Texting and calling rules

US law (the TCPA) and the phone carriers have strict rules about texting and calling people. Yapii follows them for you, automatically, before every message. This page explains what it checks, so a blocked text never comes as a surprise.

Calling hours

Texts and automated calls, such as Claire's, go out only between 8 AM and 9 PM in the contact's local time. Two states are stricter:

State	Allowed hours
Texas	9 AM to 9 PM
Connecticut	9 AM to 8 PM

Automated calls, such as Claire's, keep to narrower hours in a few more states: in Florida, Maryland, Washington and Massachusetts they end at 8 PM, and in Texas they start at noon on Sundays.

• Yapii works out the contact's time zone from their area code and state. If the two disagree, both times have to be inside the window. When a contact has a phone number but no state, Yapii may guess the state from their ZIP code or area code. The guess can only make the window stricter. It never replaces a real state and never widens a window.
• Automated messages that fall outside the window wait until the next morning.
• You can still reply right away to someone who has just written to you.
• A text you type and send yourself to one contact is not held to these hours either, and Yapii does not ask you to confirm it. Before you text late or early, check the contact's local time. Opt-outs, Do Not Contact and the other checks still apply.
• A call you place yourself is not held to these hours, and it does not need the contact's consent on file. Before you call late or early, check the contact's local time.

Consent: permission to contact someone

Automated texts, including Claire's and those in sequences, need the contact's permission. Yapii records where that permission came from:

• they filled in one of your forms or landing pages and left the consent box ticked. The box beside the wording comes ticked, and the person can untick it. Phone consent is recorded only when the box is ticked, and a form that shows no consent box, such as an old pasted embed, records none;
• they claimed their home value dashboard and agreed to be contacted;
• they replied YES or START to a text;
• they texted you first. See When someone texts you first;
• an admin recorded it by hand, with a note.

A contact whose consent is unknown doesn't get automated texts. Yapii never sends an automatic "may I text you?" message on your behalf.

When someone texts you first

A contact who texts your number first has given you permission to text them back. When their text arrives and it is not a STOP or another refusal, Yapii marks them as opted in to texts, and the contact's record shows the permission came from their own text. This works for a contact you already have and for a stranger Yapii adds from their text. Before this, a person's text only let you reply for a day, and a reply that failed could leave the contact blocked from the next text.

• An opt-out always wins. A contact who sent STOP stays opted out until they send START. A text that is a refusal or a wrong-number reply does not opt anyone in.
• It covers texts a person sends, and replies. It does not turn on automated texts. Claire's texts, sequence texts, campaigns and calls still need the permission described above, on a contact's own record.
• It does not start Claire. A person who asked a question gets an answer from the usual reply handling. They are not enrolled in outreach.
• It changes nothing else. Do Not Contact and your suppression list stay as they were.

Only tick consent boxes when it's true

When you import contacts or change a contact's consent by hand, only record consent if the person really agreed. It's a legal record.

Opting out: STOP and friends

The contact texts...	What happens
STOP (or clearly asks to stop, such as "unsubscribe" or "stop texting me")	They're opted out immediately. Texts and calls stop, they go on your suppression list, and automated follow-up pauses.
A plain refusal in their own words, such as "stop bugging me", "do not call" or "go away"	They're opted out immediately, for the channel they named. "Please don't text me" stops texts and calls and leaves email, "don't email me" stops email, and a text that names no channel stops texts and calls. Naming several channels, or "stop all contact", stops everything. See Which channel a refusal covers.
That you have the wrong number, such as "wrong number" or "I'm not Sam" when you texted Sam	Yapii stops texting the person you meant to reach at that number. See When someone says it's the wrong number.
START, YES or UNSTOP	They're opted back in.
HELP	They get a short reply explaining how to unsubscribe, and you're notified.

So the word STOP isn't the only way out. Somebody who plainly tells you to stop contacting them is opted out, whether or not they used the word.

When somebody opts out with STOP or in their own words, every one of your contacts who has that number is opted out with them.

Yapii doesn't text them back to confirm when it reads a refusal or a wrong number from their own words. The texts just stop. The contact's history notes what happened, and the entry on your suppression list says which kind of reply it was.

What doesn't count as an opt-out

Yapii only treats a message as an opt-out when it asks you to stop contacting them. Turning down an offer is not the same thing:

• "Not interested", "no thanks" and "not selling" are not opt-outs. The person is saying no to the offer, not asking you to go away, so they can still hear from you later.
• "I'll stop by Saturday" is not an opt-out either.
• A reply to one of your emails is not an opt-out just because it quotes your message underneath, with its Unsubscribe line. Yapii reads only what the person wrote themselves. If they wrote "unsubscribe" or "stop" above the quote, that still counts.
• A short reply that turns down one way of reaching them and asks for a different one stops only what they refused. "Don't call me, text me instead" stops calls and keeps texts. "Don't text me, email me" stops texts and calls, because they share one permission, and keeps email. "Stop texting, call me" can't be honored that way, so it is treated as a full STOP. Anything longer or less clear than that is read as a plain stop.

