Guide · 5 min read

SMS list hygiene: keep your texts delivering

Short answer

Text only numbers that can receive SMS (mobile, plus VoIP lines that support texting), that are in service, and that gave you the consent your program requires. Process opt-outs immediately. Bad numbers waste spend and push up error and complaint rates, which carriers watch.

The hygiene checklist

  1. Remove landlines. They cannot receive SMS.
  2. Remove dead numbers. Validate before each major send on older lists.
  3. Honor opt-outs instantly. STOP, END, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE and QUIT, plus reasonable plain-language requests, should remove the number. CTIA's messaging principles set the industry expectations carriers enforce.
  4. Keep consent records. Who opted in, when, how, and to what. Marketing texts sent with an autodialer require prior express written consent under FCC rules.
  5. Respect quiet hours. Treat telemarketing texts like calls for the 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local-time rule.

Why it matters for deliverability

Carriers monitor error rates, opt-out rates and complaints for registered campaigns. Sending to large numbers of landlines or disconnected numbers raises error rates and costs you money for nothing. TrueSearch SMS list cleaning flags landlines and dead numbers in a CSV before you send.

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Questions

Can you text a landline?

No. Messages to standard landlines fail. Some VoIP lines can receive texts; validation shows line type so you can decide.

Does cleaning my list make it compliant?

No. Cleaning improves delivery and cost. Compliance depends on consent, opt-out handling, content and timing.

Sources

More guides

Phone list cleaning: a practical guide for sales teamsDNC scrubbing basics for sales teamsWhy your dialer keeps hitting dead numbersThe FCC Reassigned Numbers Database, explainedFree list health calculator

Published 2026-10-28.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. TrueSearch for Business checks validity, line type and carrier from licensed telecom data. It does not check the National Do Not Call Registry, state DNC lists or the FCC Reassigned Numbers Database. Not a consumer reporting agency; not for FCRA purposes.