messaging
A long code is a standard 10-digit phone number used for both calls and texts. It's the same format as a normal business or mobile number. It is the default number type behind almost all business SMS today.
Long codes are what most people mean by "a phone number": area code plus seven digits. They're capable of both voice calls and text messages. When a business texts customers from its main line, that line is a long code. It doesn't matter whether it started as a mobile number or a VoIP business number.
In the US, sending business texts from a long code at meaningful volume requires A2P 10DLC registration. That's because long codes were originally designed for person-to-person texting, not automated bulk sends.
Compared to a short code, a long code is far cheaper, faster to set up (often same-day), and doubles as the number customers already call. That way, there's only one number to remember, rather than a separate texting number.
Worked example
A 6-person accounting firm texts appointment reminders and document requests from the same long code number clients call.
Clients save one number in their contacts for both calls and texts instead of juggling a separate texting-only line.
Why it matters to a small team
For nearly every small business, a long code registered for A2P messaging is the right and only tool needed. It's one number for calls and texts, set up in minutes rather than weeks, at normal phone-plan pricing.
A long code is a standard 10-digit number used for both calls and texts at everyday volume. A short code is a 5 or 6-digit, text-only number built for sending millions of messages a day, leased separately at much higher cost.
It can send a small number of texts, but in the US, sustained business texting from a long code needs A2P 10DLC registration or messages are throttled and increasingly filtered by carriers as suspected spam.
Yes, a standard mobile number is a long code by format. What changes for business use is registering the number's owner and use case with carriers so texts sent at volume are trusted and delivered.
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