To make your Short Code or 10DLC campaign compliant, your company is required to comply with wireless carrier compliance requirements, industry standards and applicable law.
Any gateway your company uses must respond to keywords HELP and STOP. As a courtesy below, we are providing example HELP and STOP messages and as well suggestions on managing your opt-out list.
Managing Opt-Out Requests
Any text message campaigns must allow recipients to opt-out of receiving text through any reasonable means. One method for opting-out is allowing the recipient to reply “STOP” (or similar word such as “END,” “CANCEL” or “UNSUBSCRIBE”) to any message your company sends. When a recipient sends one of these keywords to your Short Code or 10DLC, you must respond to the unsubscribe request with a confirmation text and you cannot text that recipient again unless there is a subsequent opt-in.
STOP Message
Industry standards require that a compliant response is sent whenever your recipient texts STOP or the universal keywords STOP, END, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE and QUIT to your Short Code or 10 DLC, regardless of whether your recipient was subscribed to the program previously. Example:
Recipient: STOP, END, QUIT, CANCEL or UNSUBSCRIBE
Short Code: You are unsubscribed from {Campaign Name} {Description} Alerts. No more messages will be sent. Reply HELP for help or {toll free number}.
HELP Message
Industry standards require that a compliant response is sent whenever your recipients text the keyword HELP to your Short Code or 10DLC, regardless of whether the recipient is subscribed to the program. Example:
Recipient: HELP or INFO
Short Code: {Campaign Name} {Description} Alerts: Help at {source of help #1} or {toll free number}. Msg&data rates may apply. {Message frequency}. Text STOP to cancel.
- The “description” should be a single word to define the kind of alerts, e.g. “Account Alerts,” “News Alerts,” “Promo Alerts,” etc.
- The first “source of help” should be a support email address or a link to your terms of service.
- The message frequency must be specific, but can be any interval, for example: “1 message per day,” “4 messages per month,” “2 messages per transaction,” etc. If the message frequency will vary based on user interaction, “1 message/user request” is standard.
These guidelines are based on industry standards for short code service found in the CTIA Short Code Monitoring Handbook.
You should expect that your short code campaign will be audited at some point by a carrier or industry organization. In our experience, U.S. short code campaigns are typically audited for compliance with the CTIA Short Code Monitoring Handbook. Nonetheless, please note that each carrier reserves the right to suspend short code service for any user at any time, so compliance with the above guidelines is not a guarantee against suspension of service by a carrier.
In addition to the above industry standards, there may be additional compliance requirements under U.S. law, including the Telephone Consumers Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA), depending on the nature of your text messaging campaign. These additional requirements may include providing additional means for your recipients to opt-out of your text message campaign beyond just replying STOP. You should consult with your legal counsel to ensure that your opt-out process is compliant with applicable law and consistent with industry standards.