Business texting in Canada: consent, opt-out and carrier registration explained simply

Why texting is different from calling

A phone call is transient. A text sits in someone’s messages app next to notes from family and friends, arrives with a notification, and stays there. That intimacy is why texting gets read and answered faster than email — and why customers react badly to texts they did not expect. The rules and habits around business texting all come back to one idea: the customer should never be surprised to hear from you.

Business texting on a Canadian phone system usually runs on a local business number rather than an employee’s personal cell phone. That keeps the conversation attached to the company: several people can see and answer it, it can be searched later, and it does not walk out the door when someone leaves. It also means the number itself needs to be set up for messaging, which is where carrier registration comes in.

Consent: when you can text, and how to prove it

The simplest rule is that you text people who asked to be texted. There are two common ways that happens. The customer texts you first — a question, a reply to a missed call, a request for a quote — and you reply in the same conversation. Or the customer gives you their cell number for a specific purpose and agrees to receive texts for that purpose: appointment reminders, delivery updates, a code to confirm an order.

Consent for one purpose is not consent for every purpose. A customer who agreed to appointment reminders has not agreed to a monthly promotion. If you want to send marketing messages, ask for that separately, say what kind of messages they will receive and roughly how often, and keep a record of when and how they agreed.

Recording consent does not need to be complicated. A field in your customer record noting the date, the channel (web form, in person, by text) and the purpose is enough for most businesses. If a customer ever asks why they are receiving texts, you want to be able to answer in one sentence. Canadian anti-spam and privacy rules apply to commercial electronic messages; this article describes practical habits, not legal requirements, and a business with questions about its own situation should seek advice.

• Reply-based texting: the customer texted first, so you answer in that thread about that subject.
• Purpose-based consent: the customer gave a number for reminders, updates or confirmations, and that is what they receive.
• Marketing consent: asked for separately, with a clear description of what will be sent, and recorded with date and channel.
• Every message identifies the business by name so the recipient knows who is texting.

Opt-out: make STOP work every time

Every recipient must be able to stop receiving texts, easily and immediately. The convention people know is to reply STOP, and a business phone system should recognize STOP and similar words — UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT, and in French ARRÊT and ARRET — without a person needing to see them. The system sends one short confirmation that the number has been removed and then sends nothing further to that number until the customer opts back in.

Two practical details. First, the opt-out has to apply across the business, not just to the campaign the person replied to. If a customer says STOP to a promotion, they should not receive a reminder from a different department the next day. Second, staff need to know that a conversational “please stop texting me” typed in full is also an opt-out, and they need a way to flag it manually.

Include a short reminder of how to opt out in the first message of any new conversation you start, and periodically in ongoing marketing messages. “Reply STOP to unsubscribe” costs a few characters and prevents most complaints.

Carrier registration: what it is and why your provider asks

Mobile carriers in Canada and the United States have introduced registration processes for businesses that send text messages from local numbers. The intent is to separate legitimate business traffic from spam. In plain terms, a business identifies itself — legal name, address, the kind of messages it sends, sample messages — and the number is associated with that identity. Carrier registration requirements apply to business messaging, and messages from unregistered numbers may be delayed, filtered or blocked.

Your phone provider normally collects this information as part of turning on texting for a number. Expect to be asked for the business’s legal name, its address, a website, a description of what you will text about, an example of a typical message, and a description of how customers opt in. Answer accurately; the details are checked against public records and a mismatch is the most common cause of a rejected registration.

Toll-free numbers go through a separate verification process rather than the local-number registration. If you plan to text from a toll-free number, tell your provider up front so the right process starts. 3CTel walks through the registration questions during setup so texting is ready when the number goes live rather than discovered missing afterwards.

What to text, and what to keep on the phone

Texting is best for short, time-bound messages that need a quick acknowledgement: confirming an appointment, saying a technician is fifteen minutes away, letting someone know an order is ready, answering a yes-or-no question. It is poor for anything that needs nuance, negotiation or a difficult conversation. Those belong on a call.

Write texts the way you would speak to the customer at the counter. Name the business, say the one thing you need to say, and make the next step obvious: reply Y to confirm, call this number to reschedule. Avoid links unless the customer expects them; unexpected links look like phishing.

Decide who answers replies. A business text line that nobody watches is worse than no text line at all, because the customer assumes someone saw the message. Route incoming texts to a shared inbox with a named owner during business hours, and set an automatic reply outside those hours that says when a person will respond.

Common questions

Two questions come up whenever a business turns on texting.