A2P Messaging Setup — What Carriers Actually Read

What the use case actually declares

The use case tells carriers what kind of messages you'll send. Picking the wrong one is a common rejection reason — not because the wrong box is offensive, but because your samples then contradict your declaration, and a reviewer reads that as a campaign that doesn't know what it is.

Fees above are the carrier's campaign charges, separate from your Linxi number and message costs — see Pricing — Sends at Cost.

Which one is yours

Low Volume Mixed — good for:

• Medical office sending appointment reminders and study recruitment
• Event company sending ticket confirmations and promotions
• Small business sending order updates and sales announcements
• Platform sending system alerts and feature announcements

Customer Care — good for:

• Support ticket updates only
• Account notifications only
• No promotional content at all

Marketing — good for:

• Pure promotional campaigns
• Sales announcements only
• Never transactional messages

Sole Proprietor — good for:

• Personal number, no business EIN
• Someone texting friends about their band's show
• An individual freelancer texting clients personally

The three questions it has to answer

TCR reviewers read this field first. It needs to answer three things:

• Who are you?
• Who are you messaging?
• What are you sending them?

The formula:

Descriptions by industry

Medical / clinical

Events / entertainment

Platform / software (ISV)

Small business / retail

Sole proprietor / personal

What a reviewer checks, line by line

TCR reviewers check that your samples:

• Match your declared use case
• Include your brand / business name
• Include a STOP opt-out instruction
• Include the HELP keyword
• Include "Msg & data rates may apply"
• Actually include embedded links and phone numbers if you checked those boxes

The winning formula:

Medical — five samples

Events — five samples

Platform / ISV — five samples

Small business — five samples

Replace every bracketed placeholder here with your real business name, domain and phone before you submit — unlike [Date], a bracketed brand is not something a reviewer will fill in for you.

Sole proprietor — five samples

The field reviewers scrutinise most

This must describe every method by which a recipient can opt in. Reviewers visit the URLs you name and look for the consent language you claim is there — so a description that doesn't match the live page fails on the page, not on the wording.

Required elements:

• Where they opt in (URL, in person, keyword)
• What they agree to (the exact checkbox language)
• How it's recorded (timestamp, IP, staff ID)
• Confirmation that data is not shared

See also Opt-In Requirements for what has to be true of the form itself, and the Privacy Policy Guide for the page reviewers check next.

Templates by opt-in method

Web form

Verbal / in person

Keyword

Platform (ISV)

Multiple methods

The two checkboxes have to match your samples

If you checked these boxes you must include them in your sample messages. Reviewers verify this — it is one of the few checks that can be made mechanically, which is exactly why it catches people.

• Links: use your real domain (linxi.app, example.com)
• No URL shorteners (bit.ly, tinyurl) — carriers block these outright, because a shortened link hides its destination from filtering
• Phone: use your real business phone number
• Both must appear naturally in the message context, not bolted onto the end to satisfy the check

If you check both “Messages include links” and “Messages include phone numbers,” the strongest submissions include both in every sample message, not just somewhere across the set. This was the pattern in a real approved healthcare campaign submission and gives a reviewer nothing inconsistent to notice.

Run this before you submit

Every line here is something that has sent a real campaign back. Companion to the broader list on Key to Getting Approved — this one is messaging-setup only.

• ☐ Use case matches ALL types of messages you'll send
• ☐ Description names your business, audience, and message types
• ☐ Description ends with "No mobile data shared with third parties"
• ☐ At least 5 sample messages provided
• ☐ Each sample includes your brand name
• ☐ Each sample includes a real URL (not shortened)
• ☐ Every URL includes the full https:// prefix
• ☐ Each sample includes a real phone number
• ☐ Each sample includes the HELP keyword
• ☐ Each sample includes the STOP keyword
• ☐ Each sample includes "Msg & data rates may apply"
• ☐ Samples cover DIFFERENT types of messages (not all identical)
• ☐ If you checked "includes links" — links appear in samples
• ☐ If you checked "includes phone numbers" — numbers appear in samples
• ☐ If you checked BOTH — every sample contains a link AND a phone number
• ☐ Opt-in description names the specific URL or mechanism
• ☐ Opt-in description includes exact checkbox/consent language
• ☐ Opt-in description states data is not shared with third parties