As a part of remaining compliant with texting regulations, you need to:
Allow your contacts to opt-out of receiving your messages
Inform contacts on where to get help with regard to your messages
Inform contacts on how you can opt out.
All of these are included in your Compliance Messages menu in MessageDesk.
In this article, we'll be covering the following:
STOP and HELP Keywords
The STOP and HELP keyword help you stay in compliance with texting regulations.
Both of these keywords give your contacts more control over their experience in receiving messages.
The STOP and HELP keyword are already in your MessageDesk account when you sign up!
Navigate to your Settings menu, then click on Compliance Settings.
STOP Keyword
If a contact texts the keyword STOP to your MessageDesk number, they will be automatically added to your Opted-Out group.
Being in the Opted-Out group will prevent you from sending messages to them.
The STOP keyword may be processed by the carriers before it reaches MessageDesk which will also prevent you from sending messages to them.
🚨 You cannot remove a contact from your Opted-Out Group, they will need to text your MessageDesk number again in order to be automatically removed from the group. They can text any message to your MessageDesk Number to be removed.
HELP Keyword
Your HELP keyword helps your contacts find out how they can contact the message sender (you 😎).
By default, your HELP keyword will include the email of the Admin on your MessageDesk account and your Organization Name.
How to Edit your STOP or HELP Keyword and Response
As a reminder, in order to edit your STOP or HELP Keyword, you will need to navigate to your Compliance Settings. Navigate to your Settings menu, then click on Compliance Settings.
You can edit the response that a contact receives when they opt out by clicking on the pencil icon.
We recommend that you keep these messages similar to the default message that is already included in your account.
For the STOP keyword, make sure it includes the following:
Confirms that they are now opted out of receiving messages
They can reply at any time to opt back in
Compliance Message
Your Compliance Message is only sent to contacts the first time you send a Broadcast to that particular contact.
It's appended to the end of the message that you are already sending to them, it won't be sent separately as another message.
By default, your Compliance Message reads as follows: Reply STOP to Opt-Out
Append to All Setting
You can also enable the Compliance Message to be sent to all new messages instead of just Broadcast.
To select, use the "Append to All" toggle at the top right of the Compliance Message. If the toggle is selected, the Compliance Message will be appended to all messages, not just Broadcasts.
As a reminder, your Compliance Message is only sent to contacts the first time you send a Broadcast to that particular contact. If you enable the 'Append to All' setting, it will apply to 1-on-1 messages as well (ones sent from the Inbox).
How to Edit your Compliance Message
In order to edit your STOP or HELP Keyword, you will need to navigate to your Compliance Settings. Navigate to your Settings menu, then click on Compliance Settings.
You can edit the response that a contact receives when they opt out by clicking on the pencil icon.
As a part of the Compliance Message, you will need to include information about how a contact can reply with the keyword STOP to Opt-Out.
