When texting a contact for the very first time, you will need to send an opt-in message. This allows your contact to choose whether they wish to continue communicating with you via this channel. The Opt-In message is only sent once at the very beginning of your very first conversation with the contact and does not expire. Once your contact responds "YES", the conversation will unlock and you can continue to text them.

For desktop, follow these steps or watch the video below:

1. To send the Opt-In Message, log into Relate, and select Message & Call or Text Message from the left navigation bar.
2. Click the New Conversation button.
3. Enter in the phone number or name of a contact at the top.
4. At the bottom of the screen, click Ask Now.
5. A preview of the opt-in message will appear. Click Send, and the opt-in message will be sent to your contact.
6. Your contact will be instructed to respond with the word “Yes.” If they respond with anything except “Yes” or “Stop”, Relate will respond on your behalf, reminding the user to respond “Yes” verbatim in order to continue texting.
7. Once the contact responds, “Yes” the bottom of the screen will unlock, and you can begin sending additional text messages.