SMS Opt-in and Opt-out (How-To)

Article Details

Summary

This article explains how SMS opt-in and opt-out work in Gingr. It also shows admins how to let staff see the opt-in and opt-out fields.

How Opt-In and Opt-Out Work

Twilio, the text messaging service Gingr uses, automatically reads certain keywords. These keywords unsubscribe or resubscribe a customer from all SMS communications sent through Gingr.

Opt-Out Keywords

If a pet parent replies with any of these words, Gingr unsubscribes them from all text messages:

  • Stop
  • Stopall
  • Unsubscribe
  • Cancel
  • Quit
  • End

Opt-In Keywords

To resubscribe, a pet parent must text one of these words:

  • Start
  • Unstop

Why Gingr Uses Opt-In and Opt-Out

Industry rules for recurring and automated messaging require these settings. Twilio requires them too. They help in three ways:

  • Customers keep full control over their communication preferences.
  • Messages are delivered reliably and follow carrier rules.
  • Businesses avoid penalties and SMS number blocks.

To meet these rules, Gingr hides the opt-in and opt-out fields on the Owner Form by default in all apps. This lowers the risk of manual overrides that could break the rules.

How to Show Opt-In and Opt-Out Fields to Staff

To let your employees view or edit the SMS opt-in and opt-out status in the Pet Parent Profile:

  1. Go to Admin > Owner Form.
  2. Find the field for SMS or email communication preferences, and edit it.
  3. Select Employees for both of these settings:
    • Who Is Required to Complete This Field?
    • Who Can See/Edit This Field?
  4. Save the slide-out window.
  5. Scroll to the bottom of the page.
  6. Save the form.

The Owner Form field settings with Employees selected for who can see and edit the field.

The fields now show in the Pet Parent Profile for your team. Customer-side controls stay in place.

Tip: These changes do not affect the Customer Portal. Pet parents can still manage their own communication preferences there.

Helpful Hints

  • Do not use opt-out words in your SMS templates. For example, do not add "Reply 'cancel' to cancel your reservation" to Reminder texts. A reply of "cancel" can unsubscribe the customer from all texts.
  • If a customer says they do not get texts, ask if they replied with an opt-out keyword.

Related Articles

Was this article helpful?

0 out of 2 found this helpful

Have more questions? Submit a request

Comments

0 comments

Article is closed for comments.