SMS and MMS Policy

Phone.com – Use of SMS and MMS Requirements

 

Phone.com (“we,” “us” or “Phone.com”) participates as a Campaign Service Provider (CSP) in The Campaign Registry (TCR).  As a CSP, Phone.com has pledged to work towards the elimination of phishing, spam, and fraud, while providing excellent service.  To assist with these goals, Phone.com has developed the following policies, in conjunction with CTIA messaging guidelines, that apply to our SMS/MMS Services.  These policies are incorporated into Phone.com’s Terms of Service. Your use of our SMS/MMS Services constitutes acceptance of these policies and the agreement that you will abide by these policies or your services will be subject to suspension or termination.  You are also responsible for compliance with the applicable law, and to adhere to any and all policies or other restrictions concerning SMS messaging. 

 

1. Limitations on SMS Messages. Phone.com provides its customers SMS for person-to-person communications and cannot be used for automated messaging or other notifications, chatbots, or the like. In addition, Phone.com reserves the right to protect our network from SPAM and fraud by limiting the number of messages that can be sent each day/month based on a number of factors including the age of the account and the volume of messages sent.

 

By using the SMS service including with your Phone.com services, you also agree that you will:

 

• Every message must identify you as the sender of the message unless the message is part of an ongoing communication;
• No more than 25 repetitive messages;
• 1:1 send/ receive ratio;
• No more than 1 number used per person to send SMS.

If you wish to use automated messaging, including repetitive messaging and mass volume messaging, please contact Phone.com to arrange for a high-volume SMS account.

 

2. User Consent Required. You understand that you must have express written consent from the recipient in order to communicate with them via messaging.

 

a. You are responsible for maintaining a record of the consent, and must send an initial message to the recipient within a reasonable period of time after receiving consent, and then reconfirm consent in the initial message.

 

b. The initial message that you send must include “Reply STOP to unsubscribe” or a similar statement using another standard opt-out keyword such as “UNSUBSCRIBE”, “CANCEL”, “END”, and “QUIT”.

 

c. You are required to allow individuals to revoke consent at any time by replying with a standard opt-out keyword. When an individual opts out, you are permitted to deliver one final message confirming the opt-out has been process, but no further messages are permitted without the individual reconsenting to receiving messages.

 

d. The consent is only applicable to you and the specific campaign that the recipient has consented to receive messages.

 

e. Proof of consent should be retained as set forth by local regulations or best practices.

 

3. Alternative Consent. In certain instances, you may obtain consent through an alternative method if you do not obtain explicit consent from an individual.

 

a. If the individual sends a message to you, you are permitted to respond to that individual. Note, the implied consent is only applicable to that particular conversion, e.g. the individual requests information about your hours of operation.  You are required to obtain further consent from the individual if you intend to send additional messages unrelated the initial inquiry.

 

b. You are permitted to send message to an individual if you have a prior relationship with the individual and the individual has provided their phone number to you, has taken some action to trigger the potential communications, and has not expressed a preference to not receive messages. Examples can include a button press, appointment, order placements, or alert set ups.  In these instances, acceptable messages include appointment reminders, receipts, order/shipping/reservation confirmations, and the like.

 

4. Content Restrictions. You may not use our service for certain types of campaigns.  Messages relating to the following are strictly prohibited on the Phone.com platform:

• Loan and mortgage advertisements
• Credit repair offers
• Debt relief offers
• Debt collection attempts
• Work from home advertisements
• Secret shopper advertisements
• Alcohol, tobacco, or firearms advertisements
• Pharmaceutical, vitamin, or other drug advertisements
• Campaigns that may be similar to the above

 

Certain campaigns that are used to engage with customers, but are prohibited because they are similar to the types of campaigns listed above, for example, a message providing an update on a loan application. 

 

Further, messages containing the following content are also strictly prohibited from our platform, and may result in your services being blocked or suspended by Phone.com or our underlying  carriers:

 

• Messages that engage in any illegal activity or otherwise violate our terms of service, including the acceptable use policy
• Messages that engage in or promote, pornographic or adult entertainment, regardless of legality
• Messages that contain text or references to violence, hate speech, or otherwise engaging in threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, deceptive or fraudulent behavior
• Messages that contain text or otherwise reference substances defined as controlled substances under federal law, regardless of legality, including marijuana (cannabis)
• Messages that contain third-party affiliate/lead generation links
• Messages that contain obfuscated links for the purpose of misleading the reader, or use links contrary to the expectation of the user based on the message text
• Messages that are structured to evade this policy or the policies of carriers (e.g. misspelling, uncommon capitalization, etc.)

We reserve the right to add to this list at any time or determine messages are prohibited at our discretion.

 

5. Outbound text messaging registration requirements. Outbound text messaging to US local numbers is subject to registration requirements and fees imposed by the mobile carriers. By sending outbound text messages, you agree to pay any associated fees assessed by the mobile carriers, and be bound by any applicable third-party registration requirements.

 

6. Fees and account restrictions. Violation of these rules and regulations may result in reduced delivery of your messages, additional campaign registration requirements and fees for which you are responsible, or suspension and termination of your service, in addition to fines and penalties passed through to Phone.com by its underlying carrier.

 

This SMS and MMS Policy was last updated on August 8, 2023, and is effective immediately.