You must receive consent from contacts in order to send them SMS text messages through Typeform’s automations to comply with Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) laws. Read on to learn more about SMS regulations.
Get consent from contacts
Contacts will need to provide consent to receiving SMS text messages from you. You can ask contacts for consent in the form you send out to collect their phone numbers. Use the Checkbox question type to collect their consent to receiving text messages. Learn more about creating a consent form for sending text messages here.
Contacts’ consent must be mapped to the SMS subscription status property in your contacts database. Contacts will receive one of the following SMS subscription statuses:
- Subscribed - contact has consented to receiving SMS text messages
- Never subscribed - contact has not consented to receiving SMS text messages
- Unsubscribed - contact has unsubscribed from receiving SMS text messages
If respondents skip the SMS consent question in your form or if the consent question is not mapped to the SMS subscription status property, their SMS subscription status will be defaulted to Never subscribed.
Asking for consent to receiving SMS text messages will help you avoid fines and stay compliant with TCPA laws.
Respect quiet hours
Quiet hours are implemented when sending SMS text messages through Typeform’s automations. Non-essential (marketing) text messages will be sent within the hours of 8 am to 9 pm in the recipients’ time zone (based on the mobile number’s prefix) to stay compliant with TCPA laws. If a text message is triggered to send during quiet hours (9 pm to 8 am), the SMS will be delayed until non quiet hours.
Prohibited SMS content
US phone carriers block content related to sex, hate speech, alcohol, firearms, and tobacco. This is known as S.H.A.F.T.