# Register Your Business URL: /docs/registration LLM index: /llms.txt Description: Carrier registration overview: what you need, how the review process works, and how to choose your registration path. Related: /docs/registration/api-walkthrough, /docs/registration/dashboard, /docs/registration/one-account-per-customer, /docs/registration/avoiding-rejection # Register Your Business To crack down on spam and other unwanted messaging, carriers must know the legal entity responsible for every text message sent from software to a device on their network. Before your messages will be delivered at scale from a dedicated number, you need to register two things: a **brand** (your business identity) and a **campaign** (what you're sending and why). Surge's Account → Campaign model maps directly to what carriers call a brand and its associated campaigns. | Surge term | Carrier term | What it represents | |---|---|---| | Account | Brand | A legal business entity | | Campaign | Campaign | A registered use case for sending messages | Registration typically completes in 24–48 hours, with a 72-hour maximum response window. ## Two paths to registration The preferred path. Use it if you're provisioning accounts for customers, automating onboarding, or just prefer working in code. Covers account creation through phone number purchase. The form-based alternative at `hq.surge.app`. Mirrors the API fields. Toll-free number verification is currently only available here (API support is planned). Pick the API path unless you need toll-free verification today, in which case start with the dashboard. ## What you'll need To complete registration you need: - Your business's legal name, EIN (US) or CBN (Canada), and registered address - A publicly accessible website that clearly reflects your business - A privacy policy and terms of service (both must be publicly accessible, not behind a login) - A clear description of how users opt in to receive your messages - 2–5 sample messages that represent what you'll actually send ## What happens after you submit After you submit a campaign, Surge sends it to The Campaign Registry (TCR) and your carrier network for review. The campaign enters `in_review` immediately and moves to `active` once approved: ``` in_review → active ``` If reviewers find issues with your registration, the status becomes `rejected` with details about what needs to change. See [Fixing a Rejected Campaign](./fixing-rejected/) for how to read that feedback and resubmit. Once your campaign reaches `active`, Surge fires a `campaign.approved` webhook event and starts attaching any phone numbers on the account to the campaign. **Phone numbers can't send production messages until they're attached to a campaign**: even on an active campaign, attachment runs as a follow-up step. Listen for the [`phone_number.attached_to_campaign`](../api-reference/webhooks/phone_number/attached_to_campaign) webhook event for each number; that's the signal a specific number is ready for production traffic. ## Before you register If you're building a platform that registers brands on behalf of your own customers, read [Building on Surge: One Account per Customer](./one-account-per-customer) before you start. The architecture decisions you make at this stage are difficult to undo. Want to understand what trips up most registrations? [Avoiding Rejection](./avoiding-rejection) covers the seven most common failure patterns with real reviewer feedback.