The Staff SMS Suppression Screen

The Suppression screen of the staff SMS group lists every phone number and pattern that is suppressed on the install, for every account. A suppressed number receives no SMS in its scope. Use the screen to check why a number gets no messages, to suppress numbers for every account or for one, and to remove a suppression that was added by mistake. It replaces the classic admin Settings > SMS Suppression List page.

Screen	Path on a default install	Permission
SMS suppression	/user/staff/sms/suppression	SMS and Settings

Open it from the staff sidebar: click SMS, then Suppression. The classic admin menu item and the old /app/admin/sms_suppression/ address open the same screen.

Scopes

Every suppression has a scope, which decides who it applies to:

Scope	Stops SMS to the number from
System	Every account on the install
Account	One account, on all its lists
List	One list of one account
Gateway	Every account that sends through one SMS gateway. Octeth writes these when a recipient replies STOP and the reply cannot be matched to an account, because on a shared gateway it could belong to any of them

Opt-outs

A suppression whose reason is Opt-out was added because the recipient asked for no more SMS: they replied STOP, or used an opt-out link. A gateway row is always an opt-out. These are the rows that most carriers and many laws require you to keep, so removing one asks for a reason first (see Removing a suppression).

Who sees which rows

An administrator without a user group limit sees every row.

An administrator limited to some user groups sees and changes the system rows and the rows of the accounts in those groups. A gateway row belongs to no account, so it is not shown to them, and a note above the list says so.

The counts

The tiles above the list count, in your reach. The scope tiles count numbers only, so together they add up to Numbers:

• Numbers, and how many of them are opt-outs.
• System: rows that apply to every account.
• Accounts and lists: rows of one account or one list.
• Gateway: unattributed STOP replies. Not shown to an administrator limited to user groups.
• Patterns: wildcard rules.

Filtering the list

The Numbers and Patterns tabs list the numbers and the patterns. Use the toolbar above the list. Each filter applies as you type or choose:

• Number digits finds the digits anywhere in the number: 0198 finds +15550198804.
• Any scope limits the list to System, Account, List or Gateway rows.
• User ID or username shows the rows of one account. Type its user ID, or the start of its username.
• List ID shows the rows of one list.
• Any reason limits the list to one reason, for example Opt-out or Complaint.
• In the second row, Any source shows how the rows were added (for example STOP reply, Opt-out link or Import), Any gateway shows the gateway rows of one gateway, and the date button limits the list by the date a row was added, in UTC.

Clear filters removes every filter. The list shows 50 rows per page. The tab, the filters and the page are part of the address, so you can bookmark or share a filtered view, for example /user/staff/sms/suppression?reason=optout.

The refresh button at the right of the toolbar reads the counts and the list again, and shows the time it last read them.

Reading a row

Column	What it shows
Number	The number as it was entered. On the Patterns tab, the pattern.
Scope	System, Account, List or Gateway.
Applies to	Every account for a system row. The account, with its email address, for an account row: click the name to open the account. The list, with its account and ID, for a list row. The gateway for a gateway row.
Reason	Manual, Opt-out, Complaint, Bounce, Invalid number or Other. A gateway row shows STOP reply. Opt-outs are highlighted.
Source	How the row was added: STOP reply, Opt-out link, Manual entry, Import, API, or Legacy admin.
Notes	The note added with the row, shortened. Point at it to read it whole.
Added (UTC)	The date and, under it, the time the row was added.

Adding numbers

1. On the Numbers tab, click Add numbers.
2. Paste the numbers, one per line, or separated by commas. Up to 1,000 at a time. Write them in full international form, for example +15551234567.
3. Choose the Scope. For Account, enter the account's user ID. For List, enter the list ID: a list belongs to one account, so its ID is enough. A system suppression stops SMS to the numbers from every account, and the form says so.
4. Choose a Reason, and add a note if it helps whoever reads the row later.
5. Click Add.

A message then says how many numbers were added, how many were already suppressed in that scope and were left alone, and how many could not be read as a phone number. There is no gateway scope: gateway rows come only from STOP replies.

Adding a pattern

A pattern suppresses every number it matches, including numbers added later, because it is checked when a message is sent. Use it to block a range, such as premium-rate numbers.

1. On the Patterns tab, click New pattern.
2. Enter the pattern: +, the country code, then digits, with * for any run of digits. For example, +1900* blocks every number that starts with +1900.
3. Choose the Scope, as for numbers, and click Add pattern.

A pattern needs at least one digit before its first *. A pattern such as +* would match every number on the install and stop all SMS, so it is refused.

Removing a suppression

Click the trash icon of a row, or tick several rows and click Remove in the bar that replaces the toolbar. A dialog asks you to confirm.

When the rows include an opt-out, the dialog says that it is the recipient's own opt-out and asks for a Reason for removing. Removing it lets messages reach someone who asked for none, so do it only with a new consent, for example a signed form. The reason is kept in the staff audit log.

A message then says how many rows were removed. A row that someone else removed in the meantime, or that is outside your user groups, is counted separately.

Clearing the suppression cache

When a message is sent, Octeth keeps the answer to "is this number suppressed?" for up to an hour. Changes made on this screen take effect at once, but a change made outside Octeth, for example directly in the database, may not until that answer expires. Click Clear cache, then confirm, to drop every cached answer so the next check of each number reads the list again. No suppression changes.

The audit log

Adding numbers or a pattern, removing numbers or patterns, and clearing the cache each write a staff audit row. The row keeps the counts, the scope and, for an opt-out, the reason you typed. It never keeps a phone number, a pattern or a note.

Related

• SMS Campaigns
• The Staff Inbound SMS Screen, where STOP replies are received
• SMS Suppression API, the API commands behind the screen