When Yapii can't tell whether a message asks to stop, it doesn't treat it as one. A missed opt-out is the person telling you twice; a wrong one cuts off somebody who wanted to hear from you, and nobody would notice. Replying STOP always works.

When someone says it's the wrong number

When somebody replies that you have the wrong number, Yapii stops texting the person you meant to reach at that number, and Claire ends her conversation with that contact. The person who replied isn't who you meant to reach, so nothing more goes to them.

• It has to be the whole reply. "Wrong number" or "sorry, wrong person" counts. A reply that goes on to point you somewhere else, such as "wrong person, my wife handles the house", is a conversation, and nothing is stopped.
• "I'm not Sam" counts only for the name you used. It counts when your last text to that number was to Sam. "I'm not sure" never counts.
• Usually it's the number that's stopped, not the person. They never got your texts, so the contact isn't marked as having opted out. If you find a right number for them, you can reach them there.
• A shared number stays open for the others. If other contacts have the same number, such as a household, the number isn't stopped. Only the person you texted is.
• If Yapii can't tell who your last text was for, it doesn't stop the number. Claire still ends her conversation with that contact. If you agree it's the wrong number, tick Bad Number on that contact's number.

Undoing an opt-out

A contact who opted out, with STOP or in their own words, can text START, YES or UNSTOP to opt back in. Their texts start again.

A wrong-number stop is about the number, not a person. If it turns out the number was right after all, an owner or admin can take it off the list on the Suppressions page. Only do that when you know it was a mistake.

Yapii puts the opt-out line on first texts for you

Every text that introduces you or Claire to somebody for the first time ends with this sentence:

Reply STOP to stop these texts.

Yapii adds it. You don't need to put it in your own openers, and you shouldn't repeat it, or the person gets told twice in the same message.

It stays in English even when the rest of the message is in another language, such as Spanish or Korean. STOP is the word Yapii actually acts on, so telling somebody to reply with a translated word would be promising something that doesn't work.

A first text with no way out isn't sent

This is a refusal, not a tidy-up. If a text introduces you to somebody and carries no opt-out line, Yapii doesn't send it and doesn't add the line itself. You get told why instead.

The line also has to say what the word does. "Reply STOP" on its own names a word and explains nothing, so it doesn't count. "Reply STOP to stop these texts" does.

If you see a text refused for this reason, add a line like that to whatever wrote the message and send again.

This applies only to a text that introduces you. A reply inside a conversation already under way doesn't need the line and is never refused for missing it. A text you type and send yourself is not held to it either, because you decide what to write. Texts that Claire or an automated step sends still are.

When texting is paused for your workspace

Yapii can pause texting to contacts for a whole workspace, usually after a rise in opt-outs. While it is paused, a text to a contact is not sent and the message says: "Texting to contacts is paused for this workspace, so this text was not sent." Scheduled and automated texts, including sequence steps and Claire's, wait and go out once texting is turned back on. They are not lost. Replies to people who wrote in, and a text you type yourself to someone who has not opted out, still go out.

A workspace owner or admin turns texting back on. Until then, a person who opted out stays stopped: recording consent for calls does not clear a text opt-out, and only an owner or admin can set a contact back to opted in.

Texts built from a template

If you send a text template as it is, without changing a word, and it uses a detail that is empty on the contact, such as their city, Yapii does not send it. It would reach them with a gap in it. The message tells you which details are empty. Fill them in on the contact, or edit the text, then send it again. Once you change the text yourself, Yapii sends it, because you have seen what it says.

What blocks a text or call

Any one of these stops a message:

• the contact opted out or is on your suppression list;
• the contact is marked Do Not Contact;
• it's outside calling hours where they live (automated texts and automated calls only: a text or call you place yourself is not held to calling hours);
• the number is on a do-not-call list;
• your CRM shows the contact is being worked by a person, or has been stopped there;
• your workspace is out of text credits or has reached its sending limit;
• the number is ticked Bad Number on that contact (see A contact's page);
• for texts only: your workspace's text messaging registration is suspended.

When Yapii refuses a text, the refusal is written on the contact's conversation as a Failed message with the reason beside it, so you can see Claire's or your own refused texts instead of wondering where they went. A text that is refused again for the same reason doesn't add a second Failed line.

When you press Call and Yapii will not place the call, a notice appears on the spot instead of the call failing after it connects. It has a title, one plain sentence and a line about what to do next. The titles include This person opted out, On a do-not-call list, This number asked not to be contacted, In a Do-Not-Contact pond, Your CRM says do not contact and No number to call. The notice shows wherever you can start a call: the dialer under Tools, a contact's page, a dial list and a transaction file's Contacts tab. These limits come from the law and from the contact's own requests, so the Call button cannot override them. The notice says who can fix the cause, such as your CRM manager for a CRM stop.

Once in a while Yapii can't read a setting it needs, such as whether your workspace lets agents text and call directly. It then says it could not check your calling, texting or email permission and asks you to try again in a moment. Nothing is wrong with the contact or your account. The dial pad offers Try again.

