How to Configure the A2P Consent Disclaimer

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Based on your search criteria it seems that you are interested to learn more of How to Configure the A2P Consent Disclaimer. 
Before we dive into this we would like to put very big attention that this feature is applicable by A2P 10DLC Regulations within US and Canada only. This is NOT applicable to any other country at the moment, and is not applicable to any other model outside standard SMS. If you company uses RCS or WhatsApp type of communication, this is not applicable to you. If it is applicable feel free to check the rest of the article below to get more familiar with it.

If your workflow collects a phone number and Frontlion sends SMS to it, the check-in form has to capture the customer's consent at the point where the number is entered. Frontlion has redesigned the SMS disclaimer for this: consent is now an explicit Accept or Deny choice presented beside the phone field, rather than an optional checkbox a customer could skip.

This article covers the elements your disclaimer must contain, how to switch it on, what the terms and conditions link has to point at, and what the customer sees on a kiosk, on mobile, and on the associate's form.

For background on the regulation, see What is A2P 10DLC for Frontlion / Explaining the SMS Opt-In Requirement and the SMS A2P 10DLC Compliance Checklist (For Customers).

Note: This article describes how to configure Frontlion. It is not legal advice. Carriers assess campaigns individually, and your own counsel or compliance team should approve your final wording and your linked policy.

Prerequisites

• Workflow configuration permissions in Manage.
• A phone question of type SMS-Enabled Phone in the workflow. The disclaimer option only applies to this type.
• A terms and conditions or privacy page hosted on your own website — see The terms and conditions link below.

What the disclaimer must contain

Every element below has to be present and visible at the moment the customer enters their number. Frontlion's standard wording covers all of them, which is why we recommend leaving it as shipped.

The wording Frontlion recommends

The panel is headed I agree to receive text messages, offers Accept and Deny, and reads:

Text messages related to your visit including updates related to your visit and reminders will be sent to the phone number above. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency may vary. For help text HELP and text STOP to opt out of notifications. Please review terms and conditions below.

Screenshot: a2p-03-consent-block-blank.png

Important: If your organization needs different wording, contact Frontlion Support before changing it. Removing any of the elements in the table above can get your messaging campaign rejected or suspended by the carriers, which stops all SMS for your account — not just the notifications from one workflow.

Switch the disclaimer on

1. Go to Manage > Workflow and open the workflow you want to change.
2. In the left navigation, under SERVICE, click General Questions.
3. Click the pencil icon on your phone question.
4. Confirm the Type is SMS-Enabled Phone. If it is plain Text or another type, change it — the disclaimer option will not appear otherwise.
5. Select Show SMS Disclaimer Message in the checkbox row at the bottom of the dialog.
6. Scroll below to view the SMS Disclaimer Text. Please review these articles before making any changes as omittance of certain disclosures may place your SMS feature at risk: What is A2P 10DLC for Frontlion / Explaining the SMS Opt-In Requirement and the SMS A2P 10DLC Compliance Checklist (For Customers).
7. Continue scrolling to see Accept and Deny labels. We recommend using clear and direct verbiage
   
    
8. Scroll a bit further and you will see your disclaimer links. It is critical that your link is hosted on your website and that it covers mobile usage. More information is provided in the following section "The terms and conditions link"
   
9. Click Update.
10. Click Publish at the bottom right. Nothing changes for customers until you publish.

Note: The disclaimer is configured per question. If your workflow collects a phone number in more than one place — a General Question and a Check-In Question, for example — switch it on for each of them.

The terms and conditions link

"Please review terms and conditions below" is only meaningful if the link resolves to a page that actually covers Mobile Data. This is the part most often got wrong.

Requirements

1. Host it on your own website. The link must point at a page on your organization's domain — the same brand the customer is checking in with. A link to a third party's policy, a shared document, or a PDF in cloud storage is not acceptable.
2. Make it publicly reachable. No login, no paywall, no "internal use only" page. A carrier reviewer has to be able to open it.
3. Cover mobile and SMS explicitly. A generic website privacy policy is usually not enough. The page has to address:
   • that you collect mobile phone numbers and use them to send SMS about visits;
   • that message and data rates may apply and that frequency may vary;
   • how to opt out (STOP) and how to get help (HELP);
   • that consent is not a condition of receiving service;
   • how mobile data is handled and shared — specifically, that mobile opt-in information is not sold or shared with third parties for their own marketing.
4. Keep it live. A link that later returns a 404 can put the campaign at risk. Include the page in whatever process you use for website changes.

If your existing policy does not cover mobile

Two options, in order of preference:

1. Add a mobile messaging section to your own privacy policy. This is the right answer. It keeps the link on your domain and under your control, and it is what carriers expect to see.
2. Use the Frontlion privacy policy as the reference model. If your policy has no mobile usage or data sharing information at all, frontlion.com/privacy-policy shows the structure and the clauses a compliant page needs — use it as the template for the section you add. Treat this as a stop-gap while your own page is written, and tell your compliance team you have done so.

Important: Whichever route you take, the page the customer reaches must describe your messaging program. A customer checking in at your branch should not land on a policy that never mentions your organization.

If a customer denies consent by mistake

The consent answer is stored on the visit, not fixed at check-in, so an associate can correct it without cancelling the ticket and starting again. This matters in practice: a customer who taps Deny in a hurry gets no "you're next" text, and often only notices when they are still waiting.

1. Find the customer's visit in the Queue.
2. Open the customer's details and change the consent answer from Deny to Accept.
3. Update. SMS notifications will now resume for the rest of that visit.

Important: Ask the customer before you change it, and change it only because they have told you they want text messages. Correcting a mis-tap is legitimate; overriding a deliberate Deny is not.

Note: Associates can only do this where Associates can edit Customer details is enabled under Associate Actions in their Queue View. If your staff cannot edit a ticket, that setting is where to look. And if the customer has previously replied STOP to your messages, they are opted out at the carrier level — changing the answer here will not restore delivery, and they must text START to opt back in.

Notes

• This setting affects the check-in form only. It does not change the content of the SMS messages your workflow sends.
• The disclaimer is independent of the Personal Identifier checkbox on the same row. A phone question can be both a Personal Identifier and an SMS consent point, or either on its own.
• Keep a record of when you published the disclaimer and what wording was live. If consent is ever questioned, that is the evidence you will be asked for.

For additional support, contact the Frontlion Support Team.