1. OUR DEFINITION OF SPAM

We consider any unsolicited commercial SMS, email or instant message as spam, even if it is one, individual message and not a bulk despatch. Please ensure you have secured the prior consent of your subscribers to receive certain types of messages from you before sending anything.

We do not allow our customers to use third parties’ lists for text messaging, whether consent has been granted or not.

 

2. ANTI-SPAM FILTERING

Intis Telecom’s messaging systems automatically scan all outgoing messages for trigger words and filter out messages that appear to be spam or those which include illegal content.

Sometimes your messages may be filtered out by the spam filters of mobile operators, so please contact us if this happens. We will try to get your messages white-listed in the operator’s system or we may suggest adjusting your content to remove any trigger words.

 

3. WHAT MESSAGES ARE BLOCKED?

Please be accurate with the text you use; the subscriber must want to receive the messages you send.

If any of the recipients complain to the mobile operator, or to any other legal authority about the messages you have sent, you must prove that you have the consent of the individual subscriber to do so or else risk receiving a penalty.

Some business sectors are prone to incurring abnormally high levels of abuse complaints, which in turn can jeopardise the deliverability of all our messaging traffic. To maintain the highest successful delivery rates possible for all our customers, we require approval requests before businesses begin to submit messages to us for processing and onward routing which include content relating to the following types of products or services:

  • alcohol or tobacco products;
  • pharmaceutical products;
  • nutritional, herbal or vitamin supplements;
  • escort or dating services;
  • online trading or stock market related services;
  • gambling games;
  • credit repair and debt restructuring services;
  • mortgages and loans;
  • adult items;
  • political or religious information;
  • products or services that concern people under age.

Notwithstanding, we immediately block without discussion messages containing content of the following nature:

  • pornography or sexually explicit;
  • obscene language or abuse;
  • the promotion of illegal goods or services;
  • anything that violates any applicable laws;
  • messages sent without the consent of recipients.

NB If we detect any spam messages sent from your account, we have the right to block it with no refund.

 

4. ANTI-SPAM LEGISLATION

SMS and other mobile phone messaging related legislation differ from country to country. It is your responsibility to ensure you are aware of and comply with any acts, directives and other legal frameworks that regulate SMS and other mobile phone messaging in the country or countries you send messages in or to.

Kindly contact our legal team at legal@intistele.com for more information about the prevailing text messaging regulations in your country or any countries you intend sending messages to. 

Here are four tips for ensuring your messages get approved without issue:

 

4.1. CONSENT

Make sure you have the client’s permission to send them text messages. Gather and store records of such consent carefully. You may need them as proof in case of any complaints.

Such records can be:

  1. electronic: for example, a checkbox in a registration form on a website;
  2. paper: for example, in an application form, including the date consent was given and the signature of the person or entity consenting
  3. audio: usually recorded during a call to a contact centre 

NB All records of consent must clearly identify the person providing it. Please ensure your clients provide you with their full name and their date of birth as a minimum.

 

4.2. PERSONALISATION

Messages which are personalised to each recipient increase engagement rates and drive loyalty. Include the name of your customer at the beginning of the text to increase open rates. And remember it is easier to prove that messages are not Spam when you know your customers

 

4.3. SENDER ID

Your messages need to clearly indicate the person, company or organisation that is sending the message.

It is less likely that a subscriber will forget that they had opted in to receiving content from you (thereby reducing complaints) if you include the details of the organisation from which the content originates within the text of the message.

NB Setting only your company name as a sender ID is not enough.

Remember that mobile operators have their own policies in each country. Sometimes a sender ID can be replaced with a numeric long code, short code or with a generic alpha sender ID. We recommend the verification and testing of any SMS campaigns out on your own handsets prior to sending them out.

NB Only putting your company name as a sender ID is not enough.

Remember that mobile operators have their own policies in each country. Sometimes a sender ID can be replaced with a numeric long code, short code or with a generic alpha sender ID. We recommend checking your SMS campaign on your own handset before sending it out.

 

4.4. OPT-OUT

Providing clients with an option to stop receiving your communications is a great way to decrease complaints. This can be facilitated by enabling a reply option to the short or long code indicated in the received message or simply by calling you or sending you an email. The phone numbers of those people opting out can be added to a ‘stop list’ so those recipients will never receive messages from you again.

Kindly note that providing the ability for a subscriber to opt out is an obligatory legal requirement in the USA and some other countries. We recommend you contact our legal team at legal@intistele.com for more information should you be uncertain about anything