Docs · Phone & SMS Setup

Inner Circle vs Independent — and why some agents never register A2P

One setting on a member decides whether they inherit the agency's SMS registration or have to build their own. Inner Circle agents skip A2P entirely and claim a number in a click; independent agents wait days for a carrier.

Who this is for

Admins deciding it, and any agent wondering why the compliance page looks different for them than for someone they sit next to.

What the setting does

Every member carries an SMS brand type. It has three states, and the third one is the problem.

INNER CIRCLE (SHARED BRAND) — this agent sends under the agency's registered 10DLC brand, on the agency's campaign. Nothing about compliance is theirs. When they claim a number it is attached to that shared campaign automatically.

INDEPENDENT (OWN BRAND) — this agent registers a brand under their own legal entity and EIN, waits for that to be verified, waits for a campaign to be approved, and only then can send. Days, not minutes.

NOT SET — neither path is selected. This is a real state and it is the default, so an agent nobody made a decision about is sitting in it right now.

What an Inner Circle agent sees

The compliance page changes shape for them. Instead of 'A2P 10DLC Registration' with three steps, they get 'SMS Phone Number Setup' with one: pick a number.

The brand and campaign sections are not hidden-but-required, or greyed out pending approval. They are gone, because those things are already true at the agency level. There is no waiting period, no EIN to supply and no legal-entity questions to answer.

The page says one more thing worth repeating, because it is the most common confusion on it: the number you claim here is a TEXTING number. It is not the number you dial from. Those come from the agency's dialing pool and are a separate thing entirely.

Why this exists at all

Carriers register the business whose messages are being sent. In a captive agency that business is the agency — one EIN, one brand, one campaign, everybody's texts. Making each agent register separately would be registering the wrong entity, not just extra work.

An agency of independent producers is the opposite case: each producer is their own business, presenting under their own name, and the registration has to match that. Both are legitimate; the setting is how the system is told which one you are.

Where the shared registration lives

The agency holds a registered brand and a campaign that shared agents join. If that campaign is missing, the shared path has nothing to attach a number to and the system falls back to hunting for a registration — which is how an agent ends up on something other than the campaign you intended.

So a captive agency should be able to answer 'which campaign do our agents send on?' with exactly one answer. If it cannot, fix that before onboarding anyone else onto the shared brand.

This says nothing about carrier contracting

Worth stating plainly because both concepts use the word 'captive'. The SMS brand type is about TELECOM: whose EIN is behind the messaging registration.

Who holds a producer's CARRIER contract — whether they write under the agency's contract or their own, and whether they write exclusively with you — is a different field on the member, with different consequences, mostly financial. An agent can be Inner Circle on messaging and any contract model at all. Do not read one from the other.

How this differs by setup

Solo agent You run everything yourself.

Captive agency The agency owns the numbers, the A2P brand and the bill.

1. Set SMS Brand Type to 'Inner Circle (Shared Brand)' on the member — at invite time if you can.
2. Confirm the agency actually has a registered brand and one campaign that shared agents join.
3. Have the agent open the SMS number page and claim a number.
4. Confirm the number appears against the agency's campaign, not a stray one.

Independent agent You're in an agency but buy your own number and register your own EIN.

How to check it worked

• The member row shows the 'Inner Circle' pill.
• Signed in as that agent, the compliance page is titled 'SMS Phone Number Setup' and has no brand or campaign steps.
• They can claim a texting number without supplying an EIN or any legal-entity detail.
• Send one real text from their number and confirm it arrives.

Common mistakes

• Assuming 'Not Set' behaves like shared. It does not — it is its own state, and it is the default.
• Believing an Inner Circle agent still has to register 'just in case'. Registering the wrong entity is worse than not registering.
• Confusing the texting number with the dialing number.
• Reading the SMS brand type as a statement about carrier contracting. Different field, different meaning.
• Onboarding shared agents before the agency's own brand and campaign exist.

Troubleshooting

Related

Where this lives in the app

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