TCPA consent for text messages, explained for business owners

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) requires consent before a business sends automated texts. There are two levels: prior express consent, which a customer usually gives by providing their number for a purpose, and prior express written consent, which marketing messages need and which requires a clear written agreement (an electronic checkbox counts). Customers can revoke consent at any time by any reasonable means, and the business must honour it promptly. The rules have been contested and revised in recent years, so this is the shape, not the detail, and it is not legal advice.

Level one: prior express consent

When a customer gives you their mobile number in the course of doing business with you (booking, filling in a form, calling), they have generally given consent to be contacted at that number about that business. This covers transactional and informational messages: confirmations, reminders, replies to their questions. Record where the number came from and what for.

Level two: prior express written consent

Marketing messages sent with automated systems need more: a clear, written agreement that names the business, says the customer agrees to receive marketing texts at that number, makes clear that agreeing is not a condition of buying anything, and is signed, which an electronic signature or a checkbox the customer actively ticks can satisfy. The wording has to be shown to the customer, not buried in terms.

What counts as automated

The TCPA's definitions of automated dialling have been litigated extensively, and courts have narrowed and shifted them. Rather than trying to argue a texting platform is not automated, the practical approach is to get the consent the message type needs and behave as if the rules apply. That is what your provider will require anyway.

Revocation

A customer can withdraw consent in any reasonable way: replying STOP, replying "please stop texting me", telling you at the desk, emailing. The FCC has tightened rules on revocation in recent years, including that businesses must honour a revocation request within a short window and may not require a specific keyword. Your system should recognise plain-language opt-outs as well as STOP, and should stop everything from that number, not just the campaign the customer replied to.

The recent changes

The FCC adopted, and then courts vacated, a rule that would have required consent to be given to one identified seller at a time for lead-generated marketing. Other rules about revocation and confirmation texts have come into force on their own timelines. The direction is consistently toward clearer consent and easier opt-out. Assume the rules will be stricter next year than this year and build accordingly; and have counsel review your consent flows when they change.

The safe setup

1. Collect the number with a stated purpose, and record the source.
2. Ask separately, with the full wording, for marketing consent. Unticked box.
3. Send only what each consent covers.
4. Honour STOP and plain-language opt-outs immediately and across everything.
5. Keep the records: wording, timestamp, source, and every opt-out.
6. Register your number and campaigns with the carriers.
7. Stay inside calling hours.

Frequently asked questions

Does a customer texting us first give consent?

For replying to them about what they asked, in practice yes. For reminders and marketing later, ask and record it.

Do reminders need written consent?

Reminders about an appointment the customer booked are generally informational, and the customer's giving of the number for that purpose supports them. Ask anyway, at booking, and record it; it costs one sentence.

What are the penalties?

The TCPA allows statutory damages per message, and class actions are common. That is why the conservative setup is worth the small friction.

What Frontiva does here

In Frontiva every outbound message passes one send check that reads consent, opt-out, quiet hours, message purpose and a per-contact frequency cap; STOP is recorded against the number and covers every conversation; and marketing sends are refused until the product captures a marketing consent basis. The automations page describes the check. For the keyword mechanics, see STOP, HELP and the texts you must answer.