charge to mobile uk frameworkinfomedia.co.uk/.../2018/02/...messaging-cs-v1.02.pdf · 1. customer...

Charge to Mobile UK Framework PART 3 – CUSTOMER MESSAGING AND CUSTOMER

SERVICES

Version 1.02

February 2018

© 2017 InfoMedia Services Limited, All Rights Reserved

Charge to Mobile UK Framework/ 2

Table of

contents

1. CUSTOMER MESSAGING ....................................................................................................................................... 3

1.1. GENERAL RULES ............................................................................................................................................ 3

1.2. WIFI ACTIVATION MESSAGE ......................................................................................................................... 4

1.3. WELCOME MESSAGE ..................................................................................................................................... 4

1.3.1. EE .............................................................................................................................................................. 4

1.3.2. OTHER CARRIERS .................................................................................................................................. 5

1.4. REMINDER MESSAGE .................................................................................................................................... 5

1.4.1. EE .............................................................................................................................................................. 5

1.4.2. OTHER CARRIERS .................................................................................................................................. 6

1.5. EXIT MESSAGE ................................................................................................................................................ 6

1.6. STOP COMMANDS - STOPPING A SERVICE VIA MESSAGING .................................................................. 7

1.6.1. REGOGNISED STOP COMMANDS ......................................................................................................... 7

1.7. SPEND LIMIT MESSAGES ............................................................................................................................... 8

1.8. BRAND MIGRATION MESSAGING .................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

1.9. MARKETING MESSAGES ................................................................................................................................ 9

1.10. ONE OFF/NON-RECCURING PAYMENTS & MESSAGING ....................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2. CUSTOMER SERVICES ......................................................................................................................................... 10

2.1. CUSTOMER SERVICES CONTACT ROUTES .............................................................................................. 11

2.2. DORMANT SUBSCRIBERS ........................................................................................................................... 11

3. UN-SUBSCRIPTION FUNCTIONALITY ................................................................................................................. 13

3.1. STOP MESSAGES.......................................................................................................................................... 13

3.2. CS LITE ........................................................................................................................................................... 13

3.3. SELF HELP SITE/IN-SERVICE PORTAL ....................................................................................................... 13

3.4. UN-SUBSCRIPTION MIDWAY THROUGH BILLING PERIOD ...................................................................... 14

VERSION CONTROL ...................................................................................................................................................... 14



1. CUSTOMER MESSAGING

During a user’s time in a service they will be sent an SMS confirming or providing them with the

agreed information as detailed in the below sections.

1.1. GENERAL RULES

The following rules apply to all messages

IDENTITY:

o Instructional and/or operational messages must notify the consumer the identity of the

sender. This can be via the Short Code or an Alpha-Numeric description.

o INFOMEDIA recommend that the short code/ MSISDN used to send these SMS’s to the

customer display the name of the service, as known by the user e.g. “GamesHub”.

o Messages should not contain the carrier’s name as part of the identity

FREE:

o Instructional and/or operational messages must be free to receive

o Additionally, consumers must be clearly informed within the message there is no charge to

receive this type of message. E.g. with “Free Msg”, “Freemsg”, “Free Message” or “Free

Msg”. This can be at the start or the end of the message.

PRODUCT OR SERVICE NAME - The product name or name of service, if this is a URL it must be

clear what the service is.

PROMOTIONS - Where instructional and/or operational messages contain any other promotional

material, this must come after the main content of the message and be prefaced by the word

‘ADVERT’ or ‘PROMO’

MISLEADING - The message should not mislead the end user in any way.

INFOMEDIA PLATFORM - All SMS’s sent to users for these services must be run through the

INFOMEDIA SMS platform. This will allow INFOMEDIA to set up automated monitoring for

Welcome, Reminder, Exit, Brand Migration, Spend Limit and Marketing Messages.

STOPPING A SERVICE - Users must be able to stop their subscription using the details provided in

the messages. Other mechanisms should also be made available to the user such as contacting

customer services or by visiting an online portal linked to the product/service.

