Introduction
*IMPORTANT: This article is for informational purposes only and does not substitute consultation with appropriate legal counsel regarding this topic. It is your responsibility to comply with federal, state, local, or other laws and regulations related to all outgoing communication.
The Internal Do Not Contact List and Permission to Contact features are tools that exist on the Lofty platform to assist you in complying with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), Do Not Call Registry, as well as other regulations governing telephone communication.
Lofty has these features to help you avoid sending unwanted communications to your leads. This article addresses how a lead's Call and Text opt-in status is determined, as well as the Internal Do Not Contact List management.
Please see our Learning Center course on this topic HERE.
Summary
Internal Do Not Contact List
"The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is a significant piece of legislation enacted by Congress in 1991 to address the increasing issue of telephone marketing calls. Defined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on their website, the TCPA restricts telemarketing calls, the use of automatic telephone dialing systems, and the use of artificial or prerecorded voice messages. In 2012, the FCC expanded the TCPA's scope to include SMS and MMS (text) messages.
Disclaimer: Please be aware that this article serves as an informational resource and should not replace professional legal counsel or consultation with your brokerage's regulatory compliance team.
Within Lofty, the 'do not call' (DNC) list feature adds a flag to contacts using phone numbers on the DNC list. This flag informs you if a contact you are reviewing or about to call is on the list, enabling you to take appropriate action to avoid unintentional auto-dialing from your dialer.
Please Note: The DNC list flag serves as a notification but does not prevent you from calling the contact.
Administrators, whether from a company or a team, have the capability to access the National Do Not Call Registry at https://telemarketing.donotcall.gov/ to download the DNC list specific to their area. They can then compile and import a bulk file of DNC phone numbers into their Lofty account. Additionally, administrators can manually add single phone numbers to the DNC list at any time."
Internal Do Not Contact List Management
Who can manage the Internal DNC List?
The Internal Do Not Contact List is located in the account Settings → Manage Dialer → Do Not Contact Settings. All agents across the team have access to view this page, but only the following roles can manage (add/remove) the phone numbers on this list.
- For users on a Team or Enterprise account:
- Only the team owner and company owner/admin roles can manage the DNC List. This DNC list will be applied to all the users under this instance. Their leads' phone numbers will be checked against this DNC list.
- For users on a Multi-team account:
- Brokers, Vendor Backend admins, and team leaders can manage the DNC List. This DNC list will be applied to all the users under the Multi-team package and from the vendors. Their leads' phone numbers will be checked against the DNC List added by both their Broker/Vendor Backend admins and their team leader.
Add DNC Number
Users can add numbers to the Internal DNC List in the following two ways:
1. Add the DNC numbers one by one by clicking the Add New button, and input the country code and the phone number.
2. Add the DNC number in bulk by importing the DNC list in a CSV file:
- Download the sample file by clicking the Sample File script in the IMPORT DO NOT CALL LIST pop-up.
- List the country's short name (e.g. US, CA) and phone numbers in the file and upload. The system will automatically process any phone numbers without a country code as U.S.A phone numbers.
- You may leave the DNC List page during the upload process. A notification will be sent to you, letting you know the successfully imported, failed, and skipped numbers.
ll leads associated with this number will have a timeline status generated：#DNC_number_operator_name# has added #lead_first_name#'s #phone number# to the DNC List.
Remove DNC Number
You may remove phone numbers from your Internal DNC List one by one, or multiple at a time by checking the boxes next to the numbers. A pop-up will double-confirm that you wish to remove the numbers from the list. After you have confirmed that you want to remove the number's DNC status, the number will be removed from the internal DNC List, and you may contact the lead without any warning messages. All leads associated with this number will have a timeline status generated：#DNC_number_operator_name# has been removed #lead_first_name#'s #phone number# from the DNC List
Call and Text Limitations
Single Lead
Call & Text:
When users call or text via the lead's profile or manually dial a number listed in the internal DNC List, the system will notify the users before the call is made and during the calling/texting process. However, agents can still call/text this number if they believe this is legal.
.
Mass Actions
Call List:
The system will auto-screen out any phone numbers on the Internal DNC list when creating a call list. The leads whose primary phone number is on the DNC List will be marked as Unavailable in the call list.
The system will cross-check phone numbers on any existing call lists against the Internal DNC list and update their status to unavailable.
Mass Text:
The system will automatically screen out any phone numbers on the internal DNC list from the recipients list.
Automated Actions
Smart Plan:
The auto-text steps will be skipped if the phone number is detected on the internal DNC list
Auto Welcome Text:
Auto Welcome Texts will not be sent to leads if their primary number is on the internal DNC list.
AI Assistant:
The AI Assistant will not text leads if their primary number is on the internal DNC list.
