Considerations for Short Codes in Service Cloud

What are Short Codes?

Short codes are 5- or 6-digit phone numbers. Unlike long code phone numbers, short codes have few limits on throughput, volume, or inbound-to-outbound ratios. That's why we recommend them for high-volume use cases, like recurring messages and alerts.

You can use short codes for single-message and recurring-message programs. We currently support only service use cases—not marketing promotions.

Your company's automated responses can be a maximum of 160 characters.

For more information about using short codes in the US, see the CTIA Short Code Monitoring Handbook.

How are Short Code Messages Routed?

Short code channels use the same Omni-Channel routing as your other channels. If a customer responds to a business-initiated outbound message, their message is routed to the service rep who started the conversation. Otherwise, inbound messages are added to the queue or skill and assigned to an available rep. To learn more about Omni-Channel routing, see Omni-Channel for Administrators.

Opting in to Messages

Customers must opt in to receiving messages before your business can start sending them. For example, customers can:

• Enter their phone number in an online form
• Sign up at a point-of-sale location
• Send a text to your short code number

This type of opt-in is called explicit opt-in. When a customer sends a text to your short code, we send them your opt-in prompt. You can customize this text, along with your other short code responses, by navigating to Setup | Messaging Settings | Edit | Opt-In Confirmation.

Your opt-in prompt must contain certain details. Here's an example:

To subscribe to [Campaign Name] [Description] Alerts, reply YES. Reply HELP for help. Reply STOP to cancel at any time. Msg&data rates may apply.

When they respond with an opt-in keyword, we mark the Messaging User object as explicitly opted in and send them a confirmation text. You can customize this response for every language you support.

Here's an example:

You’re now subscribed to [Campaign Name] [Description] Alerts. Reply HELP for help. Reply STOP to cancel at any time. Call [toll-free number] for support. Msg&data rates may apply.

Optionally, you can require customers to verify that they want to receive texts from your businesses. This extra step is called double opt-in. You can add this requirement for your short code channel by navigating to Setup | Messaging Settings | Edit | Required Double Opt-In. Write your double opt-in keywords and a double opt-in prompt. You can customize this response for every language you support.

Here's an example:

To confirm your subscription to [Campaign Name] [Description] Alerts, reply START. Reply HELP for help. Reply STOP to cancel at any time. Msg&data rates may apply.

Opting Out of Messages

To stay compliant, you must allow Messaging users to opt-out of receiving text messages from your short code. Messaging users can opt out by texting the keywords STOP, STOPALL, CANCEL, END, QUIT, REVOKE, OPT OUT, and UNSUBSCRIBE to your short code. They can also opt out during a Messaging session by communicating that intention to a service rep, who can manually opt them out.

Note REVOKE and OPT OUT keywords are active even though they aren't visible in the UI for short code channels.

When a Messaging user texts an opt-out keyword, the Messaging channel must opt out the user and respond with a compliant opt-out confirmation text. You can customize this response for every language you support.

Tip We suggest keeping your opt-out confirmation text short. Here's an example:

You are unsubscribed from [Campaign Name] [Description] Alerts. No more messages will be sent. Reply HELP for help or call (toll free number).

Anyone who texts an opt-out keyword to your short code receives this response, even if they aren't subscribed to your messages.

Requesting Help

You're required to send a compliant response when a Messaging user texts a help keyword to your short code. You can customize the response text by navigating to Setup | Messaging Settings | Edit | Help Response. You can customize this response for every language you support.

Your help response must contain certain details. Here's an example:

[Campaign Name] [Description] Alerts: Help at [source of help] or [toll free number]. Msg&data rates may apply. [Message frequency]. Text STOP to cancel.

Anyone who texts a help keyword to your short code receives this response, even if they aren't subscribed to your messages.

To stay compliant, your help response must contain these details:

• Campaign name—The name of your company or organization
• Description—A single word or phrase to define the alerts, such as “Account Alerts”
• Help sources—You must provide a toll-free phone number or a support email address, in addition to any other forms of help
• Disclaimer—Msg&data rates may apply.
• Message frequency—Must be specific, but can be any interval, such as “1 message per day,” “2 messages per month,” or “1 message per transaction.” "Message frequency varies" is also acceptable.

Using Custom Responses

Use custom keywords and responses to account for country-specific regulations, or to share other information specific to your company. You can customize your keywords and responses by navigating to Setup | Messaging Settings | Edit | Custom Responses. You can also customize this response for every language you support.

Using Short Codes in Canada

Because Canada has two official languages—English and French—short code keywords and automated responses must account for both languages. Canada has five mandatory keywords for short codes: HELP, INFO, AIDE, STOP, and ARRET. When a customer texts one of these keywords to your short code, they must receive an automated response. These responses must be sent in the same language as the corresponding keyword—for example, STOP returns an English response and ARRET returns a French response.

Service Rep Experience

Convert Code to Channel and Activate Channel

After the status of your SMS code request changes to Ready or Completed, convert the SMS code to SMS channel and activate the channel