These rules exist so your team can text confidently without breaking carrier rules or the law. Apex enforces them at the moment of sending, so a recruiter cannot accidentally message an opted-out applicant.
Opt-out keywords
When an inbound text is exactly STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END or QUIT, the applicant record is marked opted out with a timestamp, and the SMS button on that record is disabled. If they later text START, UNSTOP or YES, the opt-out is cleared. Both events appear on the activity feed.
HELP
Twilio answers HELP with your program description and contact details configured in the Twilio console. Set it to your company name, a support email or phone number, and 'Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out.'
Quiet hours
The default window is 8:00 pm to 8:00 am in the workspace timezone. Any SMS attempted inside the window is held with a notice on the record and released when the window ends. Change the window in Settings, Messaging. Several US states have their own calling-hour rules, so a conservative window is safest.