More businesses have adopted text messaging as their means to reach target audiences and improve communication flow in the workplace. Text messages have become nonetheless popular to enterprises because more users rely on text and find smartphones convenient. However, integrating messaging platforms comes with risk if text message compliance is unobserved.

Countries have specific regulations for text messaging, so businesses must be cautious. Enterprises planning to leverage short message service (SMS) to their operations can compliantly do through the following ways:

Learn and Understand the Existing Regulations

As mentioned earlier, countries require businesses to observe SMS compliance. In this article, let’s focus on the US. Various federal and state laws govern text regulatory standards, primarilyTelephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). 

TCPA requires businesses to obtain consent from consumers before sending them any message, while FDCPA regulates debt collection activities, such as communication with debtors. Learning about these laws is critical to developing efficient and compliant text message integration.Moreover, the inobservance of these laws can potentially make the business vulnerable to regulatory crackdowns and expensive lawsuits.

Get Consent

Telemarketers cannot send promotional or informational messages to anyone without getting their approval. TCPA can penalize businesses that fail to adhere to this provision. Enterprises can only relay marketing-related messages upon obtaining the person’s written consent.

The other methods  telemarketers can use to get the person’s consent allowing them to receive notifications, include the following:

• Let the consumer input their phone number in the web-based consent form with clearly specified terms and conditions (TAC)

• Request the consumer to sign a physical consent form copy with clearly established TAC, as provided by the telemarketer 

• Let the consumer response to the advertisement containing the TAC using the keyword provided

Archive Text Messages

If the business and the consumer agree to send and receive messages, the enterprise must now focus on archiving text messages. Archiving allows companies to monitor their employee interactions with consumers. Text archiving is also critical in ensuring that the business complies with regulations.

Businesses must only look for a reputable text message archive app, like LeapXpert, for a trusted archiving process. ContactLeapXpert today for inquiries.