The Consent Tool - StratusTEXTING
Discover how the Consent Tool from StratusTexting can streamline your consent-gathering process by providing your company a means to keep track of the consent your customer's have given..
Written by Val Campos
Updated at January 7th, 2025
Table of Contents
What is Consent?
In order for your business to be able to send your customers SMS messages, your customers will need to give their consent. Consent cannot be obtained through buying, selling, or exchanging it. Customers must give proper, written consent for messages through a form, such as an online prompt on your website. Improperly obtaining consent (e.g., purchasing a phone list from another party to obtain the consent of message recipients) can open you up to lawsuits and fines.
Getting a recipient's consent is done through opt-in requests. Once a customer has given consent for SMS messaging using a company's opt-in method, the company can begin sending SMS messages that are allowed according to the kind of consent that was given.
What are Opt-Ins?
An opt-in is a message that asks a customer can agree to if they want to be messaged by your business. The opt-in message must be clear about what the customer can expect from your SMS messages. What type of message do you intend to send them, and for what purpose?
Use the menu below to learn more about how you can ensure your Opt-In messages are properly written and handled:
No Forced Opt-Ins
Fields for entering a phone number cannot be required on the website where opt-in is collected. This field must be optional.
If emails or voice calls are other forms of communication offered, a separate opt-in should be collected for each of these types of communication that an end-user may want to receive.
No Double Dipping
You cannot repurpose an opt-in message for one kind of communication to use for other kinds of communications.
For Example… A user who gives you consent to receive a one-time password (OTP) via text message is not consenting to marketing texts. The customer would need to agree to a separate opt-in message to receive marketing texts as well.
Double Opt-Ins Are OK
Many companies use double opt-ins to verify that the user fully consents to the SMS messages being sent. This is commonly done by sending a customer a welcome (or initial message) after they first opt-in reminding them that they signed up, and asking them to respond and positively confirm their consent with a keyword (e.g., “Y”, “Yes”, “OK”, “Begin”, etc.)
✔ Double opt-ins are not an industry requirement, but it is best practice to include these confirmation messages.
Required Information for Opt-In Messages
Use the table below to reference the information that is required in your company's initial opt-in messages:
| Requirement | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Company Name | Ensure that your SMS or website's opt-in language includes your company's name. | “By clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to receive text messages from ABC Company at this mobile number.” |
| SMS Disclaimers | Include a disclaimer that message and data rates may apply on your opt-in form or in your first text to a customer. | “Message and data rates may apply.” |
| Message Frequency | Note how many messages the subscriber will receive or state that the message frequency will vary. | “Message frequency varies." or “You will receive up to four messages regarding your order from our store.” |
| Use Case | Describe the purpose of your SMS messages. Are your SMS subscribers receiving reminders, promotions, alerts, company updates, etc.? | "By subscribing, you agree to receive delivery update messages from ABC Company.” |
| Opt-Out Instructions | Explain how subscribers can opt-out or unsubscribe from SMS messages. Ensure that the opt-out process is easy and accessible for users. | “Text STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE to unsubscribe from text updates at any time. Once we receive your message, you will no longer receive text messages from us." |
| Terms and Privacy Policy Information |
Include a link to your company’s terms of service and privacy policy to ensure complete transparency with your SMS message subscribers. Ensure that your privacy policy mentions that personal information will not be sold. |
“By subscribing for text updates, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.” “ABC Company maintains strict privacy policies, ensuring that personal information of our users and members is not sold, rented, released, or traded to other parties." |
| Customer Help Information | Include your customer support team's information to your opt-in language to make it easy for your subscriber to find help and support. | “Text HELP to speak with ABC Company's support team.” |
Opt-In Methods
There are many ways you can allow your end-users to opt-in for communications from your company. Some commonly used methods to allow end-users to opt-in include the following:
• Entering a phone number in a form on a website.
For Example… Customers opt-in by visiting www.examplewebsite.com and adding their phone number. They then check a box agreeing to receive text messages from the example brand.
NOTE: If you are using a website to collect opt-ins, please provide a direct link to the submission form. If this is missing, the campaign will be rejected.
• Clicking a button on a mobile webpage.
NOTE: If this is how the opt-in is being collected, please provide a website link in the CTA/Message Flow field.
• Sending a message from the consumer’s mobile device that contains an advertising keyword.
For Example… Consumers opt-in by texting START to (111) 222-3333
NOTE: You will need to describe how the end-user is informed to text the keyword/initiate the text messaging conversation.
Acceptable explanations of how the consumer is informed include:
• A link to a webpage where the keyword opt-in is advertised
• An attached screenshot of the keyword opt-in advertisement
• Signing up at a point of sale (POS) or another message sender on-site location.
