Short Codes & Long Codes | 7 Media Group
7 Media Group   Number Types   Explained

Pick the
Right Number.
Own the Channel.

Short code, long code, toll-free. Three paths to your customer's pocket. Only one is right for your program. Here's how to choose — and what to demand from whoever runs it.

Short Code: 5–6 Digits 10DLC: TCR Registered Toll-Free: 8XX Verified CTIA Compliant Carrier Approved Aggregator No Filtering. No Throttling. Short Code: 5–6 Digits 10DLC: TCR Registered Toll-Free: 8XX Verified CTIA Compliant Carrier Approved Aggregator No Filtering. No Throttling.

// The three number types that actually matter

555·867·5309 10-Digit Local Number
10DLC Local presence at scale. Requires brand + campaign registration via The Campaign Registry (TCR).
Best for ongoing marketing & loyalty programs
Two-way conversations mixing sales and service
Local-number feel without short code cost
Performance depends entirely on your vendor's registration quality
7MG Pricing
New Toll-Free Number $20 setup / $5 mo
Text-Enable Your Number $55 setup / $15 mo
High Volume Pick 77777 5 or 6-Digit Dedicated Number
Dedicated Short Code Carrier-sanctioned, rigorously approved, and yours alone. Zero sharing. Zero filtering risk.
No other business on the planet shares your number
Built for high-volume promotions where filtering is unacceptable
Time-sensitive campaigns that must reach everyone, fast
Memorable number = stronger list-growth performance
7MG Pricing
One-Time Carrier Setup $2,000
Monthly Short Code Lease $1,000 / mo
Monthly Maintenance $250 / mo
800·575·9715 Verified Toll-Free 8XX
Toll-Free Verified One national number for both voice and text. Solid throughput once verified. New rules as of Jan 1, 2026.
Customer care, reminders, and confirmations
Operations teams that need one number for voice + SMS
New registrations now require EIN, entity type & country of registration
Previously verified numbers are not affected
Registration Update
Effective Date Jan 1, 2026
Required: EIN + Entity Type Mandatory
🚫
Red Flag: The "Blast from a Regular Number" Pitch If a vendor tells you they can blast marketing messages from a standard 10-digit number with no registration, walk away. US carriers have moved all business messaging to sanctioned routes: 10DLC, verified toll-free, and short codes. Anything outside those lanes is gambling with your brand's deliverability. In 2026, the path of least resistance is the fastest route to getting filtered.
Before You Sign Anything // Questions every SMS vendor must answer
01 / Registration & Compliance
→Do you handle TCR brand and campaign registration for 10DLC, or is that on me?
→How do you manage toll-free verification submissions and updates?
→How do you enforce CTIA opt-in and opt-out standards within your platform?
→How do you handle opt-in language, HELP/STOP responses, and frequency disclosures?
02 / Deliverability
→What happens when a carrier starts filtering my traffic?
→What monitoring is in place and what does your remediation process look like?
→Can you provide message-level delivery reporting I can actually act on?
03 / Infrastructure
→Do you use a carrier-approved upstream aggregator for message delivery?
→Which aggregator? (If they won't answer this directly, that's your answer.)
→What is your throughput guarantee and what happens when you miss it?
04 / Program Design
→How do you ensure my message content aligns with what carriers allow?
→How do you handle keyword flows and two-way conversation logic?
→Do you own outcomes end-to-end, or do you sell tooling and let me figure it out?
Match Your Use Case // Channel fit by program type
⚡ Need Speed + Scale

Large list, zero tolerance for filtering, time-sensitive campaigns. Short code is your safest bet. The approval process is rigorous precisely because it earns you carrier trust.

💬 Need Two-Way Conversation

Mixing sales outreach with customer service replies at real scale. 10DLC usually wins here. Local-number presence with proper TCR registration delivers solid performance.

🏢 Need One National Number

Operations and marketing on the same number, voice and SMS unified. Verified toll-free handles it. Just have your EIN and entity documents ready if registering new in 2026.

7 Media Group Pricing // Transparent. No markup. No surprises.
Dedicated Short Code 5 or 6 digits // yours alone
One-Time Carrier Setup $2,000
Monthly Short Code Lease $1,000 / mo
Monthly Maintenance $250 / mo

These are actual hard costs with no markup. Approval requires carrier review and takes several weeks — plan your timeline accordingly.

10-Digit Long Code 10DLC // toll-free or existing number
New Toll-Free Number $20 setup / $5 mo
Text-Enable Your Existing Number $55 setup / $15 mo

We handle TCR registration, campaign setup, and ongoing compliance. You choose whether to use a new toll-free number or your dealership's existing phone number.

🔏

7 Media Group handles registration, compliance, and carrier relations end-to-end. We've been managing 10DLC programs for well over a year with active clients already running. You don't deal with TCR. You don't deal with the carriers. We own that layer so you can focus on your customers.

Not sure which
number is right for you?

A 15-minute conversation is all it takes to figure out the right channel, the right registration path, and what it will actually cost.

Schedule a Brief Demo →

SMS was developed in 1984 by inventors Friedhelm Hillebrand and Bernard Ghillebaert as part of their work on the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) standard for telephone communication.