ALARMS:

o INFOMEDIA will set up alarms against each Merchant and service/product for the above



types of messages and then will work with the Merchants if these alarms are triggered.

o The types of alarms that will be created, but not limited to, include; ensuring the Reminder

Messages are being sent by checking against new billing events for the same MSISDN and

Merchant product, that Reminder Messages are going out based on user spend and initial

bill date, and that once an Exit message goes out no further billing events occur without the

presence of another Welcome SMS for that MSISDN and Merchant product.

o Alarms will be based on a daily failure percentage going below an agreed rate for each of

the KPI’s that are created. Merchants will be sent any deviation data as soon as they’re

identified so that they can address any issues on their products.

1.2. WIFI ACTIVATION MESSAGE

The WiFi Activation Message is sent when requested by a user in the WiFi flow.

The WiFi Activation Message must only be sent once, no further messages are to be sent to the

customer unless requested by the customer or subscription occurs.

CONTENT:

In addition to the General Rules the message must contain:

o PIN and purpose thereof

o Price and frequency including trial period

o Support details (email, and or local rate number)

EXAMPLE:

FreeMsg: Please enter the following PIN: 1234 to access Games Hub for £1.50 per week. This

service is free for your first 24hrs. Help? Call 020*********.

1.3. WELCOME MESSAGE

A subscription confirmation SMS must be sent immediately upon a user joining a service, even if

there is an initial free period for the service.

1.3.1. EE

EE has prescribed a particular template for welcome messages as follows:

You have subscribed to [product name or product URL if name is clearly and distinctly

part of the URL] for [price/frequency as p/w p/d p/m]. Send STOP [+ Keyword] to

[shortcode] to cancel. Help? [CS Number] T&Cs [Short URL] (FreeMsg)

Wording in Bold is prescribed as shown except in the case of the ‘T&Cs’ (see below)

Italics indicate variable parts of the message.

If full service T&Cs are directly available within the service portal for which the URL has been

provided earlier in the message then this section is not required.



If the service URL has not been given earlier in the message because it does not clearly contain

the product name but the T&Cs are directly available within the service portal then this section

could be stated as ‘Access/T&Cs’

1.3.2. OTHER CARRIERS

CONTENT:


o Indication of successful transaction. Use of the word ‘Subscribed’ is recommended.

‘Welcome’ and ‘Join’ alone do not meet this requirement.

o Price and frequency including trial period (if applicable);


o Confirmation that right to refund has been waived (where applicable)

o INFOMEDIA recommend including, where possible, a link to the service at the end of the

message. NOTE: this is mandatory for the WiFi flow.

EXAMPLE:

FreeMsg: You have subscribed to Games Hub for 99p per week. This service is free for your first

24hrs. Un-subscribe? Send STOP GHUB to 80***. Help? Call 020*********. [Access Games Hub

here http://www.latestgame2.com]

1.4. REMINDER MESSAGE

A subscription reminder SMS must be sent to the user every 30 days or after every £20 of end

user spend, whichever is first.

1.4.1. EE

EE has prescribed a particular template for welcome messages as follows:

Reminder: You're subscribed to [product name] for [price/frequency as p/w p/d p/m].

Access: [tiny url] Cancel? Text STOP [+ Keyword] to [shortcode]. Help? [CS Number]

(FreeMsg)

Wording in Bold is prescribed as shown except in the case of ‘You’re’ for which shortened version

are acceptable e.g. Ur, U R.

Italics indicate variable parts of the message.

RE-ENGAGEMENT MESSAGING

INFOMEDIA recommends sending the user a supplementary message separately to the Reminder

message to encourage the user to (re)engage with the service. There should be a gap of at least

1 hour before or after so as not to mask the reminder message, the purpose of which is to

encourage the user to (re)engage with the service.



Such a message must still include: the Product Name (as reflected in the customer’s bill

description), Customer Service details, opt-out (of non-prescribed messages1) and the ‘Freemsg’

statement. The message should be sent from the same shortcode/name to ensure transparency

on the message sender/provider.

