What does “Client has opted out” mean in SMS?

Applies to: Owner, Manager, Staff
PLUS Feature: No
Plan: Requires SMS
Last updated: October 12, 2026

Why Opus1.io will not send the text
Who sees an opt-out and who can reverse it
How to tell it is an opt-out
How a family opts out
What still works and what stops
How texts start again
All texts or just reminders
Families with more than one phone
Batch SMS, reminders, and campaigns
What to tell the parent
FAQ
Related Articles

Why Opus1.io will not send the text

The front desk has a snow-day notice, a makeup time, or a "running a few minutes late" text ready to go, and Send will not work. Nothing is broken, and the parent is not ignoring you. At some point, this person told the studio to stop texting them, and Opus1.io is holding the studio to that.

The opt-out belongs to the person, not the conversation. It is set when they text STOP to your studio number, or when Opt out of all sms communications is turned on in their profile, either by your staff or by the family from their own account. While it is on, Opus1.io will not send them a one-to-one text, and every automatic text skips them too.

Why: Texting someone after they asked you to stop is the fastest way to lose a family's goodwill, and US carriers treat it as a compliance problem for the sending number. Opus1.io makes the request stick, so no one at the front desk can override it by accident. You can still read the conversation, still receive their texts, and still reach them by email or phone.

Who sees an opt-out and who can reverse it

There is no business setting for opt-out and no special permission. Families opt themselves out. Staff who can edit a client's profile can switch texting back on when the family asks.

Role	Sees that the client opted out	Can turn Opt out of all sms communications off	Can text STOP or reply to resume
Owner	Yes	Yes	No
Manager	Yes	Yes	No
Staff	Yes	Yes, if they can edit that client	No
Limited Staff	No, they cannot open Instant Messaging	No	No
Client	No, families never see the studio inbox	Yes, on their own account	Yes, from their phone

Instant Messaging in Opus1.io is a shared inbox, so every Owner, Manager, and Staff member sees the same opted-out conversation. Turning texts back on changes the person's profile, so it applies across the whole school, not just for the staff member who saved it.

How to tell it is an opt-out

Open Clients > Instant Messaging and find the family's conversation. An opt-out shows up in two places:

In the conversation list, the family's row is marked as opted out. Hover over the marker to see Client has opted out.
In the open conversation, Send is disabled, with the reason The client has opted-out of receiving SMS notifications.

[SCREENSHOT 1: Conversation list with the opted-out marker on one row and the "Client has opted out" hover text visible.]

[SCREENSHOT 2: Open conversation with Send disabled and the opted-out message visible below or above the reply box.]

The conversation history stays exactly as it was. If they opted out by text, you will see their STOP message and your studio's automatic reply in the thread.

Several other problems also stop a text from going out. This table shows which one you have:

What you see	What it means	Can you text them?
Opted-out marker and The client has opted-out of receiving SMS notifications	This person opted out of all texts	No, until they reply or you turn the setting off
A blocked banner and a disabled reply box	Your staff blocked this phone number	No, and their new texts do not reach the inbox
A failed message in the thread	That one text did not go out	Yes, once you fix the cause and send again
The conversation is Closed	Staff marked the conversation as done	Yes
Send works, but a lesson reminder never arrived	They may have turned off that one kind of reminder	Yes, one-to-one

How a family opts out

There are two ways a person ends up opted out in Opus1.io.

They texted STOP

A family opts out by sending the single word STOP to your studio number. Capital letters and extra spaces do not matter, but it has to be the only word in the message. "Please stop" or "stop texting me" does not opt them out automatically.

When a STOP text arrives:

Everyone at your school whose primary phone is that number is opted out of all texts.
The STOP message still appears in Instant Messaging, like any other text.
Opus1.io replies automatically. The reply begins with your business name, so a studio called Maple Street Music would send:

Maple Street Music: You requested to no longer receive any SMS messages from us. You can reply at any time to resume receiving SMS messages from us.

If a parent writes something like "please stop texting me" instead, Opus1.io does not treat it as an opt-out. Honor it anyway: turn on Opt out of all sms communications in their profile, as described next.

