--- title: "Business Texting Glossary | Quick Send Business" description: "Plain-English definitions of business texting terms: SMS segments, credits, 10DLC, A2P, toll-free verification, TCPA consent, opt-outs, quiet hours, and more." url: "https://quicksendbusiness.com/glossary" --- [Home](/)Glossary # Business texting glossary Every term you'll run into when setting up business texting, defined in plain English: message mechanics, number types and carrier registration, and the consent rules that keep senders compliant. In this glossary 1. [Messaging basics](#messaging-basics) 2. [Numbers and registration](#numbers-and-registration) 3. [Compliance and consent](#compliance-and-consent) ## Messaging basics SMS Short Message Service: the standard text message. Plain text, up to 160 characters per segment, delivered to any mobile phone without an app. MMS Multimedia Messaging Service: a text message that carries media (photos, GIFs) and longer text. MMS costs more to send than SMS; on Quick Send Business a photo message uses 3 credits per recipient. SMS segment The billing unit of a text message. One segment holds up to 160 characters of plain (GSM) text. Longer messages split into multiple segments and are billed per segment. Emojis and special characters switch the encoding and lower the limit to 70 characters per segment.See also: [Mass texting cost guide](/guides/mass-texting-cost) Message credit The prepaid unit most texting platforms meter usage in. One credit covers one SMS segment to one recipient. A 200-character text to one person uses 2 credits; an MMS typically uses 3.See also: [Pricing](/pricing) Mass text One message sent to many recipients where each person receives it as a private, individual conversation. Recipients never see each other, and replies come back only to the sender.See also: [Mass text vs group text](/guides/mass-text-vs-group-text) Group text A shared thread where every participant sees every number and every reply. Native phone apps cap groups around 20 to 30 people. The wrong tool for business messaging, where recipients expect privacy. Text blast Informal name for a mass text campaign: one message delivered to a whole list at once as individual 1:1 texts.See also: [How to send a text blast](/guides/how-to-send-a-text-blast) Merge field A placeholder like {first\_name} in a message template that fills in with each recipient's own data at send time, so a bulk message reads like a personal one.See also: [Message templates](/message-templates) Keyword (text-to-join) A word people text to your number to opt in or trigger a response, like texting JOIN to subscribe. The inbound message doubles as a consent record. ## Numbers and registration A2P (application-to-person) Messaging sent from software to individuals: campaigns, reminders, alerts. US carriers require A2P traffic to come from registered business numbers and police it separately from person-to-person texting. P2P (person-to-person) Ordinary texting between two people from their own phones. Business traffic that pretends to be P2P (for example, blasting from a personal number) is what carrier spam filters hunt for. Long code A standard 10-digit phone number. For business texting, local long codes must be registered through the 10DLC system before sending campaigns. 10DLC 10-digit long code: the carrier framework that lets businesses text from registered local numbers. Your business registers as a brand and your use case as a campaign, reviewed in 1 to 3 business days. Costs $10/mo on Quick Send Business.See also: [Toll-free vs 10DLC](/guides/toll-free-vs-10dlc) Toll-free number A number with an 833/844/888-style prefix. For texting, each toll-free number completes a free one-time verification (typically 1 to 2 weeks) and then sends at high throughput. Every Quick Send Business plan includes one. Toll-free verification The carrier review of a business and its use case before a toll-free number can send campaigns: business details, sample messages, and how recipients opt in. Free, no monthly fee, and required before sending.See also: [How registration works](/how-registration-works) Short code A 5 or 6 digit number (like 55555) leased for very high-volume texting, at a cost of roughly $500 to $1,000+ per month. Used by banks and national brands; more than most businesses need. The Campaign Registry (TCR) The central registry US carriers use to track 10DLC brands and campaigns. Platforms like Quick Send Business file registrations with TCR on your behalf; you never interact with it directly. Brand registration The business-identity half of 10DLC registration: legal name, EIN, address, and contact details registered with The Campaign Registry so carriers know who is sending. Campaign registration The use-case half of 10DLC registration: what kind of messages you send (reminders, marketing, alerts), sample content, and how people opt in. Carriers review and approve it before sending starts. EIN Employer Identification Number: the IRS business tax ID used to verify your business during carrier registration. Free to obtain from the IRS. Required for toll-free verification; sole proprietors without one can register a single 10DLC number via SMS identity verification. Throughput How fast a number can send: messages per second or per day. Verified toll-free numbers send around 20 messages per second; baseline 10DLC tiers allow roughly 2,000 messages per day on major carriers, raisable through brand vetting. ## Compliance and consent TCPA The Telephone Consumer Protection Act: the US law governing texts and calls to consumers. It requires consent before texting, honors of opt-outs, and carries statutory damages of $500 to $1,500 per violating message.See also: [SMS compliance guide](/guides/sms-compliance-tcpa) Prior express written consent The TCPA consent standard for marketing texts: a signed or checked agreement (electronic counts) naming the business, describing the messages, and stating that consent is not a condition of purchase.See also: [SMS opt-in examples](/guides/sms-opt-in-examples) Opt-in The affirmative act of agreeing to receive texts: checking an unchecked box, texting a keyword, or signing a form. Pre-checked boxes and buried terms do not count. Opt-out A recipient's withdrawal of consent, usually by replying STOP. Opt-outs must take effect immediately, and texting someone after they opt out is a TCPA violation. STOP / HELP keywords Reserved reply keywords carriers require every business sender to honor: STOP unsubscribes the recipient, HELP returns business contact info. Platforms handle both automatically. Suppression list The platform-wide list of numbers that must never be texted again: opt-outs, carrier-flagged numbers, and manual exclusions. Applied automatically to every send. Quiet hours The window outside of which marketing texts should not be sent: roughly before 8am or after 9pm in the recipient's local time under the TCPA, with some states enforcing stricter windows. SHAFT content Sex, hate, alcohol, firearms, and tobacco: content categories US carriers prohibit or restrict on A2P routes regardless of consent, along with cannabis and CBD. Carrier filtering Automated blocking of messages carriers score as spam or policy-violating. Common triggers: unregistered numbers, public link shorteners, prohibited content, and volume spikes from new senders. Delivery rate The percentage of sent messages confirmed delivered to handsets. Healthy registered senders see high 90s; a falling delivery rate usually signals filtering or a stale list. New to business texting? Start with [how to send a mass text](/guides/how-to-send-a-mass-text) and the [SMS compliance guide](/guides/sms-compliance-tcpa). ## Fluent enough? Put it to work Sign up and the registration vocabulary is handled for you: one form, and your first campaign is out the door. [Start Free](/signup)[See Pricing](/pricing) ### Just texting friends, family, or a small group? Quick Send for iPhone sends personalized mass texts right from your phone. No registration, no monthly platform. [Get the iPhone app](https://quicksendapp.com)