STOP, HELP, and START

Simplae is the system of record for SMS consent and compliance. Each business gets white-labeled replies that use your business name — customers never see Simplae in keyword responses.

Twilio Advanced Opt-Out remains enabled as a carrier-level safety net. When inbound webhooks reach Simplae, the platform handles business-specific compliance before any AI processing.

Architecture

Incoming SMS → Twilio → Simplae compliance middleware → Keyword handler → AI router

Reserved keywords never reach the AI.

Supported keywords

Opt-out: STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT

Help: HELP

Opt-in: START, YES, UNSTOP

STOP behavior

When a customer texts a STOP keyword to your number:

1. Outbound SMS to that customer is suppressed immediately for your business.
2. Simplae records the opt-out (businessId, phone, keyword, timestamp, source, Twilio message SID).
3. AI processing is skipped.
4. The customer receives:

[Business Name]: You have successfully opted out of SMS messages from [Business Name]. You will no longer receive SMS from this business. Reply START to opt back in or HELP for assistance.

HELP behavior

HELP does not invoke AI. The customer receives your business name plus contact phone or email from your SMS provisioning profile:

[Business Name]: Thank you for contacting [Business Name]. Reply with your question or contact us at [phone or email]. Reply STOP to opt out.

START / YES / UNSTOP

Re-enables messaging and records the opt-in event:

[Business Name]: SMS messaging has been re-enabled. Thank you for opting back in. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply HELP for assistance or STOP to opt out.

Twilio Advanced Opt-Out configuration

Recommendation:

1. Enable Twilio Advanced Opt-Out on your Messaging Service.
2. Leave Twilio’s generic carrier messages as the safety net (they cannot identify each tenant).
3. Ensure inbound SMS webhooks point to Simplae (/api/twilio/sms/inbound or your provisioned agent webhook).

If Twilio intercepts a keyword before forwarding the webhook, Twilio sends its generic reply and may update carrier-level suppression. Simplae reconciles opt-out state when:

• A later inbound message reaches the app (suppression is checked on every send).
• You review opt-outs in Portal → SMS compliance or Conversations → Opted-out contacts.

To minimize double replies, configure Advanced Opt-Out to forward keywords when possible and rely on Simplae for business-branded copy on delivered webhooks.

Custom keyword language

Override default STOP/HELP/START copy in Portal → Test assistant → SMS onboarding using:

• optOutConfirmationLanguage
• optInConfirmationLanguage
• optOutHelpLanguage

Owner portal

Open Portal → SMS compliance (/portal/sms-compliance) to view:

• Opted-out customers
• Recent HELP requests
• Consent history (SmsConsentRecord)
• Current compliance status
• CSV export

Testing checklist

From a personal phone:

1. Text your business number a normal question — AI should reply.
2. Text STOP — confirm business-branded opt-out, no AI, and outbound blocked.
3. Text again — suppressed reminder, still no AI.
4. Text START — confirm re-enable and outbound resumes.
5. Text HELP — confirm business contact details, no AI.
6. Repeat STOP on a different business number — first business should remain suppressed (multi-tenant isolation).

Re-subscribe

Only after clear new consent — START/YES/UNSTOP keyword or a signed web form at /sms-consent.