> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dispoiq.app/llms.txt
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# STOP, HELP and suppression

> Honor withdrawals and check restrictions before sending resumes.

Last updated: October 8, 2026.

When a buyer asks you to stop texting, stop immediately. Remove them from upcoming sends, preserve the request, and make sure your team and connected tools honor it. Don't send one more deal to see whether they're still interested.

This guide explains how to handle text-message opt-outs for your business. DispoIQ subscriptions are for US businesses; messaging destinations are limited to the US and Canada through routes actually supported for your workspace. Your applicable agreement and messaging requirements govern. A help article does not create a service-level guarantee or replace recipient consent.

Before initiating an SMS/MMS campaign or other customer-initiated SMS/MMS message, obtain and retain prior express written permission for your identified business, sender, recipient number and message subject. A recipient-initiated text may permit a directly relevant response in that same conversation only where law and route rules permit and subject to suppression and opt-outs; it does not authorize recurring or unrelated promotion.

## 1. STOP, HELP and START mean different things

| Reply or request | What you should do |
| - | - |
| STOP or another clear request to stop | Stop the affected messages immediately, record the request, and suppress the recipient. Don't require a specific spelling or another confirmation step. |
| HELP | Treat it as a request for information about the sender or messaging program. It is not permission for a deal campaign and does not remove an opt-out. |
| START or UNSTOP | Review the request and the applicable provider restrictions. A provider may unblock a number, but that alone does not establish valid renewed permission for your particular campaign or remove other restrictions. |
| “Wrong number” or “not interested” | Stop the proposed follow-up and investigate. Don't let the word “interested” trigger a positive-response automation when the recipient declined. |
| A request received by email, phone, or another reasonable route | Record and honor it. Don't tell the person that they have to reply STOP before you will stop. |

Standard opt-out words can include STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT, REVOKE and OPTOUT. Provider keyword matching and your application's handling are separate; a request need not match a keyword to express a clear withdrawal.

## 2. Handle an opt-out as soon as you receive it

1. **Stop sending.** Exclude the recipient from the relevant campaigns, templates, automations and manual follow-up. If you cannot safely exclude them from a queued send, pause that send while you resolve it. Notify everyone who could otherwise text them for your business.
2. **Save the request.** Record the recipient's number, your business and sender number, the request itself, when and how it arrived, its scope, and the action taken. Keep a link to the original message or other evidence where available. Limit access to people who need it.
3. **Record an actual recipient opt-out.** A note saying “do not text” is not enough if the sending tool does not enforce it. Use your approved opt-out intake process and maintain your business's suppression records. If an available contact editor provides **Do not contact this phone**, use it as an additional restriction; do not treat that checkbox as the complete record of a recipient's withdrawal. For a request received outside the app, a missing control or uncertain queued-send exclusion, contact **[support@dispoiq.app](mailto:support@dispoiq.app)** to arrange authorized intake and technical review. Keep the affected sending paused until the withdrawal's scope and restriction are confirmed; a saved note or a support request alone is not confirmation.
4. **Carry the restriction through your other tools.** Honor the request in connected systems and other workspaces used by the same sender to the extent it applies. Don't change numbers, move the contact, re-import a file, or use another account to get around it.
5. **Check what was stopped.** A request may concern one channel or ask your business to stop all contact. Honor its actual scope. If it is unclear, pause your texts while you determine what is permitted; don't send a promotional clarification message.

An unsubscribe request is not a negotiation. Don't ask for a reason, require a login, charge a fee, or add another step before you stop.

DispoIQ's rule is to stop immediately. US and Canadian rules can set outer deadlines for particular requests; those deadlines do not authorize continuing to send under DispoIQ's stricter rule. Reasonable withdrawal requests can reach you outside a keyword mechanism. [FCC delivery restrictions](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-64/subpart-L/section-64.1200), [CRTC unsubscribe guidance](https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/com500/guide.htm).

## 3. Avoid a second confirmation or an unwanted HELP reply

After an opt-out, only a final confirmation permitted by applicable law and provider rules may follow. It must confirm the opt-out, contain no promotion, and must not become a new follow-up conversation. You are not required to send an extra confirmation yourself.

If the messaging provider's automatic opt-out handling has already handled a command, it can send the configured response. Don't add another response or a deal link. HELP does not change the provider's block list; a previously opted-out recipient may not receive the configured HELP response.

Make sure your sender's HELP information identifies your business and gives a working contact route. Do not assume HELP or INFO is handled correctly by every provider or configuration. Review available response settings and existing message records, including ordinary-language withdrawals and commands in the recipient's language. A help or technical-service response is not renewed marketing permission. If a response is missing, duplicated or promotional after a HELP or withdrawal request, keep the affected automation or sending paused and contact support for authorized review; do not add a promotional reply or assume every route recognizes every command.

