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Common Issues with TCR Campaign Applications

Getting approved for a TCR application can present some challenges for some companies. This article explains the most common issues you may come up against, as well as how to resolve them

To initiate the campaign registration process, you first need 3 things-an EIN, business website, and a valid payment method on file with your account entered in your admin settings under billing>payment.

Employee Identification Number

All campaign applications must have an Employee Identification Number issued to the company from the US Federal Government. The EIN is used to verify the business, so the specific business name and address on file with the EIN must be provided on the form so that it matches what is associated with the EIN in the IRS database. Even an abbreviation difference can throw it off and cause the campaign to stall. 
A note for Sole Proprietors who do not have an EIN: 
For tax purposes, the IRS does not require sole proprietors to have an EIN. You can continue filing taxes using your SSN, regardless of whether you have an EIN or not since it's not required by the IRS for you. Having an EIN does not change your filling status, so there's no need to update business information based on it. When you apply for an EIN as a sole proprietor, it's just an identifying number you can use for your business when it's required. The TCR registration does require an EIN, this is the same across the industry. Getting an EIN is free, fast, and does not impact business operations in any way. You can apply directly at irs.gov. Here is a direct link to the application on the IRS website: https://sa.www4.irs.gov/applyein/ If you decide to do a single-member LLC in the future, you would keep the same EIN number as well since it is the same business structure.
If your EIN is newly issued, there may be a slight delay—this is common, as we have to wait for the IRS system to fully update before the new EIN can be verified in the TCR system. This update typically takes anywhere from 24 hours to about 2 weeks.

Website

Under current rules, all campaigns must have a direct link to their business website. The website must load fully on its own and be publicly visible. It should reflect your online business presence including your business info and what your business does. If you do not have a website, you can use a third party site such as Psychology Today or a business profile on a directory as long as the site reflects your business presence online. Social media or the NPI database are not accepted at this time. 

SHAFT (illicit content) Violation

In texting compliance, SHAFT stands for Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, and Tobacco. These are restricted content categories under carrier and industry rules (like The Campaign Registry and mobile carrier policies) in order to protect consumers and keep messaging compliant with federal and carrier guidelines.

If a campaign mentions or promotes anything in these areas — even indirectly — it will be automatically rejected. If your campaign involves any of these topics and it cannot be adjusted to remove them from the website, we can review it first to see if we can recommend an approved path for approval.

Processing Timeframes

Once the EIN clears, we’ll immediately submit your campaign to our phone number carrier/host for the final stage of processing. At that point, the campaign leaves our hands and is handled entirely by the phone number carrier/host. They give us a processing timeframe of up to 15 business days from the date they receive the campaign. While we can't view its internal status during this time, we do receive automated alerts when the campaign is updated in the TCR portal. If approved, your texts will begin being received again automatically, as the phone number is now tied to a verified and registered campaign. We’ll send a confirmation email from our team to let you know everything is complete.

Once approved, the campaign is added to the numbers on your account. While it is approved, there is sometimes a lag between approval and when the campaign updates with the phone number carriers/hosts upstream in the industry that can take up to 24-72 hours.

Processing Stages

As there are multiple agencies involved in text campaign registration, we have developed stages that a campaign goes through to help you keep track of where it is in the process.

Stage 0 - Form Submission & Initial Review
Once you submit your campaign details, our team reviews them for completeness and accuracy.

We verify that:
Website and contact information are valid
Use case and sample messages align with campaign type

If anything looks incomplete or inconsistent, we’ll reach out for clarification before sending it toThe Campaign Registry.


Stage 1 - Brand Creation
Your business is verified through TCR by confirming that the name and address submitted on the campaign matches exactly with what is associated with your EIN in the IRS system.
This confirms your brand identity and determines your trust score.

Stage 11 - Brand Error
If the IRS record does not match the submitted EIN information, the brand will be declined and need correction in order to proceed processing .

Stage 12 - Invalid Brand
If the campaign form is missing information, or has invalid information submitted, the brand will be declined and need correction to proceed forward.

Stage 2 - Ein Verfied
Once verified, your brand only needs to be approved once — you can use it for multiple campaigns.

Stage 3 - A campaign is Added to your Brand.

Stage 4 - Campaign is Submitted to the Carrier for Review/Vetting

After brand approval, your campaign details are sent to the phone number carrier/host and go through content vetting by TCR’s approved review partners (e.g., Sinch, Campaign Verify, Bandwidth, or WMC Global).

They check for:

  • Opt-in, opt-out, and HELP language

  • Prohibited content (SHAFT, financial, or other restricted topics)

  • Matching between website, domain, and business name

  • Compliance with messaging guidelines

Stage 41 - Campaign is declined. 
Declines can occurs for many reasons, and we try to ensure successful campaigns during our review prior to submitting them for vetting. However, declines can occur and if they do we will reach out with the reason for the decline and how to adjust the campaign so that it can be resubmitted for approval.

Stage 5 - Campaign is approved. 
If approved, your texts will begin being received again automatically, as the phone number is now tied to a verified and registered campaign. We’ll send a confirmation email from our team to let you know everything is complete.