices are customer care, and one Mixed campaign covers both.
“Sentinel Security Group sends quote follow-ups, installation scheduling confirmations, technician arrival notifications, alarm permit renewal reminders, and occasional system upgrade offers to homeowners who requested a quote via our website or from a company representative, and to existing monitoring customers. All messages identify Sentinel Security Group and include opt-out instructions.”
The classic alarm-industry pitch is a deceptive-marketing flag to vetters, because the “free” system rides on a 36-month monitoring contract. Say “$0 upfront with monitoring plan” and disclose the contract.
Anything guaranteeing police dispatch, response times, or “24/7 protection that never fails” is unverifiable-claim territory. Dispatch is the police department's call, not yours. “Professionally monitored 24/7” is accurate and passes.
“Break-ins are up in your area” blasts are among the most-reported message patterns in home services. High report rates will get a registered campaign suspended after approval, not just rejected before it.
Alarm slamming enforcement history means impersonation of another company (“we're taking over your monitoring”) in any message is a serious legal problem, far beyond vetting.
Alarm-permit renewal reminders to your own customers are great customer-care content. Cold texts to strangers about “expiring permits” you know nothing about read as a scam pattern and require the express written consent you do not have — see our TCPA compliance guide.
TCR scores your brand 0–100 and the score sets capacity: T-Mobile enforces published daily caps, AT&T rate-limits per minute, Verizon filters on reputation.
| Trust score | Tier | T-Mobile daily cap | Dealer reality check |
|---|---|---|---|
| 75–100 | Top | ~200,000/day | National brands and mega-dealers |
| 50–74 | Upper-mid | ~40,000/day | Multi-market dealer groups |
| 25–49 | Lower-mid | ~10,000/day | Typical established dealer; plenty |
| 0–24 | Low | ~2,000/day | New dealer entities; enough for a summer team |
| Sole Proprietor | Bottom | ~1,000/day | Heavy filtering — avoid if you hold a license and EIN |
A 10-rep summer team doing honest follow-up rarely breaks 1,000 texts a day, so even the low tier covers you; if your score disappoints, external vetting (roughly $40 one-time) can re-score the brand.
Opt-in: capture consent with the number — quote form checkbox: “I agree to receive texts from Sentinel Security about my quote and installation. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out.”
At the door, give reps one script: “What's the best number to text your quote to? You'll get the quote and install updates by text — reply STOP anytime to stop them.” The rep logs number, date, time, and address with the lead; that record is what ends any consent dispute.
Opt-out: STOP, CANCEL, QUIT suppress the number immediately and permanently, across sales follow-up and account notices alike. Footer for the first message of a thread and any blast:
“Sentinel Security Group. Msg & data rates may apply. Msg frequency varies. Reply HELP for help, STOP to opt out.”
Consent requirements, quiet hours (federal 8am–9pm recipient local time, stricter in some states), and per-state wrinkles live on the TCPA side, separate from 10DLC; the state SMS rules hub has the map.
On Twilio-backed platforms, unregistered US-bound traffic dies at the API with error 30034 (“message from an unregistered number”). Elsewhere, carriers filter silently: the CRM says delivered-ish, the homeowner's phone shows nothing, and the summer team concludes texting “doesn't work in this market.” Every filtered message also erodes the number's reputation, slowing the recovery. Our Twilio deliverability guide covers the diagnosis.
Cross-selling adjacent trades? The process is identical — see the companion guides for solar companies and pest control operators. Same registry, different samples.
FollowUp handles all of this for security dealers: the Autopilot tier includes a dedicated 10DLC-registered business number — brand and campaign vetting already done — with opt-outs and quiet hours enforced automatically. No TCR forms, no vetting queue, no error 30034.
Yes. Any alarm or home security dealer sending business SMS to US numbers through software from a 10-digit local number must register a brand and campaign with The Campaign Registry (TCR). In 2026, Twilio rejects unregistered US-bound traffic with error 30034, and AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon filter unregistered traffic on other routes.
Brand registration is a $4 one-time fee. Campaign registration adds approximately $15 in one-time vetting plus roughly $1.50 to $12 per month depending on use case. A typical dealer fits Low Volume Mixed (about $1.50 to $2/month) or Mixed (about $10/month). Carriers add small per-segment surcharges.
The usual triggers: “free system” or “free installation” claims in samples, fear-based urgency copy, guaranteed police-response or dispatch-time claims, campaign descriptions that read like door-knocking lead generation, and missing opt-in or opt-out language. Rewrite samples around quotes, install scheduling, and account follow-up, then resubmit.
Whoever owns the number and sends the texts. If you are an authorized dealer texting your own leads and customers from your own numbers, your dealer entity registers its own brand and campaign. The national brand's registration does not cover your traffic. Register the entity on your EIN and identify your dealership in messages.
Existing customers, yes: permit-renewal reminders, service notices, and upgrade offers to your own customer base are exactly what a Mixed campaign covers, provided they opted in and have not replied STOP. Cold-texting strangers about “expiring permits” or “neighborhood break-ins” is both a vetting rejection and a TCPA problem, since automated marketing texts require prior express written consent.