The TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) states that you must get consent—in writing—before sending commercial text messages to any customer. The TCPA helps protect consumers from robotexts and spam.
This article outlines the following three main topics:
1. Upcoming Changes to the A-Suite Mass Texting Function
2. Opting in/Out of Text Messaging
3. Ways to Give Options to Opt in / Out to your Leads, Candidates and Team Members
4. Opting Back In
Upcoming Changes to the A-Suite Mass Texting Function
Starting December 2022, changes will impact the A-Suite Text Messaging function are outlined below:
1. Phone Number Validator - A-Suite will validate every phone number that is entered into A-Suite to ensure it is a valid mobile number before sending a text.
2. You will no longer have the ability to send a text to anyone that does not have a profile in A-Suite
3. SMS Consent is being added to your EZ App landing page. If consent is ignored, A-Suite will continue to prompt the user for a response. Users that wish to receive mass or automated messages must opt-in.
4. Opt-Out will always be honored. If users reply STOP, they will NEVER receive ANY text from A-Suite. Users must reply START to allow texting again.
5. Only links that point to a branded domain related to AvatarFleet or ((personalization_token(‘company.name’, ‘your organization’) )) will be sent through A-Suite (ie. www.clientname.com or www.avatarfleet.com ). Rerouted or shortened links such as bit.ly will not be sent through A-Suite.
6. Any current users will also need to provide consent to receive mass and automated texting from A-Suite.
7. Responses to people can be sent from recruiters/manager, but initial messaging will need opt-in from the recipient.
8. All messages sent in automation (not 1-to-1 types messages), will automatically get appended with "reply STOP to unsubscribe" at the bottom.
9. All messages must be under 1,600 characters.
Opting In/Out of Text Messaging
Your company's Leads, Candidates, and Employees have the ability to opt in to or out of receiving mass text messages.
A user's SMS opt in/out preference will be marked with a badge within their profile. You can also see their opt in/out preference within the Team Member browser and Candidate browser.
There are four ways your Leads, Candidates, and Employees can opt in or out of mass text messages:
- By answering a prompt (created using a widget) in a workflow;
- By responding to a form request that you, the administrator, send out;
- By specifying their preference when they create their A-Suite registration.
- By typing "STOP" to any of the text communications that come from A-Suite.
Ways to Give Options to Opt In/Out of Mass Text Messaging
1. Adding Opt In/Out to a Workflow
Go to Configuration >Recruit > Positions and Openings. Select a workflow.
Note that ONLY the user can opt in or out of mass text messages; you as an administrator cannot do it for them.
Decide upon which step you want to add the form, then select "Add Form." In the dialog box, choose "SMS Consent" from the dropdown menu, and choose the step that you are working on so it adds to the appropriate step.
A standard question and disclaimer text will populate below; you can edit the question and additional language if desired. Finally, click "Add".
2. Opt In/Out as a Form Request
You can send a form request where your recipients must choose their opt in/out status. Start by narrowing down your intended recipients using filters in your browser. Select New Form:
In the Form Request dialog box, choose "SMS Consent" from the first dropdown menu. Finally, choose a due date if desired, select your delivery methods, and type an additional message if you would like to add any text. When you are finished, click "Request" at the bottom of the dialog box.
For more information on this process, check out our Form Requests Knowledge Base article.
3. Opt In/Out Upon A-Suite Registration
The third method to getting an opt in/out of mass text messages is giving A-Suite registrants the option when they create their account.
This will automatically be added to the EZ App registration page starting December 2022.
4. Typing "STOP" to A-Suite Communications
Upon receiving a text message, a user will have the ability to reply "STOP" to shut off ALL texting communication from the system.
Opting Back In
For a user to Opt back in to receiving text communications, he or she must reply "START" to your company text message inbox number. This number can be found by opening any text communication, navigating to "Message Options."