Good practice would be to regularly refresh the message content to reflect new service content, for

example: Check out 'Minesweeper', NEW to Gameshub this month at www.gameshub.com! Don’t

want these messages? Send NOPROMO to 80206. Help? Call 01234567890 (FreeMsg)

1.4.2. OTHER CARRIERS

CONTENT:


• Price and frequency including trial period (if applicable);

• Support details (email, and or local rate number)

• INFOMEDIA recommends including the word 'Reminder' near the start of the message

• EE: Message must use the wording "You are subscribed to" and this is recommended on

other carriers

EXAMPLE:

• FreeMsg: Reminder - You are subscribed to Games Hub for 99p per week. Un-subscribe?

Text STOP GHUB to 80***. Help? Call 02*********

1.5. EXIT MESSAGE

When a user unsubscribes from a subscription service by any method (e.g. by sending ‘STOP’, by

calling customer services, by using the portal etc…) a confirmation message must be sent

acknowledging receipt and that the instruction has been understood and was executed.

Confirmation should be in the form of a free MT SMS

CONTENT:


• Confirmation that the User’s subscription to the service has ended. It is recommended that

this include a statement that the user will no longer be charged.

• INFOMEDIA recommends that this message also includes support details in case the

customer has un-subscribed in error

EXAMPLE:

1 If you would like to manage these messages through Infomedia please contact your Account Manager



• FreeMsg: You have successfully un-subscribed from Gameshub and will no longer be

charged for this service. Help? Call 02*********

1.6. STOP COMMANDS - STOPPING A SERVICE VIA MESSAGING

• STOP COMMAND - All services must support the common STOP command

• An end user must be charged no more than their standard rate (including VAT) for sending

a message to opt-out.

• Upon receipt of a “STOP” command, the service operating on that short-code should be

terminated with immediate effect and no further billable messages related to that service

should be sent to the end user, unless they subscribe to the service again.

1.6.1. REGOGNISED STOP COMMANDS

• FORMAT – The following stop commands must be recognized and processed:

o ‘STP’

o ‘CANCEL’

o ‘END’

o ‘STOP’;

o ‘STOP ALL’;

o ‘STOP followed by [keyword]’;

o Mixtures of lower and upper-case letters, as

they should not be case sensitive;

o Followed by a full stop;

o Followed by a space;

o Followed by no further character;

The following logic is employed (‘STOP’ below refers to any of the above valid commands):

STOP

Command

Unsubscription Action Messages Message details

STOP+[valid

keyword]

Unsubscribe the user from

the keyword’s service

Send user an Exit Message. As above

STOP+ALL Unsubscribe the user from

all services using that

shortcode

Send user an Exit Message

for each service stopped.

As above

STOP+[invalid

keyword or

nothing]

Unsubscribe the user from

the service that most

recently sent a message to

the user on that shortcode

Send user either an Exit

Message (if they have no

other subscriptions on that

shortcode) or a STOP HELP

message

STOP HELP message:

We have stopped [product

name]. You have [#] other

live services. To stop your

other services reply STOP

ALL Help? Contact [CS]/go

to [help portal url]



Invalid

command

n/a Send user the appropriate

‘Invalid Keyword’ message

Invalid Keyword message

(users with a single service):

Sorry, we didn’t understand

your message. You are

subscribed to [product

name]. For help contact

[merchant help]. To

unsubscribe reply STOP

[keyword]

Invalid Keyword message

(users with multiple services)

Sorry, we didn’t understand

your message. You are

subscribed to [#] live

services. For help contact

[CS]/go to [help portal url].

To unsubscribe from all

reply with STOP ALL.

Unidentified

MSISDN (non-

subscriber)

n/a Send user ‘Unidentified

MSISDN’ message

Unidentified MSISDN

message: Sorry, we didn’t

find any live services for your

phone number. For support,

contact [CS Details]

1.7. SPEND LIMIT MESSAGES

Where an end user spends £30 in a 24 hour period they should be blocked until the next day when

billing can recommence, and an SMS message should be sent informing them of this.

CONTENT:


o Notification that the spend limit has been reached and when further spending can

recommence


See section on Spend Limits for more information

EXAMPLE:

FreeMsg: You have reached your spending limit on GamesHub for today. You will be able to buy

more tomorrow. Help? Call 020********



1.8. MARKETING MESSAGES

Any service that wants to utilize the ability to send marketing messages must get prior approval

from INFOMEDIA.