If your school has a separate SMS number for each location, an opt-out still covers the whole school. A STOP sent to one location's number stops texts from every one of your studio numbers.

Someone turned it on in the profile

Open the client's profile, click Edit, and turn on Opt out of all sms communications. Under the setting, staff see the note "If enabled all SMS notifications will be disabled for this client." Save to opt them out.

[SCREENSHOT 3: Client edit form with Opt out of all sms communications turned on and the help text visible.]

Families can do the same thing from their own account, where the setting reads "I do not wish to receive any SMS notifications (that includes automated and manual messages)."

Turning the setting on this way does not send the automatic opt-out reply. That reply only goes out when the family texts STOP.

What still works and what stops

An SMS opt-out in Opus1.io stops texts going to that person. It does not remove them from your school or cut off contact.

What still works:

Their texts still arrive in Instant Messaging, and a new text reopens a closed conversation. A reply other than STOP also turns their texts back on, as covered in How texts start again.
Email still works. Opting out of texts is separate from Opt out of marketing emails.
Phone calls still work. An SMS opt-out does not block calls.
Other people in the family can still be texted, as long as their own primary phone is not opted out.
The conversation history stays. Nothing is deleted.

What stops:

Sending a one-to-one text from Instant Messaging to that person
Scheduling a new text to them
Lesson and appointment reminders, batch SMS, campaign texts, and every other automatic text

If a text to this person was already scheduled before they opted out, Opus1.io will not send it. Cancel it anyway, so nobody on your team thinks the family received it.

How texts start again

When the family replies

The automatic reply to their STOP already told them how to resume: reply at any time. Any text they send back to the same studio number, other than another STOP, turns texts back on. That includes START and UNSTOP, and it also includes an ordinary reply like "ok" or "yes, please text me."

When that reply arrives, Opus1.io:

Turns texts back on for everyone whose primary phone is that number.
Shows their reply in the conversation.
Sends an automatic confirmation that begins with your business name, for example: "Maple Street Music: You can reply "STOP" to stop receiving SMS from us at any time."

The opted-out marker then clears and Send works again.

⚠️ Warning: Because any reply other than STOP turns texts back on, a family who has opted out and then writes "stop texting me" is opted back in. If you see a message like that from an opted-out family, turn Opt out of all sms communications back on in their profile.

When a family opted out by text, having them reply is the cleanest way back: the request to resume comes from their own phone, in the same conversation where they asked you to stop.

When the family asks you to do it

Sometimes the parent is at the front desk or on a call and would rather not text. Change the setting only because they asked you to, not because a reminder would be convenient.

Open the conversation and check the name at the top is the person you mean. Hovering over the name shows the phone number.
Open that person's profile and click Edit.
Turn off Opt out of all sms communications.
Save.

[SCREENSHOT 4: The same client edit form with Opt out of all sms communications turned off.]

Send works again on that person's conversations, and reminders, batch SMS, and campaigns include them again. Turning the setting off does not send any text by itself, so there is no need to send a "we turned your texts back on" message unless they want one.

All texts or just reminders

The client edit form in Opus1.io has more than one setting that affects messages. Staff often mix them up and conclude that texting is broken.

Setting	What it stops	Is Send disabled?
Opt out of all sms communications	Every text: one-to-one, reminders, batch SMS, and campaigns	Yes
The individual SMS notification settings (appointment reminders, enrollment, cancellations, and the rest)	Only those automatic texts	No
Opt out of marketing emails	Marketing and campaign email	No, this is email only

If a parent still gets texts from the front desk but missed a lesson reminder, check their individual SMS notification settings, not the all-texts opt-out. Turning one of those off is not the same as texting STOP.

It also works the other way around. If Send is disabled with the opted-out message, the all-texts setting is on, and switching an individual reminder back on will not fix it.

Why: Keeping the two apart lets a family say "no reminders, but the front desk can still text me," which is often what a busy parent wants.

Families with more than one phone

An opt-out in Opus1.io follows the primary phone on each person's profile, not the household as a whole.