NOTE: If the opt-in is collected verbally, you must provide a copy of the opt-in script read to the consumer.
• Opting in over the phone using interactive voice response (IVR) technology.
Keep Record of Opt-Ins
Under TCPA rules, there are also certain types of opt-ins – including for automated SMS marketing messages – which must be documented in writing. If you plan on sending promotional messages to customers, make sure you’re properly logging all opt-ins.
What are you expected to keep track of in your records? Here’s a quick guide to what you should take note of when documenting opt-in requests:
• Timestamp of consent acquisition
• Consent acquisition medium (e.g., cell-submit form, physical sign-up form, SMS keyword, etc.)
• Capture of experience (e.g., language and action) used to secure consent
• Specific campaign for which the opt-in was provided
dress used to grant consent (if applicable)
• Consumer phone number for which consent to receive messaging was granted
• Identity of the individual who consented (name of the individual or other identifier, e.g., online username, session ID, etc.)
• Documenting all opt-ins for at least six years is required by some mobile network operators. It provides proof that you have received consent to send to that destination number
✔ Please refer to the CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices for a comprehensive run-down of how to best manage opt-in messaging.
When customers give their consent and opt-in for SMS messages, they must have a way to withdraw their consent and opt-out of SMS messages. The opt-out process must be easy and accessible for your users.
The Consent Management Tool
Once you have gotten a person's consent to start sending them SMS messages, you can track their consent status using the Consent Management Tool located on the right of the page.
✔ Using this tool, you can easily see and adjust the consent level assigned to a contact. This can help ensure your organization and users are staying in compliance while using your StratusTexting SMS messaging services.
To view a history of when this person gave consent for SMS messaging, you can open and filter the Contact Journey menu. To do this…
- Click the Contact Journey
icon.
- In the FILTER BY section of the Contact Journey menu, select Consent.
Consent Levels
There are three types of SMS consent a contact can provide your business: Conversational, Informational, and Promotional consent. The consent a customer gives you for SMS messaging can be combination of these. A customer can also withdraw consent at any time.
Use the module below to learn more about the three levels of consent tracked by StratusTexting's Consent Management Tool:
Conversational
Conversational consent is only obtained when a contact texts you. The contact implies, by sending a text, that they are willing to receive a reply message back. Your replies should be relevant to the subject mentioned when the customer texted you.
Conversational consent DOES NOT give your company permission to continue texting the contact about any unrelated matters.
Informational
Informational consent allows your business to send informational text messages (not a direct reply to a received SMS message) to a contact that has that are relevant to the type of information they agree to receive. Informational consent does not permit companies to promote products or services to the contact.
For example, if a patient agrees to receive appointment reminders via SMS messaging, they can receive text messages for appointments until they withdraw consent by opting out.
Informational consent can be obtained in many ways, such as a text, web form, verbally, etc.
Promotional
Promotional consent must be obtained through "express written consent". This means promotional consent is only provided if the contact agrees to receive optional promotional messages by texting a keyword or using a webform.
Make sure to maintain evidence of consent being provided by the contact. Promotional consent is the level of consent required if you are sending any kind of marketing material. Make sure to provide relevant and valuable information to these contacts ensuring you keep the level of consent they’ve provided.
Consent Management Settings
If you have the proper permissions, you can set exactly how the consent level associated with a contact will affect your users' ability to message with that contact.
To view and adjust your StratusTEXTING consent management restrictions…
- Navigate to the Settings tab.
- Select Security + Compliance.
- In the Consent Management section, you can adjust two settings: Contact Consent Restrictions and Broadcast Restrictions.
Contact Consent Restrictions
With the Contact Consent Restrictions setting, you can limit how an employee can message a contact based on whether or not the contact has given consent to receive SMS messages.
Using the dropdown, you can select one of the following restrictions:
- Disallow - A user cannot send a text message to any contact unless the contact has provided some form of consent.
- Show Warning - A user can text a contact that has not provided consent, but the user will see a warning message that states that the contact does not have a consent level selected.
- No Show - A user can text all contacts in StratusTexting regardless of whether or not they have given consent. The only way a user will be notified that the contact they are about to text has not provided consent is by a small warning icon within the consent section of the contact's information.
Broadcast Restrictions
With the Broadcast Restrictions setting, you can decide to either block broadcast text messages from delivering to contacts without Informational or Promotional consent or allow broadcast text messages to deliver to all contacts regardless of their consent status.
- All Broadcasts to All - If your company is not tracking consent within StratusTexting, you can allow broadcast text messages to be delivered to all contacts regardless of their consent status.
- Restrict to Only Informational and Promotional Consent - Block broadcast text messages from being delivered to contacts without Informational or Promotional consent selected in StratusTexting.