Filtering by DNC Status
You may filter by leads with a phone number on the Internal DNC List by navigating to Contact Info on the Leads Page, and filtering by Phone Status:
Existing Data Processing
Any phone numbers previously marked as DNC Number or DNC Contact status will automatically be added to the account's Internal DNC List.
Permission to Contact
The permission to contact is a separate feature from the Internal Do Not Contact List, however, it does provide a similar function. If a lead has opted out of allowing contact via call or text, the Lofty user will see a similar warning when attempting to contact the lead.
Permission to Contact Settings
The Permission to Contact setting is located in the pop-up when a new lead is added and also in the pop-up when a lead is edited.
Text Opt-in:
- Yes: Can send texts
-
No:
-
Single Text: This can be sent but with a warning that the lead opted out
-
Mass Text: Auto removes these leads from the recipient's list
-
Smart Plan: Auto-text steps are skipped
-
Auto Welcome Text: No Auto Welcome Texts are sent to leads
-
AI Assistant: Stops texting leads, but continues to follow up through the website
-
Call Opt-in:
- Yes: Can make calls
-
No:
- Single Lead: Does not allow any calls to this lead
- Call List: Auto-screen out these leads when creating a call list
Email Opt-in:
- Yes: Can send emails
-
No:
-
Single Email: This can be sent, but with a warning that the lead has opted out
-
Mass Email: Auto removes these leads from the recipient's list
-
Smart Plan: Auto-email steps are skipped
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Auto Welcome Email: No Auto Welcome Emails are sent to leads
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By default, when a new lead is added, the Permission to Contact will be set to No.
Lead Import
When importing leads, you may select to match the Call Opt-in and Text Opt-in status in the mapping stage. You can also set the Call and Text Opt-in status for all leads being imported, on the final screen. By default, when leads are imported, the Permission to Contact will be set to No.
Call/Text/Email Opt-In Status in Lead Capture Settings
Navigate to Settings → Lead Capture → Lead Capture Settings
This setting will allow the user to decide if leads coming from certain sources should be opted in or out of calls, texts, and emails:
Note: This setting does not verify that the leads' information is valid. By default, this setting will be toggled On for all sources. If there is a source that is not providing reliable lead data, we recommend toggling Off for that source.
Updating Contact Permission
You can update the Permission to Contact settings manually. When you do, you will be asked to double confirm when changing the status from Opt-Out to Opt-In. When the AI Assistant detects a DNC hint in the conversations with leads, it will stop texting the lead, but will not update the Text Opt-in Status to Opt-Out.
Default Contact Permission Value for Lead Channels
We have set default Contact Permission settings for lead capture channels
- Lofty website, Open House Forms, Text Codes, and QR Codes:
- Call Opt-in, Text Opt-in： ON （Allows calling and texting by default)
-
Manually Adding Leads and Lead Import:
- Call Opt-in, Text Opt-in： OFF (Does not allow calling and texting by default)
-
Third-Party Lead Capture, Email Parsing, and Open API:
- Call Opt-in, Text Opt-in： ON （Allows calling and texting by default)
Text Subscription Message
This update is related to TCPA compliance. Lofty users can only send text messages from Lofty via a virtual phone number. This update addresses the TCPA requirement that text message recipients should be able to easily opt-out or unsubscribe from receiving text messages from a business.
Previously, we had an optional setting that allowed Lofty users to include an opt-out message on the first text message sent to a lead.
Now, this setting is required and will be enabled for all Lofty users who have a Twilio-hosted virtual phone number.
Text Unsubscribe Logic
The lead will be unsubscribed from receiving text messages and they will be opted out of receiving text messages if the lead responds at any time with the following in a message alone (i.e. not if these words are contained in a sentence):
- Unsubscribe
- Stop
- Cancel
- End
- Quit
The lead can be manually opted back into receiving text messages by the Lofty user.
Unsubscribe Confirmation Text
Once the lead has unsubscribed, the following confirmation message will be auto-sent:
- "You have successfully been unsubscribed. You will not receive any more messages from this number. Reply START to resubscribe.”
If the lead responds with "Start", they will be opted back into receiving text messages.
The Text Subscription Message will be sent to leads that meet the following criteria:
- The first time the lead is texted
- When the lead is texted after having not communicated via text message in the last three (3) months.
- This is a rolling 3 months, so for example, if the lead is texted for the first time on August 1, they will receive the text subscription message.
- If the lead is texted regularly, they will never see this message again.
- If the lead is not texted again until after November 1, they will receive the text subscription message again.
Questions?
If you have any questions regarding this topic or any others, please reach out to our Support Team via email at <support@lofty.com>, by phone at 1 (855) 981-7557, or by chat with us through your Lofty CRM.
Related terms: Do not Contact, DNC, Opt-in, Opt-out
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