Two parents, two phones. Mom texts STOP from her phone. Mom is opted out. Dad is not, so his reminders keep coming.
Two profiles, one phone. If a parent and a student share the same primary phone, a STOP from that phone opts out both. Their texts appear in one conversation. When you turn texts back on from a profile, check the other profile with the same phone too, or that person's reminders will keep skipping.
A student without a phone. The conversation belongs to the parent's number. Opting the parent out does not create a separate opt-out for the student.
A STOP from an unknown number. If the number is not the primary phone on any profile, Opus1.io still sends the automatic reply, but no one is marked as opted out. If that number belongs to a family, update their primary phone and turn on the opt-out setting yourself.

On the prospect board, a client's card shows an SMS tag only when everyone on that card with a phone, the client and their account managers, has opted out. If one parent opted out and the other did not, the card may not show the tag while the opted-out parent's conversation still blocks Send. Trust the conversation.

Batch SMS, reminders, and campaigns

Instant Messaging is usually where staff notice an opt-out first, but the same setting applies everywhere Opus1.io sends texts.

Batch SMS. People who opted out are left out. When some of your list is skipped, the results screen says so:

The following participants have opted out of receiving SMS messages or have been flagged for invalid phone number, and have NOT been notified:

That list mixes two different problems. Some people on it opted out. Others have a phone number on their profile that cannot receive texts, which is a data problem to fix, not a request to respect. Open the person's conversation to tell them apart.

Reminders and other automatic texts. Appointment reminders, enrollment texts, and similar notifications skip anyone who opted out of all texts, and anyone who turned off that particular notification. The email version of the same notification can still send.

Campaigns. In a campaign, a text step for someone who opted out shows Client has opted out of SMS communications and does not send. Marketing email opt-outs show their own separate warning on email steps.

None of these tools override an opt-out, and sending the same message from a personal cell phone is not a workaround. Ask the family to reply, or turn the setting off because they asked.

What to tell the parent

Lead with their request, not with a problem in your system.

They texted STOP and now want a makeup time by text:

"We got your STOP text, so our system won't let us text you. If you reply to that last message, even just 'yes,' texts turn back on. Or I can switch them back on in your account right now. Email and phone calls work either way."

They say they never texted STOP:

"Your account is set to block all texts from the studio. That can happen from a STOP text or from a setting in your profile. I can turn it off now if you'd like texts again, or we can leave it and stick to email."

They want the reminders to stop, but still want to hear from the front desk:

"I can turn off just the automatic reminders and leave regular texts on. The setting that blocks everything, including me texting you from the studio, is the full opt-out. Which would you like?"

They are upset that a text arrived after they texted STOP:

"Your STOP is on your account, so nothing new goes out from us, including anything we had scheduled. If a text reached you after it, tell me when and I'll look into it. If you reply to one of our texts later, even by accident, texting turns back on, so just text STOP by itself if you want it off again."

Avoid telling them "our texting is down" (it is not), "I'll text you from my cell" (that walks around their request), or "you've been blocked" (blocking is a different setting your staff controls).

FAQ

They said they texted STOP, but I can still send. Why?

Opus1.io only treats the single word STOP as an opt-out, and only from a number that is someone's primary phone. A longer message like "stop texting me" does not count, and neither does a STOP from a number that is not on any profile. Also check that you are in the conversation for the person who texted, not the other parent.

Does opting out of texts stop email or phone calls?

No. Email and calls keep working. Marketing email has its own separate opt-out.

Can Limited Staff fix this at the front desk?

No. Limited Staff cannot open Instant Messaging or change the opt-out setting. They can tell the parent to reply to the studio's number, or pass the request to an Owner, Manager, or Staff member.

Is there a way to send just one important text, like a closure notice?

Not by text. While the opt-out is on, Opus1.io will not send them any text, including urgent ones. Use email or a phone call, and ask whether they would like texts turned back on.

SMS: Frequently Asked Questions — how the SMS premium feature is enabled, billed, and registered with carriers
Batch SMS Best Practices — keeping batch texts deliverable and affordable
How do I send an SMS to all clients in a class? — texting everyone in a group class at once
Configuring Default Client and Staff Notifications — which email and SMS notifications new profiles start with
How do I mark SMS conversations as closed? — closing a conversation, which does not stop texts
What is the difference between Read/Unread and Active/Closed conversations? — how the shared inbox tracks conversations