Texting customers looks like a switch you turn on in your phone system or CRM. In the United States it is not. A business that sends text messages from an ordinary ten-digit number has to register its brand and its use case with The Campaign Registry, which acts for the mobile carriers. The carriers decide whether the application is acceptable. Neither you nor your software vendor gets a vote.
What reviewers look for
- A privacy policy that covers texting. It should state that mobile numbers and consent are not shared with or sold to third parties for marketing.
- Terms that describe the program. What kinds of messages you send, how often, that message and data rates may apply, and how to get help or stop.
- Consent that is optional and separate. A checkbox on every form that collects a phone number. It cannot be ticked in advance, and the form must still submit without it.
- A way out. Replying STOP must work, and your messages should say so.
- A real web presence. Applications are rejected when the website is missing, thin or does not match the business named in the application.
Where businesses get caught
The working rule is that anyone who has not opted in is opted out. That includes customers you have served for years. It also covers numbers collected by other tools on your behalf: live chat, an intake service, a scheduling page. Each of those needs the same consent. For numbers taken over the phone, staff need a short script and a spoken yes.
A sensible order of work
- Decide what you will text about. Appointment reminders and case updates are treated differently from promotions.
- Update the privacy policy and terms, and publish them.
- Add the consent checkbox to every form, and brief the vendors whose tools collect numbers for you.
- Submit the registration, and expect questions or a rejection the first time.
- Only then train the team and switch texting on.
Plan for this to take weeks. We are engineers, not attorneys, so have your counsel read the wording, especially in a regulated field.
Related service: Digital phone systems.