Compliance Content Assistance

The CTIA and U.S. wireless carriers have created these content requirements for business-to-consumer messaging so that their customers, the mobile users, have a consistent user experience with a clear understanding of all aspects of the service to which they have subscribed. A consistent experience and clear support information reduces the number of customer service calls and complaints to wireless carriers. The message components described in the following articles are required for both recurring and one-time message programs.*

Call-to-Action Content

A compliant CTA (Call-to-Action) must be clear and conspicuous. The end-user must be amply aware at the time that they opt in that they are agreeing to receive text messages, and the terms of that agreement, including the subject matter, frequency and duration for which they’ll be receiving the texts.

A few more key elements:

The brand which will send the messages must be identified.
In webforms, the checkbox agreeing to receive texts cannot be pre-checked.
In webforms with no checkbox, the phone number field cannot be mandatory.
Consenting to texts cannot be required in order to receive services or purchases.
The purpose of the texts must be clearly outlined.
A manner of opt-out must be provided.

Below are some examples of compliant CTAs. Note that short codes are required to include additional information, such as message frequency and links to terms or privacy policy. Consider short code compliance to be the gold standard of industry best practices - while these measures may not be required for 10DLC or toll-free campaigns, including them will bring your CTA to a higher level of compliance best practice.

Example Marketing CTA (Short Code)

[ ] Send me special offers through text*
* By checking this box, I agree to receive recurring automated marketing text messages at the phone number provided. Consent is not a condition of purchase. Msg & data rates may apply. Msg frequency varies. Reply HELP for help and STOP to cancel. By opting in, I also agree to ABC Business’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy .

Example Web Form CTA (10DLC or Toll-Free)

By entering your mobile number, you agree to receive service notifications by text message from ABC Business. Text STOP to cancel. Message and data rates may apply.

Long Code & Toll-Free Message Content

HELP Response

It is required to support a HELP message response for long code and toll-free message programs. This message should include helpful customer support information. Specifically, the following is required in the message body:

Brand Identity
Brief Program Description
Opt-out instructions

Short Code Message Content

All components shown in the templates within the sections below are necessary for full compliance. The following bulleted list is a key which will assist you in reading the template and the example shown below.

Items in [brackets] are those which will be replaced based on your specific use-case, as shown in the example.
Items in “normal” font outside of the brackets should appear in your texts exactly as they appear in the template.
The Additional Outbound Message is a second outbound message sent in a one-time program if all desired time-of-opt-in outbound message content cannot fit within the 160-character limits of the Opt-in message alongside all of the required components depicted below. The Additional outbound message will be charged your outbound message rate.

Please note that compliance requirements have recently changed - while the Sponsor & Program Name is still required within the body of the message, it is no longer strictly required at the beginning of the message followed by a colon (though we do recommend this format as best-practice and for saving character space).

One-Time Message Flow

Also referred to as a “query,” “transactional” or “non-recurring” service, the one-time message program is one in which the end-user texts in a keyword or submits a web prompt to receive the desired response instantly. The end-user will not receive any future messages from the service unless they text in or otherwise engage the service again.

Message Function	Direction	Content Template	Content Example
Opt-in	Inbound	[Opt-in Keyword]	COOK
Opt-in	Outbound	[Sponsor & Program Name]: [description of service] Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel. [email or 8xx]	FoodCo Recipe: Receive today’s recipe. Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel. 18001234567
Additional Opt-in	Outbound	[Sponsor & Program Name]: [Additional Opt-in Outbound content] Msg&DataRatesMayAply	FoodCo Recipe: Quick and easy carrot cake - foodco.com/dailyrecipe Msg&DataRatesMayAply
Help	Inbound	HELP	HELP
Help	Outbound	[Sponsor & Program Name]: [email or 8xx] Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply STOP to cancel.	FoodCo Recipe: mobile@foodco.com for help. Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply STOP to cancel.
Opt-Out	Inbound	STOP	STOP
Opt-Out	Outbound	[Sponsor & Program Name]: You have unsubscribed from keyword and will receive no more messages. [email or 8xx]	FoodCo Recipe: You have unsubscribed and will receive no more messages. 18001234567

OTP/2FA Message Flow

For One-Time Password or Two-Factor Authentication campaigns, the end-user has most likely signed up for a web service. In order to log into this web service or–for example–change a forgotten password, the site may forward them a one-time password that they may use to log in and change their password information.

