Why it matters
Opt-out handling determines whether a contact is eligible to receive messages from your organization. Whippy provides contact-level communication preferences and organization-level opt-out settings so teams can review messaging eligibility and control how broadly an opt-out is applied.
Whippy also automatically processes supported opt-out keywords sent by contacts. When a recognized stop word is received, Whippy adds the phone number to the opt-out list and prevents further messages from being sent based on your organization's configured opt-out scope.
Understanding these controls helps teams respect contact preferences, troubleshoot messaging issues, and apply opt-out behavior consistently.
Key Concepts
Communication preferences: Contact-level settings that show whether a contact can receive messages through available channels and locations. Review these preferences when checking why a contact can or cannot receive a message.
Unsubscribe contact: A contact action used to manually unsubscribe a contact from messaging.
Block contact: A contact action that prevents a contact from sending messages into your inbox. Blocking is separate from unsubscribing and should not be used as a replacement for normal opt-out handling.
Opt-out list: A list of phone numbers that have opted out of receiving messages. Messages to an opted-out number are not processed for the affected channel or channels.
Stop word: A supported keyword that tells Whippy a contact wants to stop receiving messages. Whippy automatically recognizes supported English-language stop words in incoming messages.
Opt-out preferences: An organization-level setting under Settings > Messaging > Opt-out that determines how widely a contact is unsubscribed when they reply STOP.
Opt-out scope: The channels affected when a contact opts out. Whippy provides three scopes: Only the channel they messaged, All channels of the same type, and Every channel in the organization.
Opt-in keyword: A supported keyword that an opted-out phone number can send to restart messaging. The keyword must be sent to the exact same number that the contact originally opted out from.
Step-by-Step: Review contact opt-out status
Open Contacts from the main sidebar.
Search for and open the contact.
Review the contact's communication preferences to confirm their messaging eligibility.
Open the contact actions menu when you need to change the contact's messaging status.
Select Unsubscribe contact if the contact should no longer receive messages.
Select Block contact if the contact should be prevented from sending messages into your inbox.
Select Unblock contact if a blocked contact should be allowed to send messages again.
Review the contact's communication preferences after making changes.
Step-by-Step: Configure opt-out scope
Open Settings.
Select Messaging under the Organization section.
Find the Opt-out section.
Open the Opt-out preferences dropdown.
Select the scope that should apply when a contact replies STOP:
Only the channel they messaged: Unsubscribes the contact from the specific channel where the opt-out was received.
All channels of the same type: Unsubscribes the contact from all organization channels of the same type as the channel where the opt-out was received.
Every channel in the organization: Unsubscribes the contact across every channel in the organization.
Confirm the selected option appears in the Opt-out preferences field.
Communicate the configured scope to teams that send messages.
Step-by-Step: Understand automatic opt-outs
Whippy processes incoming messages and checks for supported English-language stop words.
When Whippy identifies a supported stop word, it adds the person's phone number to the opt-out list.
Whippy applies the opt-out according to the organization's Opt-out preferences setting.
Messages sent to the opted-out number through an affected channel will not be processed.
The stop word must be the only supported text in the incoming message to trigger the automatic opt-out.
Whippy recognizes the following English-language stop words:
stopstopallstop allunsubscribecancelendquit
For example, stop all is recognized because it is a supported stop word. A message such as please stop all messages is not recognized because the supported stop word is not the only text in the message.
Step-by-Step: Restart messages after an opt-out
Ask the opted-out contact to send a supported opt-in keyword.
Have the contact send the keyword to the exact same number they originally opted out from.
Use one of the following supported opt-in keywords:
startunstop
Review the contact's communication preferences after the opt-in is processed.
Confirm the contact is eligible for messaging before resuming outreach.
Step-by-Step: Bulk unsubscribe contacts
Open Contacts from the main sidebar.
Select All contacts.
Search or filter for the contacts you need to update.
Select the contacts in the table.
Open the bulk actions menu.
Choose the unsubscribe action.
Review the selected audience before confirming.
Confirm the action only when all selected contacts should be unsubscribed.
Tips and Best Practices
Review Settings > Messaging > Opt-out so your team knows the organization's current opt-out scope.
Choose the opt-out scope based on how broadly contacts should be unsubscribed after replying STOP.
Check a contact's communication preferences before adding them to messaging workflows.
Treat blocking and unsubscribing as separate controls. Use Block contact for unwanted inbound messages, not as a substitute for opt-out handling.
Make sure teams understand that supported stop words must be sent on their own to trigger automatic opt-out processing.
Do not assume a phrase containing a stop word will trigger an opt-out. For example,
please stop all messagesis not recognized.Remember that opted-out contacts must send
startorunstopto the same number they opted out from to restart messaging.Review the selected audience carefully before using bulk unsubscribe because the action can affect many contacts at once.
Troubleshooting
Issue | Possible Cause | Fix |
A contact did not receive a message | The contact may be unsubscribed, blocked, missing a valid destination, or excluded by communication preferences | Open the contact and review communication preferences, blocked status, and destination fields |
Messages to a phone number are not being processed | The number may have opted out for the channel being used | Review the contact's opt-out status and communication preferences |
A stop word did not opt the contact out | The stop word may have been included with additional text | Confirm the contact sent a supported stop word by itself, such as |
A STOP reply affected more channels than expected | Opt-out preferences may be set to All channels of the same type or Every channel in the organization | Open Settings > Messaging > Opt-out and review the selected scope |
A STOP reply only affected one channel | Opt-out preferences may be set to Only the channel they messaged | Open Settings > Messaging > Opt-out and review the selected scope |
A contact wants to receive messages again | The phone number previously opted out | Ask the contact to send |
An opt-in keyword did not restart messaging | The keyword may have been sent to a different number from the one used for the original opt-out | Ask the contact to send |
Users are unsure which opt-out rule applies | The organization's opt-out scope has not been documented for the team | Confirm the current selection under Settings > Messaging > Opt-out and update internal guidance |