Staying Compliant While Texting

Organizations, laws, and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) require all business to gather consent before they can send text messages to consumers. These entities that regulate and govern SMS messaging for business include:

• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
• The Federal Trade Commision (FTC)
• The FCC’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
• The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Act (CTIA)
• The Campaign Registry (TCR)
• The Short Code Registry
• The Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR)
• The FCC’s Truth-In-Advertising Laws
• Copyright laws
• Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL)
• Local state laws

The regulations set by these organizations and MNOs protect consumers from spam texts and other malicious text messages to ensure SMS messaging remains a trusted communication medium in the US and Canada. To make sure you are staying compliant, it is recommended to do the following:

1. Register SMS campaigns for your SMS numbers.
2. Gather express consent from consumers before texting them.
3. Send Opt-In confirmation messages once a consumer subscribes for texts.
4. Keep record of any opt-ins your company receives from consumers.
5. Help subscribers receive support with HELP texts.
6. Make opting out convenient and simple for subscribers that no longer want to receive text messages.
7. Ensure your organization and users only send texts at allowed hours according to state laws.
8. Text the right amount of appropriate content from a verified business number.
9. Only send allowed content to consumers over text.

Step 1: Register an SMS Campaign

To ensure that texting is a secure, trustworthy communication medium, we require companies that plan to use SMS messaging to register an SMS brand. Once an SMS brand for your company has been vetted and verified, you can then register SMS campaigns for the different types of messages they plan to send users. 

Since StratusTEXTING is a specific method of carrying out SMS messaging, a separate SMS campaign will need to be created and verified for the phone numbers that will utilize our StratusTEXTING services. SMS campaigns need to be registered for each special use case for SMS messaging. 

Step 2: Get Subscriber Consent

Once your SMS campaigns have been verified, you can begin the process of obtaining consent from your customers so that they can start receiving messages from your business. Your customers can give express consent using a valid opt-in method. Some of the different ways companies facilitate opt-in requests are through a form, an online prompt on your website, a texted keyword, etc. 

Once a customer has given consent to receive SMS messages for a specific purpose, your business can begin sending this contact messages that they have specifically consented to. 

The Three Levels of Consent

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 by requesting that the business stop sending text messages.

Step 3: Send Opt-In Confirmation 

To ensure your subscriber knows that they have given consent for SMS messages, you should send that subscriber a confirmation text message. This confirmation should include the following information:

• The name of your company.
• The type of text messages they have consented to.
• How the subscriber can opt-out of texts (e.g., texting STOP).
• How the user can receive more information and support (e.g., texting HELP).
• The frequency of messages that they can expect.
• A disclosure that “Msg & data rates may apply”.

Automate Opt-In Confirmation Messages

One of the most commonly used forms of automated messaging is keyword request texts. These are text messages that ask for the recipient to text in a keyword to perform an action. One of the most common use cases for this is to request a person to text a keyword to opt-in or subscribe for text messages. 

With Automations, you can set up an automatic workflow that when a keyword is texted in, such as SUBSCRIBE or START, a reply is sent along while any other configured actions are performed.

Step 4: 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 are properly logging all opt-ins.

What are you expected to keep track of in your records? The important details that you should include while documenting opt-in requests include the following:

• Timestamp of consent acquisition
• The level of consent that was acquired (e.g., Conversational, Informational, or Promotional).
• 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
• IP address 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.)

Track Consent with the Consent Management Tool

StratusTEXTING makes tracking the consent status of your contacts convenient and easy. With StratusTEXTING's Consent Management Tool, your users can see and adjust the consent level assigned to a contact while viewing the text conversation taking place with this contact. This can help further ensure your organization and users are staying in compliance while using StratusTEXTING to send different types of messages that require a specific consent level.

Step 5: Make Getting Support Simple

While texting with a customer, that customer may need information about how they can get further support. It is an industry requirement for consumers to be able to text HELP to receive this information. Once a contact texts HELP, your organization needs to reply with instructions on how to get support. 

Your reply to a HELP text should include the following information:

• Your company's name.
• How the consumer can contact your team for support.
• How the contact can opt-out of future texts.
• The frequency of messages that they can expect.
• A disclosure that “Msg & data rates may apply”.

Create a HELP Automation

To ensure the contacts you are messaging can use the HELP keyword, a workflow automation can be created for this purpose.

Once a workflow automation is set up for this purpose, your contact can text HELP to your StratusTEXTING phone number to receive the automatic reply that you have configured.

Step 6: Honor Opt-Outs

If someone wants to stop receiving texts, businesses must offer them an easy way to opt-out. MNOs require businesses to implement specific industry standard automations to allow consumers to opt out of receiving future texts. This is called "opting out" or "opt-out".

With StratusTEXTING, ceasing communication with someone that opts out has never been easier. StratusTEXTING can take care of this for you automatically. If a contact texts your business the industry standard "STOP", they will automatically be removed from further text communication from your business.

If a contact does not know that texting STOP is an industry standard for opting out, you can block the contact to ensure your organization does not send message to this person. Simply click the Block icon on their contact card.

If needed, you can granularly block individual communication types from being sent to a contact that has only opted out from a specific type of message.  Using StratusTEXTING's workflow automations, you can create opportunities for your customers to opt-in and opt-out of several types of communications. This allows customers to choose to subscribe to updates while choosing to unsubscribe from promotions, all while continuing to keep conversational lines of communication open with their account rep.

Step 7: Text at Allowed Hours

In the United States, you may send texts between 8:00 a.m. to 9 p.m. for most states for their time zones. Some states have a more restricted time frames for when businesses can send text messages to consumers. For example, Oklahoma and Florida only allow texts from businesses between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. in their time zones.

To be sure that your organization is not accidentally texting a subscriber at an inappropriate time, we recommend texting between the hours of 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Central Standard Time.

Step 8: Text an Appropriate Amount

Many states have different laws regarding how many times a business can send promotional texts per day. These restrictions can range from one every eight hours in Maine to no more than three per day total in Florida. Although some states may be less restrictive about how many texts a consumer can receive, most consumers (48%) want businesses to limit their texting to once every other week or more. Some consumers (36%) may prefer receiving texts once per week. 

Step 9: Avoid Texting Disallowed Content

Most Mobile Network Operators and the organizations listed above restrict and enforce the content sent in text messages from businesses. Inappropriate content that cannot be sent to consumers through SMS include:

• Sex
• Hateful content and hate speech
• Alcohol
• Firearms
• Tobacco
• Spam
• Misleading claims and messages
• Depictions of violence
• Profanity
• Cannabis
• Endorsement and sale of illegal drugs