question

David Hazen avatar image
David Hazen asked Mike Stowe answered

SMS CONSENT

I do not understand why we need to ask for our customer permission to text them, then ask the next time they text us permission to continue to text them. Why can't we just ask in the first opt in the question if its ok if we continue to text them per scheduling service invites things related to our company services

sms and text messaging
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1 Answer

Mike Stowe avatar image
Mike Stowe answered

The rule regarding consent is that you must have express consent for conversational and informational messages or express written and logged consent for promotional/ marketing messages.

Depending on the type of message you are sending this consent can be obtained different ways, as outlined here: https://vimeo.com/ringcentraldevs/tcr-consent-requirements

Once you have consent for a type of message, that consent is valid to continue sending messages. For example, if you ask your customer if you can send them updates about your company it is valid until they opt out (unless there was a timeframe limitation in the agreement). You do not need to ask them each time for their permission, unless you are asking for permission to send a type of message other than previously agreed upon (eg do you want to receive promotions from our company?).

They key here is that you need consent before messaging them, so you cannot send them a text (unless they initiative a conversation by asking you a question via text) unless they have expressly stated that they want to receive text messages from you. Providing a phone number (resume, webform, paper form, etc) is not considered sufficient consent unless there is also language that states that by doing so they are agreeing to receive SMS messages from you. This is why you need specific language on any forms where you are collecting phone numbers for the purpose of SMS messaging.

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