Service Organization Controls Compliance

Effective: May 1, 2024

Textmunication is a communications technology company with an emphasis on mobile messaging. SMS, short messaging service and MMS, multimedia messaging. Our vehicle of success is our platform SAM, which stands for Smart Automated Messaging. S.A.M. offers three core products that consist of; our hosted web application, API services, and white label.

Use Case

Our system can support your use case of sending and receiving either SMS text messages or MMS messages to and from customers in one simple to use dashboard. Our solution will support your needs of improved communication, increased efficiency, quicker & faster widespread of timely information and augment existing communication channels. Our solution and application is hosted, provided and maintained by Textmunication. Our platform offers two-way communication, is approved with all mobile carriers, and can be accessed through any Internet capable device being a web application. Our system is equipped with easy database management, ability to manage texting campaigns & communication, and access a reporting module for performance metrics.

Textmunication has been in business and servicing customers with messaging solutions for 13 years.

Textmunication will be an extension to your team and we will meet your conditions of; conducting a business analysis, establish a detailed project schedule, provide a test environment and a production environment, complete system setup and configuration, provide testing, provide training and implement the solution.

Functional Business/Technical Requirements:

General system requirements

Textmunication’s Smart Automated Messaging solution provides automated opt in tools, the ability to easily transfer existing contacts, or auto load contacts from your CRM. Our web application SAM makes it easy to administer and manage mass group messaging campaigns, individual messaging, automation, conversations, and inbound two-way communication via SMS or MMS.

Textmunication can connect to Wireless Service Providers (DCAs) through APIs provided by the carriers, or by using a messaging gateway that

facilitates the connection to multiple carriers. The solution handles message content by allowing Textmunication to create, store and manage text messages to be sent to the recipients. Delivery scheduling allows Textmunication to specify the time and date when a message should be sent. The message routing service uses the information about the recipient’s carrier network and the delivery schedule to route the message through the most appropriate cellular network for timely and reliable delivery. The solution also allows for routing messages through multiple carriers/vendors to ensure that the message is delivered even if one carrier is unavailable.

Textmunications solution could include the following features to ensure security:

User authentication and authorization: To access the portal, users would need to provide their credentials, such as username and password. The system would verify the credentials against a database of authorized users and determine if the user has the necessary privileges to access the portal.

Encryption of sensitive data: All sensitive data transmitted between the user’s browser and the server, such as passwords and text messages, could be encrypted to prevent unauthorized access.

Regular software updates and security patches: Textmunication could ensure that the portal software is kept up to date with the latest security patches and updates to address any known vulnerabilities.

The front-end web portal could have the following functionalities:

Create text messages: Authorized staff could use a user-friendly interface to create text messages, including defining the message content, receiving groups, and other settings.

View and query information for reporting: Staff could view and query information about text messages, including statistics such as the number of messages sent, delivered, and failed.

Easy-to-use interface: The portal could have a simple, intuitive interface that makes it easy for authorized staff to create text messages and access reporting information.

In summary, Textmunication’s solution could support a secure, front-end web portal for the texting system by incorporating security measures and providing a user-friendly interface for authorized staff to create text messages and access reporting information.

Users may establish their own username & password to the system as well as add additional users with their own unique log in credentials. Users have the option to manage their own messaging campaigns or conversations with their preferred data without sharing with others. Automation, content and template messaging is fully customizable to the user based on their needs.

Textmunication can also modularize the solution and remove un-needed system capabilities and or develop new capabilities.

Textmunication can integrate to any internal application, CRM, or POS system that has open API access for connectivity. This will allow for database access, automation, and customization.

Our TextPert team and solution offer the following support options; online chat, by phone, by email, by text, online and directly within the software.

Our system includes a resource center with FAQs, best practices, and tutorial video support. We provide thorough training, a go live session to implement, and ongoing support at no additional charge to the customer. (one to one or team training)

Our hours of support are Monday-Friday 7am PST – 5pm PST and technical support within the system 24 hours a day 7 days week.

Textmunication software licensing model of the solution could be a subscription-based model where the customer pays a recurring fee for the use of the software. The fee could be based on the number of users, the volume of text messages sent, or other factors.

The “base” product would typically include the following components:

• Front-end web portal for creating and managing text messages
• SMS gateway for sending and receiving text messages
• User management and authentication system

Any required third-party licensing would be included in the subscription fee. For example, if the solution uses any third-party software libraries, the customer would not need to separately purchase licenses for those components.

Short codes, which are unique, abbreviated numbers used to send and receive text messages, could be included with Textmunication’s proposed solution or could be available as an additional “extra”. The availability and cost of short codes would depend on the regulations in the customer’s country and Textmunication’s ability to obtain short codes for the customer.

To ensure that the solution remains up to date and secure, Textmunication would typically maintain licenses for no more than two supported versions behind the latest release and would apply the latest security patches as they become available. This would help to ensure that the solution continues to meet the customer’s requirements and to address any security vulnerabilities.

In summary, the software licensing model of the solution would typically include a subscription fee for the use of the front-end web portal, SMS gateway, and user management system, as well as any required third-party licenses. The availability and cost of short codes, as well as the policy for maintaining licenses and applying security patches, would depend on Textmunication’s specific offering.

