Opt-out fields on Leads and Contacts

Lead and Contact each have four independent opt-out checkboxes: WhatsApp, SMS, Facebook Messenger and Instagram. The package supplies these fields on Lead/Contact. Custom objects are supported through Connect Account Config; configure your own consent process for them.

Fields on each object

Each channel is independent — a person can be opted out of WhatsApp and still reachable by SMS. The checkboxes are ticked automatically when the person replies with an opt-out keyword, and cleared automatically when they reply with an opt-in keyword.

Where you see them

The fields live on Lead and Contact records. If you do not see them, check field access, the assigned page layout and its visibility. An admin can add them to the relevant layout:

1. Click the gear icon (top right) and choose Setup.
2. Open Object Manager, click Lead (then repeat for Contact).
3. Click Page Layouts, open the layout your team uses.
4. Drag the opt-out fields for all channels your team uses into a Messaging consent section, then save. Repeat for Contact and the layouts assigned to other profiles or record types. Follow the recommended layouts, including the new Messenger/Instagram fields.

Expected result: the relevant channel checkboxes are visible to users with field access on records using the updated layouts.

Recommended Lead layout with channel identity and consent fields

Setting and clearing them manually

Anyone with edit access to the record can tick or untick the boxes — no special REDA Connect step is involved. Manual control matters because the keyword automation only recognises the bare keyword: when a customer writes a sentence asking to stop, emails you, or asks in person, tick the box yourself. Likewise, untick it when someone asks to be re-added. The send blocking follows the checkbox, however it was set.

What the fields enforce

The moment a channel's box is ticked, creating a new outbound message to that person on that channel fails with an error — in the Connect Feed, in bulk sends, and in any automation. The error texts are, verbatim:

• Recipient has opted out of receiving WhatsApp Messages.
• Recipient has opted out of receiving SMS Messages.

The block applies when the message is being created, so nothing is silently swallowed — whoever (or whatever) tried to send sees the error. Remember the flip side: the fields exist on Leads and Contacts only, so conversations filed on other objects have no flag to enforce — see How opt-out works for the coverage limits.

Filtering on the fields — build clean bulk-send audiences

Because a single opted-out person blocks an entire bulk send, the single most useful thing to do with these fields is to filter them out of your list views before sending:

1. On the Leads or Contacts tab, open your sending list view and edit its filters (gear icon → Edit List Filters).
2. Add, for a WhatsApp send: Opt Out (REDA Connect - WhatsApp) equals False. (For SMS, use the SMS field instead.)
3. Save. The view now contains only contactable people — select and send from here.

Expected result: opted-out people no longer appear in the view, and your bulk sends stop tripping over the all-or-none opt-out block described in Tracking a bulk send.

The same filter works in reports: add Opt Out (REDA Connect - WhatsApp) / (… - SMS) as filters or columns to inspect current state. A question such as “who opted out this quarter” also requires history or a change date; a checkbox alone does not establish when it changed.

FAQ

Where to go next

• Tracking a bulk send — why one ticked box can stop a thousand messages.
• How opt-out works — the keyword automation that sets these fields.
• Messaging and compliance — where these fields fit in your overall consent obligations.