HELP and STOP replies should fit in a single 160-character segment
The requirementstatement
The HELP and opt-out reply bodies should each fit within 160 characters.
- Severityseverity
- MediumMEDIUMUsually survives review, but lowers your trust score or invites a manual look you would rather avoid.
- When it bitesphase
- Gates approvalapprovalGet this wrong and the brand or campaign is refused at registration.
- What is checkedobject
- campaign.help_message + campaign.optout_message
- Where it liveslayer
- CampaignCAMPAIGN
- How Ekas settles itdetectability
- DeterministicDETERMINISTIC
- Settled in code from the values you submitted. No model involved, no judgement call, same answer every time.
- What the fix involvesfailureClass
- Fix the fieldRETRY_FIELD
- A better value in the form fixes it. Ekas can rewrite it and re-check.
- Who requires itauthorities
- AWS
- When it appliesapplicabilityText
- Applies to every 10DLC registration.
Why this rule existsrationale
A HELP or STOP reply over 160 characters is delivered as a multi-part message, and the parts can arrive out of order or be dropped independently — so the recipient asking for help receives half an answer, or an opt-out confirmation that reads as a fresh marketing message. The 320-character general bound tempts authors into two segments for replies that gain nothing from the extra room.
How to fix itremediation
Cut the reply to one segment by dropping the marketing sentence rather than the disclosures — the brand name, the contact route and the STOP instruction all have to stay. Done when both replies are at or under 160 characters.
A compliant exampleexample
help_message: "Acme Coffee Rewards: for help email support@acmecoffee.com or call 415-555-0134. Reply STOP to unsubscribe." (110 characters)
Notesnotes
AWS's registration form enforces 160 on these two bodies, tighter than the 320 that CMP-AUTOREPLY-LEN applies from Twilio and Bandwidth. Graded MEDIUM and worded as a fit-in-one-segment rule because the 320 bound is what most providers reject on; this one catches the message that will be split in delivery.
Rules you will hit next
Other campaign rules at the same severity. A registration is judged as a whole, not rule by rule.
CMP-014Keyword entries must carry no surrounding whitespaceMediumMEDIUMCMP-018Attributes that do not apply to the registration type must be emptyMediumMEDIUMCMP-021Reference id must be 50 characters or fewerMediumMEDIUMCMP-050The description must not contain personal dataMediumMEDIUMCMP-053A site a US reviewer cannot reach must be declared as suchMediumMEDIUMCMP-188A non-standard opt-out keyword is honoured by nobody but youMediumMEDIUM
CMP-010 is one of 94 campaign rules in the 915-rule 10DLC registry. Free to cite under CC BY 4.0.