Sender identity

What the recipient sees by default

A message from a line the recipient has never contacted shows as the phone number, with no name and no photo, in the same visual style as any other unknown iMessage sender. Blue bubbles, read receipts, and typing indicators all work from the first message; the display name does not appear on its own.

Three things change that, and only one of them is under your direct control.

1. Identify yourself in the message

The first line of a first message should name the person and the company. This is a legal requirement under 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(d)(4), covered in the compliance guide, and separately it is the difference between a reply and a report. "Hey, quick question" from an unknown number performs worse than any other opener and gives the recipient nothing to verify.

A first message that works:

Hi Dana, it's Marcus from Northside Realty. You asked about the Oak Street listing last week. Want the updated numbers?

Name, company, reason, question. Under 300 characters, no link.

2. Contact cards

Your line can send a contact card, which lets the recipient save you with your name, company, and photo in one tap. After they save it, your name and photo appear on every future message in that thread, and on any call.

Send it after they reply, not before. An unsolicited contact card as a first message reads as spam; the same card sent when someone asks who you are converts almost every time. The endpoint is in rich messaging.

The pattern that works:

1. First message identifies you in text.
2. They reply.
3. You answer their question, then offer the card: "I'll send my contact so you have it."
4. Every message after that shows your name and photo.

3. Whether they already have you saved

If your number is already in the recipient's contacts, from a form fill, a prior call, or a business card, your name shows immediately. This is one of the reasons reactivation campaigns to past customers outperform cold outreach on the same offer: the sender is already known.

Consistency across the account

Use one line per persona, not one line per campaign. If Marcus messages a lead from line A in March and line B in June, the thread history is split, the saved contact does not match, and the recipient experiences two strangers. Where a team shares an account, map each rep to a line and keep it stable. Line assignment is visible on the line object.

What not to do

Do not claim to be a person who does not exist, a company you are not, or an affiliation you do not have. Misleading sender information is separately actionable in several states, including Washington, see state texting laws. Beyond the legal exposure, it collapses on the first reply.

Do not change the identifying details between messages in the same thread. The recipient scrolls up.

Phone numbers only

Blue Reacher lines are phone numbers. There is no email-address sender option, because a message from an email-based Apple ID lands differently on the recipient's device, cannot receive SMS fallback, and cannot be called back. Every line on your account is a real, callable number that can carry the whole conversation on a single identity.