Though SMS messages or surveys open up new communication possibilities, they also carry a set of legal requirements regarding whom, when, and under what conditions you are allowed to message. Laws and regulations that apply to the telecommunications industry as a whole may also apply to SMS text messaging.
Depending on where your business operates, you may be subject to these or other legal requirements while enabling SMS Talkdesk services. You should ensure that your organization complies with local regulations.
We strongly recommend you seek the counsel and approval of your Legal team in order to ensure your compliance with any relevant legal requirements and to understand your legal risk, if any. As the service provider for SMS text messages or "common carrier," Talkdesk cannot be held liable for any violations committed.
For SMS with Talkdesk Feedback, we recommend the following best practices:
- Make clear the type of text messages the consumer is signing up for (e.g., consenting to a survey) when reaching out to a given Talkdesk phone number. This can be mentioned either in the Welcome greeting, the terms of use provided to your customers on your website or your app, or other highly-visible areas.
- Include how the subscriber can opt out of the survey session at any time (e.g., by texting “STOP”).
For Talkdesk Digital Engagement, we recommend that you consider the following:
- Opt Outs:
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- When a customer sends an Opt-Out message, using the terms “STOP”, “STOPALL”, “UNSUBSCRIBE”, “CANCEL”, “END”, or “QUIT”, it will trigger an automatic standard reply, stating that there was a “STOP” message received and that no other future messages will be sent to that customer number, from that specific SMS company number. The only way that messages can be sent to that number again, is if the end customer sends a subsequent message with “START”, “YES”, or “UNSTOP”.
- If the customer sends “HELP”, then the message reply will feature basic helpful information on how to opt out.
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For any product being used to send or receive SMS:
- A2P 10DLC Compliance: Review if you are fully compliant with A2P 10DLC. This system concerns Application-to-Person (A2P) type messaging, via local 10-digit long code (10DLC) phone numbers. All Talkdesk customers using Talkdesk SMS products in the United States are classified by carriers as Application-to-Person. To help you assess if you need to register in A2P 10DLC, please refer to our Product Notice.
- Verify Toll-Free Numbers: Since early 2024, it’s mandatory to register and verify Toll-Free numbers to be able to send SMS messages through them. Please make sure that the number is registered and verified by following the process outlined in the article How to Register a Toll-Free Number for SMS.
- GDPR Compliance: Please refer to this link for more information on Talkdesk and GDPR.