Stop Requests

Stop Requests

All premium and non-premium shortcodes must provide consumers with the ability to opt-out from receiving messages. This is usually done via a STOP message sent from the consumer to the shortcode. Once a consumer has sent STOP, no further messages should be sent to them, except for an optional confirmation of opt-out where this is allowed by country regulations.

Receiving a STOP Request

You will receive a STOP request as if it were a normal MO message, with the message parameter set to ask campaign_name stop where "campaign name" is the campaign you are sending from. See Receiving a Message for more information.

See below for an example:

Array
(
    [action] => mpush_ir_message
    [id] => 1233456789
    [number] => 4470000000
    [network] => O220UK
    [shortcode] => 
    [message] => ask username stop
    [keyword] => 
)

Opt-outs on Shared Short Codes

MessageCloud maintains a global STOP list of all consumers that have opted out of premium and non-premium SMS on our shared short codes. This can be used as a safety net for your services but we highly recommend keeping your own list of these consumers.

Please note that STOP requests are not specific to a shortcode under the MessageCloud platform. For example, a STOP request from a consumer sent to 60999 will terminate all subscriptions on all shortcodes. If you want to avoid this security measure then you will need to invest in a dedicated short code, used only by you and your services, rather than using our shared short codes.

Removing consumers from our STOP list

Users are automatically removed from the STOP list the next time they send a message into one of our shortcodes. The STOP list does not prevent users from sending messages to a short code, it merely prevents us from processing the message as normal.

How must I handle STOP requests

When using Gateway, all STOP requests will be passed to your MO endpoint for your records. When you receive a STOP request, it means that the consumer no longer wishes to be contacted or charged so you must implement some logic to honour this. In some scenarios, it will be a requirement that you acknowledge this action by sending a free reply to the consumer.

Next:  Glossary

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