ATTENTION REQUIRED - SMS Updates Coming Soon!
Get ready: some important updates are coming to text messaging, beginning the evening of Monday, June 7th June 14th ! Read below for details around the SMS changes.
SMS Groups will become subscription-based , so users may be opted in, opted out, or neither. On the People page, you will notice that the Communications > Opt-Out sub-tab is now called Subscriptions. This is where both email opt-outs and text message subscriptions may be managed. Users will be able to subscribe per SMS Group, allowing them to much more easily manage their communication preferences.
ACTION REQUIRED :
- Clean up your SMS Groups, ensuring they are clearly named. Remember, your end-users will see these group names.
- Delete any unused Groups.
Along with this new subscription-based model come some changes in the way SMS Opt-In functions :
- If someone has received a text message from one of the groups in the past, he/she will be automatically opted in for that group.
- If someone has replied STOP for a group or has a current opt-out, he/she will be opted out for that group.
- If someone has replied STOP ALL or if someone has received SMS messages, and the current SMS flag on their record is unchecked, his/her "Allow SMS" toggle will be off.
- If someone has never received any messages, and they have never unchecked the current "SMS Opt-In" box, his/her "Allow SMS" toggle will be on, but the person will not be opted in for any groups.
- Any person who has "Allow SMS" toggled on and is not opted out of a group will be eligible to receive messages from a group. The first time he/she receives a text message from a new group, they will first receive a compliance message (managed under Administration > Communication > SMS Messages > Reply Words) . This message will allow the recipient to manage their subscription to that group right then and there. They may opt in or out to communication from that group without needing to visit their people record.
New Default Reply Words with corresponding messages will be in place per SMS Group. The default Reply Words are START, STOP, STOPALL, STOP ALL, and UNSTOP. The START reply is automatically sent when someone opts in to a group, whether through a reply word, through checking the box on their Subscriptions tab, or the first time they are sent a text message from that group.
When sending text messages, you will see a breakdown of who is receiving the text:
- Existing Subscribers - They are currently opted in for that group.
- New Subscribers - They have never received a text message from that group before. They will first be sent a compliance message and then opted in.
- Not Sent - As explained in the image below, they are either opted out of the group, don't have a phone number, or are unsubscribed to all text messages.
Additionally, new Search Builder Conditions will be provided to identify those who are subscribed or have opted out from a SMS Group.
Be on the lookout for these changes to take place the evening of Tuesday, June 8th
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