Message Function	Direction	Content Template	Content Example
Trigger	Inbound	[The end-user signifies online that they would like a one-time password sent to their mobile handset number, either entered at the time of the event or saved within a preexisting profile.]	The end-user has forgotten his or her TechnoBuzz account password, and signifies that he or she would like a new temp password to be sent to his or her phone.
Auth/PIN	Outbound	[Sponsor & Program Name]: Your one-time password is [PIN, code or password]. [instructions for use.] Msg&DataRatesMayAply	TechnoBuzz Accounts: Your one-time password is S18J567. You may use this to log into your TechnoBuzz account. Please change your password after use. Msg&DataRatesMayAply
Help	Inbound	HELP	HELP
Help	Outbound	[Sponsor & Program Name]: [email or 8xx]	TechnoBuzz Accounts: Call 18001234567 for assistance.
Opt-Out	Inbound	STOP	STOP
Opt-Out	Outbound	[Sponsor & Program Name]: You have unsubscribed from keyword and will receive no more messages.	TechnoBuzz Accounts: You have unsubscribed and will receive no more messages.

Please note that while it may seem silly to provide HELP and STOP functionality for what is not only a one-time message but a flow that is not in and of itself a mobile-based campaign, it is a carrier-best-practice requirement that these keywords be understood by all end-users and be live and available with appropriate and applicable responses.

Recurring Message Flow

End-users who opt into a recurring or “subscription-based” mobile program elect to receive messages at regular or event-triggered intervals over a given or indefinite period of time. Unlike one-time message programs, these programs require a Subscription Renewal Reminder Outbound which you will see in the template.

Message Function	Direction	Content Template	Content Example
Opt-in	Inbound	[Opt-in Keyword]	AIRDEALS
Opt-in	Outbound	[Sponsor & Program Name]: [description of service w/ “recurring” statement] Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel. [email or 8xx]	PlaneTix AirDeals: Receive recurring ticket discount notifications! Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel. 18001234567.
Content	Outbound	[Sponsor & Program Name]: [Subscribed content] Msg&DataRatesMayAply	PlaneTix AirDeals: Porter Airlines is offering 50% off round-trip tickets through Thursday! Msg&DataRatesMayAply
Help	Inbound	HELP	HELP
Help	Outbound	[Sponsor & Program Name]: [“recurring” statement][email or 8xx] Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply STOP to cancel.	PlaneTix AirDeals: Recurring notifications. mobile@planetix.com for help. Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply STOP to cancel.
Subscription Reminder	Outbound	[Sponsor & Program Name]: [description of service w/ “recurring” statement][renewal date] Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel. [email or 8xx]	PlaneTix AirDeals: Get recurrimg alerts about discount airfare! Renews 01/15. Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel. 18001234567
Subscription Confirmation	Outbound	[Sponsor & Program Name]: Subscription renewed. [“recurring” statement] Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel. [email or 8xx]	PlaneTix AirDeals: Subscription renewed. Recurring notifications. Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel. mobile@planetix.com
Opt-Out	Inbound	STOP	STOP
Opt-Out	Outbound	[Sponsor & Program Name]: You have unsubscribed from keyword and will receive no more messages. [email or 8xx]	PlaneTix AirDeals: You have been unsubscribed and will not receive any more messages. 18001234567.

U.S. Short Code Campaign Requirements

Initial / Opt-In Message

Acceptable opt-in methods for a U.S. Short Code Campaign are:

Handset
Web Form
Mobile App
IVR

Initial / Opt-in MT

Sponsor/Program Name
Product Description
Message Frequency/“Recurring” Statement*
Msg&Data Disclaimer
Help Instructions
Stop Instructions
Customer Support Info

*If your program is recurring, you are required to state as much explicitly within your Opt-In MT.

Double Opt-In Webpage & PIN or “Reply Yes” MT

Please note that while double opt-ins are no longer required for U.S. web-based opt-in mechanisms, they are still required in Canada.

Double opt-ins are only required for standard-rate campaigns when opting in via the web. When the end-user opts in online, it will trigger a handset verification message which will be sent to the user’s device for confirmation (see Double Opt-In Confirmation MT).

Sponsor/Program Name
Product Description
Message Frequency
Msg&Data Disclaimer
Help Instructions
Action Request*

*An “Action Request” can take the form of a pin code or the request of a response (reply “YES” to confirm).

Double Opt-In Confirmation MT

Sponsor/Program Name
Message Frequency
Msg&Data Disclaimer
Help Instructions

Primary Content Message

Contains a program’s primary content such as account alerts, promotions, sports updates, information about the subject, etc.

In a Recurring Message Flow the Primary Content Message may appear at any time, including immediately following the Opt-in Message, provided that it does not exceed the message frequency.

It requires only:

Sponsor/Program Name
Msg&Data Disclaimer

In a One Time Message Flow the Primary Content Message:

Is an optional 2nd message that immediately follows the first message.
May use all 160 characters/spaces freely*

A one-time message program’s application should place a short delay on the Primary Content Message so that it is not delivered to the end-user’s mobile device prior to the first message containing the required compliance language. Messages sent out of order will confuse the end-user and risk audit failure through major carriers who require that a message containing all compliant content be delivered to the handset first.