An end user must be able to opt out of marketing messages at any time. An end user who has

opted out of receiving marketing messages must not receive further messages.

Marketing messages must only be sent to end users subject to the following condition:

• The end user has provided informed explicit consent to receive marketing at the point of

opt-in services and has not opted out of receiving such marketing material.

The exception to this rule is ‘soft opt-in’. ‘Soft opt-in’ applies where:

• The end users details are obtained during a sale, or during the negotiation of the sale with

that person;

• The messages are marketing similar products or services;

• The end user is given an opportunity to refuse the marketing when their details are

collected and, if they do not opt out they must be given a simple way to do so in every

message received thereafter.

The General Rules on message content does not apply to marketing messages; please see below

for content rules for marketing messages.

OPT OUT

• For the end user to be able to reply to the message to opt out.

• An end user must be able to easily opt out of receiving messages by sending ‘STOP’ to a

short-code

• If this is not possible due to the way in which the message has been delivered to the end

user, it must be explicit in the message how the end user can opt out by sending STOP to a

short-code.

NO FURTHER MESSAGE

• An end user who has opted out of receiving marketing messages must not receive further

messages; unless or until they have sent in a specific request to receive further/new

marketing messages.

RECORDS

• Evidence may be required to authenticate the date & time any such request has been

submitted.

FREE



• Marketing messages must be free to receive and must clearly be marked as such as such,

e.g. with “Free Msg”, ”freemsg”, “Free Message” or “Free Msg” as the originator.

• An end user must be charged no more than their standard rate (including VAT) for sending

a message to opt-out of receiving marketing messages.

WEB URL’S/ PREMIUM RATE NUMBERS

• Web URLs and/or premium rate number are not acceptable means for the end user to opt-

out.

IDENTITY

• The message Originating ID must not be misleading. INFOMEDIA will provide the Merchant

with a Campaign ID in which to send Marketing messages which will be titled in line with the

name of the service.

1.9. ONE-OFF PAYMENT RECEIPTS

MESSAGING FORMAT:

FreeMsg: You have purchased [name of item] for [price in sterling or local currency] from [service

name] Help? Call 020********

EXAMPLE:

FreeMsg: You have purchased a games bonus pack for £1 from PlaylotsofGames.com Help? Call

020********

1.10. BRAND MIGRATION MESSAGING

Users on some networks can migrate between several of its brands. A brand migration message

informs the user that their services have migrated with them. Customers migrating between

different networks that keep the same MSISDN will be un-subscribed and will need to rejoin the

service. The message must contain:

CONTENT:

In addition to the General Rules the message must contain

o Details of the network migration

o Price and frequency including trial period (if applicable);


EXAMPLE:

FreeMsg: We see you’ve switched networks, your subscription to GamesHub will continue for 99p

per week. To opt-out send STOP GHUB to 80***. Help? Call 02*********



2. CUSTOMER SERVICES

The following section details the specific territory and carrier requirements of customer services in

the UK. Merchants should also be familiar with and implement the requirements of the Infomedia

Customer Services Framework and Infomedia Customer Services Procedure available from

the Merchant Resources area of the Infomedia website.

2.1. CUSTOMER SERVICES CONTACT ROUTES

Customer Services must be available via the following routes:

TELEPHONE

A non-premium rate telephone contact line must be in operation with staff available to handle

queries or complaints at minimum during UK office hours: 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday,

excluding UK public holidays and INFOMEDIA recommends operational hours of 8am to 8pm

Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm Saturdays.

EMAIL

Where an end-user contacts the Merchant by email an automated receipt of the request must be

sent. This should include a timeline for a full response.