Texting System Requirements:

The Textmunication S.A.M. system offers two-way communication and conversation management. Inbound messages are free, unlimited and displayed directly and instantly within your inbox of your account.

• Our systems is equipped with a Campaign Center that supports a mass group messaging or singular individual messaging option. You may send messages immediately or schedule them in advance to the day, hour and minute with precise timing. You may also automate messaging or establish reoccurring alerts. Group selection or searching allows for target messaging.
• Very simple and quick! Example: Select SEND NOW or SCHEDULE, Select campaign TYPE, give campaign a name, select template or type message, select group(s) or person, review message, SEND or SCHEDULE.
• The opt in and opt out process is automated. Opt in tools consist of; keywords, QR codes, online web forms, digital numerical keypad, data import, and welcome consent messages. There is a global opt out with universal keyword STOP to unsubscribe.
• Our customers have a clear visibility in their accounts within the reporting module of who is receiving messages, who is not and why they are not.
• These reports are visible immediately within the dashboard after messages occur. They are also downloadable.
• In using our scheduler functionality you may schedule group or singular message campaigns up to the day, hour and minute with precise timing and accuracy. There are custom automated and reoccurring message options as well.
• Both group messages and individual messages are designed to be sent and delivered to your recipients within seconds to minutes. Our system has the bandwidth of sending up to 1125 messages per second.

To avoid having a large batch of distributed messages caught in spam filters, Textmunication’s proposed solution could include the following measures:

Message content filtering: The solution could include filters to detect and block messages that contain spam keywords, links to suspicious websites, or other content that is commonly associated with spam messages.

Reputation management: The solution could monitor and maintain the sending reputation of the text message sender to ensure that messages are delivered to the intended recipients and not marked as spam.

Opt-in lists: The solution could include the capability to manage opt-in lists, where recipients have explicitly agreed to receive text messages from the sender. Messages sent to recipients who have opted in are less likely to be marked as spam.

Sender authentication: The solution could include sender authentication mechanisms, such as Sender ID or SPF, to verify the authenticity of the sender and ensure that messages are not marked as spam.

Compliance with regulations: The solution could be designed to comply with anti-spam regulations, such as the CAN-SPAM Act in the United States, to minimize the risk of messages being marked as spam.

In summary, to avoid having a large batch of distributed messages caught in spam filters, Textmunication’s proposed solution could include a combination of message content filtering, reputation management, opt-in lists, sender authentic.

Each messaging option within our system has the ability to auto insert a unique URL link to be inserted within messages. Each section is also equipped with a URL shorten option to reserve character space which also reflects in reporting to see the click ratios.

Your messages history will be archived in your account within “Past Campaigns” they are easily accessible and ready to be used again and or edited.

The texting system database would typically store the following information:

Sender Telephone Number: The telephone number of the person or organization that sent the text message.

Recipient Cellular Telephone Number: The telephone number of the person or organization that received the text message.

Message data: The text content of the message that was sent or received.

Date and time: The date and time that the message was sent or received.

Message status: Information on whether the message was successfully delivered to the recipient or if it failed.

The length of time that the information is stored in the system database would depend on Textmunication’s specific offering and the customer’s requirements. Some providers may store the information indefinitely, while others may have a policy to delete the information after a certain period of time.

Textmunication’s ability to store message information (metadata) would depend on the capabilities of the texting system and Textmunication’s

specific offering. Some providers may offer the ability to store and retrieve metadata for reporting and analysis purposes, while others may not. It would be important for the customer to clarify their requirements with Textmunication and to ensure that Textmunication’s solution meets their needs in terms of storing and retrieving message information and metadata.

Reporting Requirements:

Textmunication customers have access to reporting directly within their account dashboard. Reports are available to view and or download to excel/csv. Our system will report delivery status, why a message wasn’t delivered, opt ins, opts outs, URL click performance, message type, usage history, etc…

Backup and System Recovery Requirements:

Textmunications Backup and System Recovery plan would typically include the following elements:

Data backup: Textmunication would regularly back up the data stored in the texting system database, including all message information and metadata, to ensure that it can be recovered in the event of a system failure.

Disaster recovery plan: Textmunication has a disaster recovery plan in place to ensure that the texting system can be quickly restored in the event of a disaster or outage. The plan would typically include procedures for restoring data from backups, reconfiguring hardware and software components, and testing the system to ensure that it is fully functional.

Backup retention schedules: Textmunication has a backup retention schedule in place that specifies the frequency and duration of data backups. This would ensure that the system data can be recovered in the event of a failure, while also minimizing the amount of storage required to store backups.

Textmunication’s Service Level Agreement (SLA) on returning the solution to service from a backup typically include the following elements:

Recovery time objective (RTO): The SLA would specify the maximum time that it should take for Textmunication to restore the texting system to service from a backup. This would typically be expressed in hours or days.

Recovery point objective (RPO): The SLA would specify the maximum acceptable data loss that can occur during a system failure. This would typically be expressed in terms of the time between the latest backup and the point at which the failure occurred.

In summary, Textmunication’s Backup and System Recovery plan and SLA ensures that the texting system can be quickly restored in the event of a failure or outage, with minimal data loss and minimal disruption to service. The backup retention schedule would ensure that backups are taken regularly and stored for a sufficient period of time to allow the system to be restored in the event of a failure.