*The first of the two one-time messages must contain all compliant language required of an “initial” (opt-in) message.

Help/“Customer Care” Message

End-users must always be able to send “HELP” and receive what is referred to as “customer care” information. Furthermore, short codes are now required to send “Customer Care” messages at regular intervals (once a month being the minimum) with “customer care” contact information included. We recommend just using your HELP message for this, and sending its contents out once monthly.

Your HELP message must include:

Sponsor/Program Name
Message Frequency
Msg&Data Disclaimer
STOP Instructions
Customer Support Info

STOP Message

Sponsor/Program Name
“You have been unsubscribed”
“You will no longer receive messages”
Customer Support Info

Existing Program Code Change Notification Message

If you are switching the code you use for your campaign, whether it is from long code to short code, or one short code to another, you must notify existing subscribers of the change.

This notice must:

Come from the code to which the end-user originally opted in
Include opt-out instructions
Be the last message sent to the end-user from the program on the old short code

Code Change Notification MT:

Sponsor & Program Name: Future content will be sent from #####. Reply STOP to cancel.

Canadian Short Code Message Content

The requirements in this section are applicable to outbound messages from Canadian short codes.

HELP/AIDE Message

Note that the below requirements are the same for HELP and AIDE responses - however, HELP must respond in English and AIDE must respond in French.

Sponsor/Program Name
Program Description
Customer Support Info *
Msg&Data Disclaimer
Message Frequency
STOP Instructions

* If a URL is included as a method of customer service contact, non-English webpages must include language denotation beside the URL.

INFO Message

The below requirements must be presented twice in the INFO response message - once in English and once in French. The message must be bilingual and fit within 160 characters.

Sponsor/Program Name
Customer Support Info

STOP/ARRET Message

Note that the below requirements are the same for STOP and ARRET responses - however, STOP must respond in English and ARRET must respond in French.

“You have been unsubscribed from all services on this short code” or “This is not a subscription service and you will receive no more messages” as applicable.

U.S. Short Code Verbiage

Now that you’ve seen the components required in your message flow(s), you may be looking to understand better the logic behind them and the acceptable incarnations of each piece in its spelling and punctuation.

This is the name of the company or brand providing the mobile service. It should be the first word in each SMS.

Note: Sponsor and Program Name must lead every message in the entire program

*NuTech Latest: Get the top tech stories of the week! 1msg/week. Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel. 18001234567.*

In the example above, Nutech is the sponsor name.

Why is this a carrier requirement?
Mobile users receive a wide variety of business-to-consumer messages: credit card balance, retail offers, school notices, appointment reminders, transportation statuses, threshold alerts, employee notifications. Having a standard format for identifying the program and its source at the beginning of the message provides a better user experience

Program Name

This is the name of your service, and is also referred to as the “product disclosure.” It should appear following the sponsor name in your texts.

NuTech Latest: Get the top tech stories of the week! 1msg/week. Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel. 18001234567.

While the full program name is actually “NuTech Latest” in this example, that is only acceptable because “NuTech” is also the sponsor name. “Latest” tells us what type of service is being provided. While “News” is a common program name, carriers are looking for something more intuitive. “Latest” gives the end-user an idea of what they’re receiving–the buzz about tech.

Additionally, many sponsors have multiple programs. Including both sponsor and program name clarifies the program from which the message has been sent.

Product Description

In many occasions, simply giving the program name is not enough of a description for the end-user to understand fully what sort of messages they are receiving. Because of this, a product description should be added. This can be a short sentence, or even just a couple of words.

NuTech Latest: Get the top tech stories of the week! 1msg/week. Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel. 18001234567.

In this example, this sentence makes it clear to the user what they will accomplish by receiving these messages.

Why is this a carrier requirement?
The product description helps set proper user expectations for the types and purposes of the messages they will be receiving.

Message Frequency

For One-Time Programs, this will manifest as the number of messages given out to the end-user in response to each message they send to the service.

For many applications, the message frequency cannot be precisely predetermined by the content provider. In this case, the frequency included in the message content should relate to the expected message frequency under normal circumstances.

CTIA audit standards accept “1 msg/query” and “Msg frequency varies by user” (the word “frequency” cannot be abbreviated).

NuTech Latest: Get the top tech stories of the week! 1msg/week. Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel. 18001234567.

For subscription programs, the “2msg/query” would be replaced by the number of messages given periodically over time by the program without prompt, such as “3msg/week.”

Why is this a carrier requirement?
The message frequency lets mobile subscribers know how often they should expect messages from the program to which they’ve subscribed.