2.2. DORMANT SUBSCRIBERS

To protect customers who may not be aware that they are subscribed to and paying for a service,

the following must be enforced:

“In the event a consumer contacts an L1 or L2 Provider to complain about a subscription service

and evidence exists of inactivity for a period of 120 consecutive days from subscription initiation or

commencement (the date they pressed the subscription button so even if there is an initial free

period, the commencement of the subscription is the date they hit the button, i.e. the date they

committed to the charges being applied to their account.), the consumer is to be removed from all

further billing and refunded in full.”

o REFUND PERIOD - If a customer complains that they have been charged for something

that they haven’t used and the sign up was equal to or more than 120 days before the

complaint, then they should get a full refund for the whole period.

o EARLIER THAN 120 DAYS - It is possible that a customer subscribes to a service, never

uses it then complains after 30/60/90 days. In those instances, it is up to the merchant if

they provide a refund, however the we recommend that a full refund is enforced.

o OFFLINE CONTENT - For offline content i.e. a consumer downloading an app which allows

them to play content offline where it is impossible for the merchant to know if the user is

interacting with the service or not, the merchant may use their own refund policies (with

reference to for dealing with these customers rather than the above policy.

PREVENTION



INFOMEDIA recommends the following strategy to minimise the number of dormant users and

impact of any complaints:

o The Merchant captures the date and nature of users’ last interactions with a service and this

data is available to Customer Service agents.

o Dormant users are identified with reference to inactivity for 120 days from the date of

subscription.

o A user re-engagement strategy is implemented such as re-sending customer links to the

service or providing notifications of updated content.



3. UN-SUBSCRIPTION FUNCTIONALITY

3.1. STOP MESSAGES

Please see the ‘STOP COMMANDS’ section in ‘Customer Messaging’ above.

3.2. CS LITE

All Merchants should use Infomedia’s CS Lite customer support tool in their call centres to ensure

agents have access to both the subscription information and the ability to unsubscribe services

directly.

Merchants who run their own subscription engines must ensure their engines have the function to

unsubscribe users in real time and for the function to be triggered by an API call from Infomedia.

This will be set up during integration with the Infomedia platform.

3.3. SELF HELP SITE/IN-SERVICE PORTAL

SITE

To limit online exposure to negative publicity all merchants should offer a ‘Self-Help’ portal

enabling a further un-subscription mechanism for consumers, which will be online and accessible

through Google search terms for the product and/or merchant.

INFOMEDIA recommends that Google search ranking management is used to ensure that the

portal shall appear first or second place (where first place is the product or service main page) in

such searches.

This will help ensure that dissatisfied customers’ primary online contact is with the merchant who is

best placed to assist.

IN-SERVICE

An unsubscribe option or link should also be available reasonably prominently from product or

merchant main pages, where such pages exist, and in text which is clear and easily legible to the

average reader.

FUNCTION

Any unsubcription site or service must be clear and unambiguous in how a user can un-subscribe.

The unsubscribe link or button should either directly trigger unsubscription or a single confirmation

page or pop-up may be used to minimise accidental unsubscription. The confirmation should be

clear and unambiguous.

Do not use ambiguous formulations such as:

1. Reversed Yes/No:

Main page: ‘Are you sure you want to un-subscribe? [Yes / No]’; then

Confirmation: ‘Do you want to stay with the service? [Yes / No]’

2. Double Negative: ‘Do you not want to un-subscribe? [Yes / No]’

3. Ambiguity: ‘Are you sure you want to un-subscribe? [No / Cancel]’



3.4. UN-SUBSCRIPTION MIDWAY THROUGH BILLING PERIOD

INFOMEDIA recommends that where a customer un-subscribes from a service part-way through a

billing period the service to which they subscribed should continue to be available to them until the

next billing date on the basis that they have already paid for this period of access (whether they

use the service or not).

For example: normal payment has been taken on Monday and the user un-subscribes on

Thursday they can continue to access the service until the end of Sunday.

There is no requirement to specifically inform the customer of their continued access.

VERSION CONTROL

VERSION AUTHOR/DATE COMMENTS

1.0 IL 04/07/2017 Initial version

1.01 IL 02/11/2017 Updated section on Self Help Site to be clearer

1.02 IL 24/01/2018

1.4.1 EE Reminder Message Template & re-engagement message advice

2 Customer Service section updated and trimmed with cross reference to CS specific policy

documents

1.8-1.10 Updates to remove out of date one-off payment details

3.4 Removed reference to limiting access after unsubscription as un-needed

charge to mobile uk frameworkinfomedia.co.uk/.../2018/02/...messaging-cs-v1.02.pdf · 1. customer...

Documents