## 4. Understand the different restrictions

| Restriction | What it tells you |
| - | - |
| Your business's opt-out or suppression record | Your business must stop the communications covered by the request. Keep it across list refreshes and relevant sending tools. |
| A contact or phone-level do-not-contact control | The record is restricted in the applicable tool. Clearing the control does not prove the person gave permission again. |
| A provider block | The provider will reject affected messages. It can remain even if a contact record looks active in DispoIQ. |
| A national or state/provincial do-not-call record | Separate registry rules may restrict the intended activity. A registry check does not establish text-message consent. |
| A quiet-hours restriction | Sending time is restricted. Waiting until the next allowed window does not override an opt-out or missing consent. |

Check workspace-level phone restrictions before adding recipients and before sending. An active-looking contact is not proof that every restriction has cleared. Don't assume an external sending tool shares the restriction or that a request is automatically shared across unrelated customers. Keep your own sender's records consistent.

Reconcile the actual permission and later withdrawal records for the intended audience, sender and number before using a campaign. A buyer designation, registration answer, logged verbal conversation or absence of an opt-out flag does not substantiate the written permission required for customer-initiated SMS/MMS. If an older restriction's origin or a request's affected numbers, sender, channel or workspace scope is unclear, keep potentially affected sending paused and ask support to review the evidence and available restrictions. Do not clear it on the assumption that it was only an internal label.

For a provider-reported opt-out failure, stop and investigate the recorded restriction. Do not retry through another number or treat it as a temporary delivery problem. Provider and application restrictions may differ, and either can prevent a send.

## 5. Keep opt-outs when lists change

Before an import, list refresh, export to another permitted tool, or recipient-list merge, reconcile the numbers against your suppression records. A new contact row, spelling change, or refreshed phone match does not renew permission. Keep restrictions associated with the actual number and sender, not only a contact's name.

Deleting a contact is not an opt-out process. Contact deletion, message history, provider blocks and suppression evidence are separate records. Don't assume deletion clears a provider block, removes all retained evidence, or makes the number eligible when you import it again.

Maintain only the information needed for your lawful suppression and recordkeeping purposes. Keep it out of campaigns and limit access. A privacy request needs its own review; don't promise the person that every opt-out record will disappear with the contact. Keep the limited evidence needed to match the affected sender and number, show the request and action taken, and honor applicable retention or dispute obligations. Review what remains necessary rather than applying an indefinite all-record hold. For an export, correction, deletion or account-closure question, use support to review the eligible records, lawful preservation and a suitable secure response; a privacy request does not itself authorize deleting evidence needed to honor an outstanding withdrawal.

The 90-day export window and possible workspace deletion after 180 days, both starting when paid access ends, do not set a universal expiry date for opt-outs or give permission to resume texting.

## 6. Resume only after valid renewed permission

If the recipient independently asks to receive messages again:

1. Save the new request and the disclosures presented to them. Confirm that it establishes the written permission required for your identified business, number and campaign subject.
2. Check remaining recipient, contact, provider and registry restrictions. A START command may affect only one restriction; it does not release every block.
3. Use only the approved process to resolve restrictions that may lawfully be resolved. If the record stays blocked, request help rather than bypassing it.
4. Recheck eligibility before the next send. Do not text an opted-out recipient to solicit renewed consent.

Valid renewed express written permission is required before messages resume after withdrawal. A recipient-initiated text may allow a directly relevant response in that same conversation where the law and provider allow it; it does not authorize recurring or unrelated promotion, and it does not override a restriction.

Ask support how to provide the renewed written-permission evidence securely and identify the sender, number, proposed messages and remaining block. Authorized review can assess what the evidence covers and whether a restriction may lawfully be resolved through an available process. Keep sending paused until the required permission and applicable restrictions permit it. Support review, a technical reply or a START/UNSTOP command does not guarantee that every block can be removed or authorize marketing by itself.

## 7. Get help with a restriction

For customer support or privacy questions, contact **[support@dispoiq.app](mailto:support@dispoiq.app)**. Include the workspace, sending number, affected recipient number, approximate time, and a brief description. Avoid sending passwords, payment details, or unrelated recipient records; request a secure route for sensitive evidence.

An email to support does not itself stop a scheduled send. Keep the affected sends paused until you have verified the restriction. This address routes to our monitored support inbox. Support records the issue, checks the relevant sender, workspace and authority proportionately, and coordinates authorized technical or compliance review of the affected restriction and pending work. Ask for an appropriate evidence-transfer method before sending sensitive supporting material. Support explains the confirmed result or remaining uncertainty; this process does not guarantee a response or restoration time, automatically cancel queued work, or permit sending to resume.

DispoIQ does not currently offer customer email-campaign sending; its application notifications to users are separate. A withdrawal of texting permission received by email must still be honored. If your business sends email through another tool, handle the request's actual scope there as well rather than assuming an SMS restriction updates that tool.

If you received a message, use the stated opt-out method or contact the identified sender through a reasonable route. You do not need a DispoIQ subscription to raise a privacy question. Stopping texts does not automatically unsubscribe email or delete your information; communicate a broader request clearly so the relevant business can address it.

Related requirements: [Messaging & Communications Policy](https://docs.dispoiq.app/policies/messaging), [Acceptable Use Policy](https://docs.dispoiq.app/policies/acceptable-use), [Terms of Service](https://docs.dispoiq.app/policies/terms), [Privacy Policy](https://docs.dispoiq.app/policies/privacy) and [Data Retention, Export & Deletion Policy](https://docs.dispoiq.app/policies/data-retention). The applicable accepted agreement governs; linking a policy in this help guide does not itself incorporate it or change charges, permissions, refunds or notice procedures.


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