These stop what Yapii sends for you. Dialing somebody yourself is not the same thing: a call you place is stopped when the person opted out, the number is on a do-not-call list or your suppression list, or your CRM says not to contact them. Being marked Do Not Contact, calling hours and missing consent don't stop it. See Calling someone marked Do Not Contact.

Your own texts and calls, and your CRM

Your CRM can stop a text or call you place yourself in fewer cases than it stops Claire, sequences and campaigns. Those stop on any CRM sign that the person should be left alone: a do-not-contact tag, an unsubscribe or bounce tag, a stage such as Closed or Under Contract, and more. A text you type or a call you place stops only when the CRM says the person said no:

• the contact is in a Do Not Contact stage, or
• the contact carries a do-not-contact or do-not-call tag. For a text, a do-not-text tag counts too.

Being under contract, in a closed stage, or tagged unsubscribed, bounced or low quality does not stop your own text or call, so a coordinator can still text clients who are under contract.

When a tag stops your text or call, the notice names the tag and tells you to remove it in your CRM. Recording the contact's consent does not lift a do-not-contact tag. Only removing the tag, or changing the stage, in your CRM does. A STOP reply, an opt-out and a carrier block still stop your own texts whatever the CRM says.

The suppression list

Your suppression list is your workspace's do-not-contact list. People are added automatically when they opt out or when an email hard-bounces, and admins can add people by hand.

Owners and admins

Manage it in Settings, under Activity & Compliance, on the Opted-out contacts tab. See Suppressions.

Text messaging registration (A2P 10DLC)

US carriers require any business that texts customers from a normal phone number to register the business and what it sends.

A new workspace can text before its own registration is active. Until yours is, your texts go out through Yapii's shared registration, the one Yapii already holds with the carriers. You don't have to wait for approval to start, and nothing is queued. Once your own registration reaches active, your texts move to it on their own.

Using your own registration is optional. The Text Messaging Registration card says so at the top, and it has a Request my own A2P account button that emails the Yapii team if you would rather text on your own campaign. See Texting registration.

One case stays blocked: a suspended registration. If the carriers suspended your registration, Yapii does not move your texts onto the shared one, and texting stays off until it is sorted out. A text you try to send is refused at that moment and Yapii tells you why on the spot. It shows on the conversation as Failed, never as sent. The same goes if Yapii can't read your registration for a moment; that is temporary and needs nothing from you.

Claire's new leads are the one thing that waits. While texting is blocked, a new-lead conversation Claire starts is not abandoned. It waits and tries again about once a day. Once the block lifts, her first text usually lands within a day. You do not have to restart them. Texts you send by hand, campaigns and sequences are refused on the spot and are not sent later.

Approved is not the same as active. Active is the last step, reached only after the carriers have approved your business and your campaign and your numbers have been attached to it. Until then your texts use the shared registration described above.

If your registration card says Being filed by the Yapii team, nothing was rejected and there is nothing for you to fix or resubmit. Yapii files that registration by hand, which takes longer than usual, and your texts keep going out on the shared registration in the meantime.

Receiving still works. Texts people send you arrive in your Inbox as usual, and opt-outs such as STOP are still honored, whatever your registration says. Calling and email are not affected either.

To text on your own campaign, finish your registration.

Owners and admins

Register your business in Settings, under Phone, Texts & Calls (the Text Messaging Registration card). Owners and admins can open that page. You'll need:

• your legal business name and type;
• your EIN (optional for sole proprietors);
• your business website (optional for sole proprietors);
• the web addresses of your privacy policy and your terms of service, if you have a website or collect consent online;
• your address and an authorized contact;
• your use case: what you use texting for;
• how your contacts agree to be texted, and the page with the consent checkbox if they agree online;
• a few sample messages.

Texting registration walks the whole form through: which path to pick, what to enter in each field, what to use when you have no privacy policy or terms page of your own, examples to adapt, and the reasons registrations are most often refused.

There is a one-time fee, and it is paid before anything is submitted. The carriers charge to vet your business and your campaign, and Yapii passes that charge straight through at cost. You pay it by card when you finish the form, and your registration is not sent to the carriers until it has gone through. The amount depends on whether you register as a sole proprietor or as a standard business, and Yapii shows you the exact figure before you pay. The monthly carrier fee after that is Yapii's to pay, not yours.

Click Check my pages now to have Yapii check your website, privacy policy and terms pages before you submit. Carriers reject registrations without them.

If the review fails, Yapii shows the reason and you can resubmit.

Email rules

Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link and your business address, as the law requires. Unsubscribe links never expire. People who unsubscribe, report an email as spam, or whose address bounces are suppressed automatically.

Email opt-outs are per type. A contact can be opted out of:

• All emails;
• Campaign emails;
• Market reports;
• Invitations.

Someone who unsubscribes from one type still gets the others, unless they chose All emails.

To see where an opt-out came from, open the contact and look at the Compliance history card. It lists each opt-out and suppression with its source, such as an unsubscribe link, a spam complaint or a reply of STOP. If someone asks to hear from you again, Re-activate email there is how you undo it. Ask them first, and record how they agreed.