Msg&Data Disclaimer

Commonly abbreviated to “Msg&Data rates may apply” or “Msg&DataRatesMayAply,” this phrase notifies the customer that text message correspondence with your mobile program is not free, and instead costs the same amount of money as correspondence with, say, another consumer. Remember that the phrase “standard rates may apply” is no longer accepted. The most common wording is shown below in the example.

NuTech Latest: Get the top tech stories of the week! 1msg/week. Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel. 18001234567.

The replacement of the ampersand with the word “and” spelled out in full, and the removal of one p from the word “apply” are also accepted.

Why is this a carrier requirement?
End-users must be aware that they may be charged by the carrier to receive and send messages associated with the program.

HELP/STOP Instructions

HELP and STOP keywords must work in the native language of the program as well as English. These pieces can appear in one sentence, or separated.

NuTech Latest: Get the top tech stories of the week! 1msg/week. Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel. 18001234567.

Please note that the replacement of “for” and “to” with “4” and “2” is not accepted.

Why is this a carrier requirement?
The mobile end-user must be able to receive support for their mobile program, or stop their mobile program at any time.

Customer Support Info (Support Email or Toll-Free#)

This piece required in the Initial/Opt-in MT as well as the final Opt-out MT. Although the HELP menu itself provides additional customer support information, the quick contact info is outside of the HELP menu.

NuTech Latest: Get the top tech stories of the week! 1msg/week. Msg&DataRatesMayAply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel. 18001234567.

The Customer Support Info can appear as either a toll-free number or a support e-mail address. Typically, two of the three are accepted in a given message, while the third is not. For example, you need either a URL or a toll-free number in your initial opt-in response, but either an e-mail or toll-free number in your opt-out as due to recent changes, the URL is no longer accepted. However, regardless of which two are accepted, only one is required in any given message–you need not include both.

If you are using an Aerialink leased toll-free number (versus a BYON toll-free number) in your Short Code HELP auto-response, the number must have active voice service for Customer Care and requires an additional step for setup. The inbound voice service for TFNs included in the SC help messages must be forwarded to:

An active number for the brand’s customer care service in domestic US or Canada. You can enter the forwarding number in your Aerialink Platform Portal account on the codes details page.
or a voice recording (provided by you and we load that on to our SoftSwitch) associated each dedicated brand number. This function does not allow user to leave a voice mail. Hence, it should identify the brand, the program and instruct user how to contact the brand for customer care. Please submit the request through our support channel and our provisioning team will load it on our SoftSwitch for inbound forwarding to a recorded message. The recording should identify the brand and instruct end user how to contact the business for customer care. The recording may be saved in .wav format.

Why is this a carrier requirement?
The quick contact info provides a means for the user to understand the terms and conditions of the program or receive direct, live support if needed.

Character-Saving Recommendations

Required compliance verbiage can take up a large number of your available 160 characters. To help make the most of the characters at your disposal, read below for tips on keeping messages short and for acceptable abbreviations to words and terms found in your needed compliance language.

Msg & Data Rates May Apply

It is perfectly compliant to leave out the spaces between words in this required component, but be sure to capitalize the beginning leter of each word so that it is conspicuous and legible, like so:

Msg&DataRatesMayAply

Removing the spaces will save you five characters!

Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel

While the presence of these two items is looked at individually as-needed, if both are required in a message, combine the sentence as you see here.

Abbreviated Program Name

Your sponsor and program name are required in all of your messages—don’t have them any longer than they need to be. Always look for the shortest possible manifestation of this tag. For example, instead of “Company Alerts,” it says “Company Alrt.”

Simplified Phone Number Format

Ex: 18001234567 Leave the punctuation out of your phone numbers. Smart phones will still be able to click to dial, and you won’t eat up extra characters. Depending on your use-case, you may even want to leave off the country code.

Cut Some Punctuation

Leaving off the last period in your text doesn’t hurt your end-user’s understanding of the sentence. Look through your messages for erroneous commas and periods.

In-Message Abbreviations

Compliant Abbreviations for Required Language

And -> &
Apply -> Aply
Message -> Msg
Message and Data Rates May Apply -> Msg&DataRatesMayAply
Month -> mo, mth
Number (One, Two, Three) -> # (1, 2, 3…)
Per -> /
Query -> Qry

Unacceptable Abbreviations

Unlike the recommended abbreviations above, there are certain compliance words which must remain spelled in full. The abbreviation of the following words is not recommended and may render you non-compliant with some carriers.

Cancel
For
Help
Reply
Stop
To
You

Aerialink Compliance articles are for informational use only. They do not constitute, and should not be taken as or in place of, legal advice. Aerialink customers are responsible for meeting all legal requirements applicable to their programs and are strongly encouraged to consult formal legal counsel.

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