# Messaging students

> Send a message to a student from Unifuse by email or text, and understand the contact gate every message passes through: consent, budget, quiet hours and review.

Source: https://docs.unifuse.ai/student-success/messaging-students/

Staff message students from several places in Unifuse: **Send nudge** on the student record,
**Draft outreach** in the Advisor Brief, reminders in Appointments, the AI assistant, and
campaigns. Every one of these goes through the institution's contact policy before anything
is sent.

## Before you start

- You need *send messages*.
- The student must have an email address or phone number on file for the channel you choose.

## The composer

The dialog is titled **Message <student>**, with the note that it goes through your
institution's contact policy.

1. Choose **Send by**: **Email** or **Text message**. A channel with nothing on file is
   marked as such.
2. For email, enter a **Subject**.
3. Write the **Message**, then select **Send**.

## What happens next

| Result | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Sent | The message went out and is on the student's contact history. |
| Delivered | The provider confirmed delivery. |
| Scheduled | It is quiet hours; the message goes when they end. |
| Held for review | The student's message budget for the window is used up. The message waits in the Review Queue. |
| Waiting for approval | The message needs approval before it goes. |
| Not sent | The reason is shown, for example the student has opted out. |

## The contact gate

Checks run in this order:

1. **Consent.** A student who has opted out of a channel (for example by texting STOP) is never
   messaged on it. Opt-outs cannot be overridden.
2. **Category.** Replies to a student who wrote in are not budgeted and ignore quiet hours.
   Transactional messages (such as appointment reminders) are not budgeted but respect quiet
   hours. Proactive outreach uses the budget.
3. **Budget and spacing.** By default one proactive message per student per seven days, at
   least 24 hours apart, across all channels.
4. **Collision.** Two pending drafts to the same student are merged; conflicting ones are held.
5. **Approval.** Where the institution requires it.
6. **Quiet hours.** By default 21:00 to 08:00 Eastern; messages are deferred until they end.

Staff can send past the budget and quiet hours if the institution allows overrides, by
giving a reason that is recorded in the audit log.

Students can text STOP (also stopall, unsubscribe, cancel, end, quit) to opt out of texts
and START (also unstop, yes, subscribe) to opt back in. Campaign emails carry an unsubscribe
link.

## Related

- [Contact policy](/administration/contact-policy/) for the institution's settings
- [Review Queue](/student-success/review-queue/)